The UW Dawgcast

Faculty & Student Bios

Students of The UW Dawgcast:

Amelia Gordon

Amelia Gordon is a senior majoring in Meteorology and Climate. Her interest in weather comes from a childhood fear-turned-passion after growing up in eastern WA. When she isn’t watching the radar, she can be found listening to music, keeping chickens, and gardening.

Michael Hardie

Michael Hardie is a senior from Lake Stevens, WA who is majoring in meteorology. His interest in weather comes from its proximity to aviation, his ultimate career goal. Michael enjoys exploring new places and is a big basketball fan, rooting for the LA Clippers until the NBA returns to Seattle.
 

Ethan Knauss

 Ethan Knauss is a senior majoring in both Meteorology and Climate. His interest in weather can be traced back to predicting the weather as a chore in preschool. These days, he can be found looking at amusing model outputs and working on blogs. In his free time, he enjoys working on his PC, reading, gaming, and photography.

Sam Pham

 Sam Pham is a sophomore and intends to pursue majors in Geography and Environmental Studies. Growing up in Washington, he was interested in maps and geography, which evolved into a love for meteorology. In his spare time, he enjoys gardening, fishkeeping, and stargazing!

Joseph Renalds

Joseph Renalds is a senior majoring in meteorology and is the President of The UW Dawgcast. He grew up a few miles north of campus in Bothell where the convergence zone provided all sorts of opportunities to get an interest in weather (mostly the snow and thunderstorms). In his free time he enjoys photography, biking, and hiking in the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

Kyra Schlezinger

 Kyra Schlezinger is a senior majoring in atmospheric science in the meteorology track. What started as a fear of thunderstorms as a child has evolved into a passion for all things weather. She is particularly interested in severe weather, weather prediction, and forecast communication. When she isn’t forecasting, Kyra enjoys knitting and playing various percussion instruments.

Nick Shepard

 Nick Shepard is a postbac student studying atmospheric sciences, meteorology track. Born and raised in King County, Nick graduated in 2021 from the University of Montana with a degree in political science before returning home. Nick loves snow and all related activities and subjects (running/hiking in it, throwing it at people, difficulty forecasting it).

Jake Stevenson
Jake Stevenson is a senior in the Climate Concentration of Atmospheric Sciences from Eastchester, NY.  He’s been interested in weather and climate since he was 12 when he avidly followed winter storm Nemo back home. When he’s not studying climatology, he plays Ultimate Frisbee and nurses his addiction to grand strategy video games.

Annabelle Tjio
Annabelle Tjio is a sophomore majoring in MCD Biology and Atmospheric Data Science. She’s been a Washingtonian for most of her life, but spent a few solid years in Florida where she has grown fascinated by the intense thunderstorms and winds that fight back. She enjoys the PNW lifestyle of hiking, music concerts, and the occasional drawing or painting in her free time.

Alec Weise

 Alec Weise is a sophomore majoring in Atmospheric Sciences. He is from the bay Area and loves tracking Atmospheric Rivers and cloud dynamics. His free time is spent biking and running on hidden trails.

Erika Wood

 Erika Wood is a sophomore from Camas WA majoring in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Atmospheric Sciences. Blogging for 2 years at Dawgcast, she is a big fan of convective events, especially thunderstorms, and has always enjoyed the lenticular clouds around Mt. Rainer. For free time, she loves cooking, hiking, skiing, and flying Cessna 172’s.

 

Faculty / Advisors:

Shannon O’Donnell

 Shannon O’Donnell is the Chief Meteorologist at KOMO 4 Television in Seattle. A 1995 graduate of the UW Atmospheric Sciences Department, she has been involved in research within the University for nearly three decades. Link to her bio on the KOMO website.

Clifford Mass

 Professor Clifford Mass is an expert in synoptic and mesoscale meteorology. More on Cliff can be found here on Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences site, and his research and projects are featured on his website.