Nico Sartori

Nico Sartori grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio where he became fascinated by the weather at a very young age in elementary school. Beginning in August of 2019, he got accepted into The Ohio State University undergraduate program for Atmospheric Sciences. Since becoming a Buckeye, Nico joined the Scarlet and Gray Forecasting Club as a lead forecaster and later as president introducing the area of broadcasting to the club. In the summer of 2022, he gained research experience working for the Center of Western Weather Water Extremes (CW3E) at Scripps in San Diego, California. He worked on a research project on how the Madden-Julian Oscillation System (MJO) has impacted extreme precipitation in a warming climate in the western United States. Through the internship, Nico gained a research interest in climate variability as well as extreme weather such as tornadoes and hurricanes. Nico accepted an offer into the graduate program for Ohio University starting in the fall of 2023 in Atmospheric Sciences as the Associate Director of Scalia Labs. Having graduated with a master’s degree during the 2025 Spring, he plans on entering a career in operational meteorology such as in the National Weather Service (NWS) or the private sector.

Benjamin Woodson

Benjamin Woodson and is currently a Sophomore majoring in Geography Meteorology. He is from Nelsonville, Ohio which is about 20 minutes north of Athens. His main interest within meteorology is severe weather and tropical meteorology. In his my free time, Ben enjoys watching the current weather, playing the piano, and landscaping.

James Zinnbauer

James graduated from Ohio University during the 2025 Spring with a degree in Geography – Meteorology through the Honors Tutorial College. He is from Cincinnati, Ohio, and was an active member of OUCAMS, having served as an officer during the spring of 2023. James was also a member of the University of Illinois’ First Annual Radar Institute and has produced a thesis alongside Dr. Jana Houser as a Research Assistant investigating the limitations of Doppler Radar in detection of tornadoes and the issuance of warnings, which has been submitted to the Journal of Operational Meteorology for publication. He is additionally Upper-Air Certified through the National Weather Service, having served as a volunteer during the summer of 2024, and has conducted research through NWS Wilmington on the seasonal and spatial reliance on TDWRs for issuing severe storm and tornado warnings. Furthermore, James has served as a Teaching Assistant and Supplemental Instructor for GEOG 3010 (Introduction to Meteorology) for two semesters, and has previously served as a Teaching Assistant and Embedded Tutor for GEOG 3031 (Observations in Meteorology) for one semester. James has also provided video forecasts through Ohio University’s The Post TV.

Mesoscale and radar meteorology interest him the most, but above all, he thrives on sharing that passion with others and hopes to obtain a PhD in meteorology so he can continue teaching as a professor and researcher. He will be pursuing a master’s degree at Iowa State University. Outside of school, James likes making art, playing Rock Band, boxing, and going on sunset walks. He also loves hot chocolate and baking soft pretzels.

Chris Ford

Chris is a senior majoring in Aviation Flight with minors in Aviation Management and Meteorology. He has had a passion for airplanes and weather since he was a little kid and has always dreamed of flying for an airline someday. He loves watching severe weather and tornadoes and even went storm chasing in Oklahoma and Texas last spring. Chris is a member of the Ohio University Sailing Team and the Precision Flight Team, both activities that rely on accurate weather forecasting. In his free time, Chris enjoys watching college football, geocaching, and photography.

Kaylee Sweeney

Kaylee Sweeney is from Cleveland, Ohio and has always had a fascination with the weather. She began her journey at OHIO in August of 2021 and was quickly introduced to Scalia Lab. She served as a volunteer forecaster for 2 years before accepting the position of Lead Forecaster from 2024-2025. Scalia and various other experiences guided her interests toward the world of weather and science communications. She went on to pursue a Master’s of Communications degree with OHIO online where her interests have continued to grow. Following completion of this degree, she plans to pursue a career in this field to assist in bridging the gap between weather and the public!

Olivia Snoddy

Olivia Snoddy is from Yellow Springs, Ohio and is majoring in Geography – Meteorology. Olivia first became interested with a career in weather after discussing with some officers in the Air Force during the annual Air Force ROTC career day. Ever since then, she has loved weather and has grown to love storms and other serious weather events. Olivia enjoys traveling, meeting new people, and hanging out with friends and family.

Donnie Schiffbauer

Donnie is currently a Sophomore at Ohio University and is studying Geography- Meteorology with a certificate in Geographic Information Science and is a participant in OU’s Chapter of the American Meteorological Society (OUCAMS). He hails from North Ridgeville, Ohio, which is in the West Cleveland area. In his free time, he’s an avid ice skater and weightlifter, he also loves camping and exploring new places to hammock!

Colby Bryan

Colby is a lifelong Ohio resident and a senior student in meteorology. He is also serving as Treasurer for a second year for the Ohio University Chapter of the American Meteorological Society. His focus is in fire weather, and he hopes someday to become an incident meteorologist (IMET) with the National Weather Service. Colby also enjoys severe weather, aviation, playing guitar, and singing.

Ben Price

Ben Price is a current graduate student at Ohio University researching the relationship between terrain and tornado structure. Born and raised in Livonia, Michigan, he moved to Norman, Oklahoma in 2017 to study Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma. In 2021, he graduated from the program with a Bachelor’s in Meteorology and subsequently got accepted into Ohio University’s graduate program. While in Oklahoma, he conducted several research projects as a part of the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (CIMMS), now known as the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO). This research included the development, analysis, and quality-control of Multi-Radar, Multi-Sensor (MRMS) products such as azimuthal shear and was presented at the AMS Conferences in 2020 and 2021. When not completing schoolwork, Ben indulges himself in many different creative outlets such as writing code, books, and music, and playing video games with friends.

Erin Ashley

Erin Ashley is from Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a senior majoring in Broadcast Meteorology. She is the Lead Forecaster for WOUB Public Media, the PBS-affiliate news station for Southeast Ohio, where she broadcasts weather conditions and constructs environmental news packages. Erin is interested in how weather impacts society and how weather awareness has changed over time. She plans to work for a news station upon graduation. In her free time, Erin critiques movies, roots for the Cincinnati Bengals, and be with friends.