John Jensenius

Warning Coordination Meteorologist
National Weather Service

Efforts in Lightning Safety Education

John has always had a keen interest in lightning and lightning safety, but became more involved in lightning safety education in 1995 when he became Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the NWS Office in Gray. In 1999, John initiated and conducted a week-long lightning awareness campaign for Maine and New Hampshire which included public television and public radio shows, numerous news reports, seminars, press releases, web-based information, and media graphics. The success of the 1999 lightning awareness activities in Maine and New Hampshire led John to propose the first "National" Lightning Safety Awareness Week which was conducted in 2001. This lightning safety effort has continued to grow since its inception. John has developed a considerable amount of educational material and has worked with numerous organizations such as Little League Baseball to promote lightning safety among their participants. John serves as a NOAA spokesperson on lightning safety and, in addition to numerous non-technical talks, interviews, and television and radio shows concerning lightning and lightning safety, John has made live appearances on network shows such as the Today Show and the CBS Early Show. For his work in lightning safety education, John was awarded the National Weather Association's 2005 Public Education Award. In 2006, in recognition of John's efforts to initiate NOAA's lightning safety efforts and for his contributions to that effort, John was awarded a Department of Commerce Silver Medal, the Departments second highest honor.

As Warning Coordination Meteorologist

In his current position as Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) at the National Weather Service (NWS) in Gray , Maine , John serves as the office liaison for federal, state, and local emergency management officials on issues related to the weather. He is responsible for coordinating outreach and awareness activities with the public, and serves as the primary media contact for the office. John is also responsible for documenting weather-related deaths, injuries, and damages in his office's area of service.

Other Special Activities:

In addition to his work locally on hurricane preparedness, John has served as a member of the NOAA-FEMA Hurricane Liaison Team and was called to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) for Hurricanes Georges in 1998 and Hurricane Irene in 1999. At the NHC, John coordinated forecast information between NHC and federal state, and private emergency response and recovery agencies and organizations.

Background

John received a BA degree in Earth Science/Meteorology from Millersville University in 1974 and an MS degree in Meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University in 1976. In 1976, John began his professional career teaching meteorology and climatology at the State University of New York at Oneonta. From 1977 through 1994, John worked for the National Weather Service's Techniques Development Laboratory (TDL), first as a research meteorologist and later as Chief of the Computer System Section of the Synoptic-Scale Techniques Branch. At TDL, John was responsible for developing and disseminating statistical forecast products to be used by meteorologists nationwide. In 1993, he was awarded the Department of Commerce Bronze Medal Award for his work in statistical weather prediction. Since 1995, John has served as the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the NWS office in the Gray, Maine. John is a member of the American Meteorological Society.