This one hour webinar explores best practices in informal weather education outreach and share successful examples from the Extreme Events Institute (EEI) and International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida (http://eei.fiu.edu/).  Attendees will learn about the NOAA Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador Program and ways to make your community Ready, Responsive and Resilient. This includes weather science, safety, mitigation, and preparedness and engages public-private-corporate partnerships, including your local National Weather Service, emergency management, and media.  Attendees will also learn about FIU’s amazing NSF-NHERI Wall of Wind (http://www.ihrc.fiu.edu/).

Guest Speaker

Erik Salna, Associate Director of Education and Outreach for the Extreme Events Institute (EEI) and the International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) at Florida International University (FIU), Miami, Florida

Erik Salna is a Meteorologist and currently Associate Director of Education and Outreach for the Extreme Events Institute (EEI) and the International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida.  EEI and the IHRCare at the forefront of reducing the impact of natural hazard events through research on storm surge, economic loss modeling and wind engineering, including the NSF-NHERI Wall of Wind.  Erik also has over 25 years of experience as a broadcast meteorologist, providing live continuous coverage for hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding.  In 2023, Erik was awarded the Lew Fincher Award by the National Tropical Weather Conference and was nominated for Weatherperson of the Year by the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH).  Erik was also inducted into the Meteorologist Hall of Fame in 2020 by the Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center.  Erik and his beautiful wife Jane love to snorkel in the tropical oceans and hike our nation’s beautiful National Parks.  Erik has the American Meteorological Society Television Seal of Approval, is a Full Member of the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association and earned a MS in Meteorology from Northern Illinois University and a BS in Physical Geography with an emphasis in Meteorology from the University of Illinois.