Faculty

Dr. David Babb is the lead faculty for the Undergraduate Certificate in Weather Forecasting and an associate teaching professor in the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science. Dr. Babb enjoys the challenges of teaching online and has been designing instruction of meteorological and scientific curricula for more than 15 years.  He believes that online learning provides an unprecedented access to knowledge and allows students to be lifelong learners in any field in which they find interest.

Steve Seman is assistant director of the Certificate of Achievement in Weather Forecasting program. He has written forecasts for the New York Times and has regularly appeared as a forecaster on Weather World, which airs on WPSU television and the Pennsylvania Cable Network. He specializes in weather analysis and forecasting on the synoptic scale and mesoscale, as well as in instructional design and development of asynchronous online courses. He was the recipient of both the John A. Dutton Award in Atmospheric Dynamics and the Special Award for Teaching Support in Meteorology in 2003.

Dr. Sim Aberson is a research meteorologist for the Hurricane Research Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Miami, Florida. He participates in NOAA's Hurricane Field Program by flying into hurricanes to collect critical observations used in research and forecasting. Dr. Aberson has worked on numerous projects aimed at improving observational data from aircraft and satellites and better assimilating the data into computer models, with the overall goal of advancing the accuracy of tropical cyclone forecasting. He joined the certificate program faculty in 2013, and he teaches Fundamentals of Tropical Forecasting.

Steve Corfidi is a research associate for the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorology Studies at the University of Oklahoma and the NWS Warning Decision Training Division. Prior to this position, he retired as a lead forecaster with the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. Corfidi has won numerous awards for excellence in forecasting, including Department of Commerce Silver Medals for his contributions to forecasts of tornado outbreaks on April 2, 1982, and December 16, 2000, as well as a Gold Medal for a series of severe weather outbreaks from May 4 to 10, 2003. He joined the certificate program faculty in 2013, and he teaches Fundamentals of Mesoscale Forecasting.

Brian Carcione is the science and operations officer at the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast office in Hunstville, Alabama. In addition to serving as the liaison between the NWS and NASA Earth Science Office (specifically the Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center, or SPoRT Center), he has extensive experience as an operational forecaster. He has issued countless forecasting products for a wide variety of hazardous weather episodes, including several violent tornado events, such as the “Super Outbreak” of April 2011. He joined the certificate program faculty in 2016, and he teaches Fundamentals of Mesoscale Forecasting.