Chad Kauffman

Dr. Chad Kauffman is a Professor in the Department of Biology, Earth, & Environmental Sciences. Chad earned his Master’s & Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. For many years he was the co-director of the undergraduate meteorology program at California University of Pennsylvania, which has produced numerous Ph.D. alumni in the years since. He is a longtime former advisor to the Meteorology Club on PennWest’s campus, which earned multiple national awards from the National Weather Association (NWA) and American Meteorological Society (AMS) as a local chapter affiliate. During those initial 16 years of his career, he also led multiple storm chase expeditions in the High Plains and mentored scores of students who have gone on to work for NOAA and NASA and other Federal agencies. Currently, Dr. Kauffman directs the Post Baccalaureate Certificate program in partnership with the American Meteorological Society (AMS), teaching K-12 teachers nationwide. A founding member of the Southwest Pennsylvania Chapter of the AMS, Kauffman is also the author of AMS’ textbook entitled, Our Changing Climate: An Introduction to Climate Science. During active semesters he authors weekly Current Weather Studies for students and educators nationwide. He is the curriculum development coordinator for the AMS Education program and DataStreme Lead, a K-12 professional development program. He manages a nationwide mentoring initiative for teachers who participate in DataStreme. Kauffman is also the campus lead for two other Federally funded courses in STEM education (Project Atmosphere & Project Ice). He has presented research, led workshops, and engaged in numerous panel discussions at AMS Annual Meetings, as well as the National Weather Association (NWA), and the Pennsylvania Geographical Society (PGS).