Kevin Thiel graduated Magna Cum Laude as a Meteorology Major with Honors and a Mathematics Minor in 2018. Throughout his time at Oho University, Kevin was involved with numerous activities on campus, including Hall Council President, Resident Assistant, OU WxChallenge Tournament Champion, OUCAMS Outreach Chair, Scalia Lab Webmaster, and the first person to be elected OUCAMS President twice (even with his excessive puns).
As a sophomore, Kevin began forecasting for the Scalia Lab in the GEOG 3040 Forecasting Practicum, and a few months later was selected as the Scalia Lab Webmaster, which he held for two years. He walked into the position with no website design and management experience, but was able to move the website for the first time in 25 years. Once this was done, new products such as the Radar, Climate Analysis, Hocking River, Satellite, Social Media, and Winter Weather Analysis pages were built, along with a redesigned Technical Forecast page. Kevin also installed analytics across the entire website, and created quarterly analytics reports to increase traffic and page views. In his final semester, Kevin moved the OUCAMS website to the AMS servers with a total redesign along the way, and worked closely with Red Tail Design for the most recent version of the Scalia Lab website.
Academically, Kevin selected as part of the Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship Program in 2016. He then completed a research project with the National Weather Service in Miami, FL during the summer of 2017, titled Relating Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor and Dual-Polarization Products to Lightning and Thunderstorm Severity Potential. After his Hollings project was finished, he presented his work at the AMS 98th Annual Meeting. Kevin then continued his research as an undergraduate honors thesis, with Dr. Jana Houser serving as his advisor.
Amongst everything Kevin did at Ohio University, he absolutely loved being a part of OUCAMS, taking on leadership roles in the chapter beginning his Freshman year. He helped lead OUCAMS to AMS Chapter Honor Roll in 2016 and 2017, the Edwin L. Kennedy Community Service Award in 2017, and the OUCAMS banner to place in the AMS Chapter Banner Contest in 2018 (3rd place). OUCAMS was more than just a club, resume builder, and networking tool, it was like a second family. The friendships he built are what he cherished the most, and he encourages anyone to be involved in their local AMS Chapter, especially OUCAMS!
Kevin is currently a Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Oklahoma, pursuing his Masters degree in Meteorology. He hopes to one day acquire his PhD in Meteorology, and enter the field of academia/research, with the prospects of developing operational products for forecasters to better protect life and property, or continue into lightning research and serve as a professor at the university level.
“Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions/advice. I’m always willing to help out a fellow Bobcat!”