Our club is entirely student-run and is managed by the following nine Vermont State University-Lyndon students plus a faculty advisor. We cannot thank them enough for their dedication to our club’s continued excellence!
2024-2025 Chapter Officers
President – Andy Mckeen
Andy McKeen is a fourth-year Atmospheric Sciences student at Vermont State University – Lyndon. Their passion for weather and climate stems from growing up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, which sticks out precariously into the North Atlantic Ocean. Since beginning at Lyndon, they have had the opportunity to work with the AMS executive board as the Club Representative and now as President. Alongside working with AMS, Andy is also a Climate Champion with The Climate Consensus. This past summer Andy had the incredible opportunity to participate in the SIParCS internship at NSF NCAR in Boulder, Colorado. Andy worked closely with the GeoCAT team to contribute climatology content to the new GeoCAT Applications website. When Andy is not keeping an eye on the local weather and global climate, they enjoy hiking, biking, relaxing on the beach, and spending time with family. After graduation, Andy plans on continuing their education, whether that be formally at a graduate institution, or informally in the industry.
Vice President – Nathan Moore
Nate is a third-year student here at Lyndon pursuing a major in Atmospheric Sciences with concentrations in the National Weather Service and Grad School, and minoring in Mathematics as well. While growing up in southern New England, Nate was able to experience the joys of all types of weather which have contributed to his love of it and the power it has. Outside of academics, Nate runs for the Lyndon Cross Country Team, and continues to train on his own year-round on the roads and in the gym. During his second year on the AMS executive board as Vice President, Nate is looking forward to working with the rest of his board members on having a successful 50th NESC and successful school year.
Secretary – Brennen Webb
Brennen Webb is a senior in the Atmospheric Sciences department at VTSU-Lyndon pursuing mainly Broadcast, but has other concentrations in National Weather Service and Private Industry. This is his first year on the board as the current secretary. He is from Mentor, Ohio. You can find him in News 7 on our campus performing weather-related content for social media and local surrounding areas. Relating to that, Brennen has recently completed a job shadowing this past summer for ABC News 5 in Cleveland, Ohio. Some other interesting facts about Brennen is that he was active in VTSU Public Safety for 3 years of his schooling providing security and surveillance to any students on campus. Recently, he left Public Safety and joined the VTSU-Lyndon Maintenance crew for his last academic year in which he helps with any campus facility issues or needs from students. Brennen enjoys exercising in the gym at Lyndon, and staying social and engrossed in the local campus community. He looks forward to a great last year at Lyndon and is excited to bring you this year’s Northeastern Storm Conference.
Treasurer – William Perkins
Will is a senior in the Lyndon Atmospheric Sciences major that is concentrating in the National Weather Service and Graduate school tracks. Will is excited for his second year on the board, shifting from the historian role to being the treasurer of the club. Will is originally from Holtwood, PA, a small town that is near the Mason-Dixon line. This is where his love for weather originated when a severe storm produced a tornado a mile from his house. Will also plays baseball on the Lyndon baseball team as an outfielder. Baseball has been a passion of Will’s since he was 5, and he is excited to continue playing in his senior year. Outside of weather and baseball, you can find Will playing games with friends, hiking, enjoying the outdoors, or playing video games. Will is looking forward to having another successful year as an executive board member and helping make the 50th NESC a success!
Public Relations – Morgan Fellows
Community Outreach – Jordan Arpin
Jordan is a 4th year student from Harrisville, Rhode Island focusing on broadcast and private industry. As a kid he always wanted to be a broadcast meteorologist, which started when he was only 7 years old. Jordan took an elementary meteorology class at his high school (Ponaganset High School) in 2020, which further interested him in pursuing a career in broadcast meteorology. Jordan arrived at Lyndon in the Fall of 2021, and hasn’t looked back since. Jordan has been a part of News 7 for over a year, where he helps other broadcasters behind the scenes. You can even see him in front of the camera every Thursday, forecasting the weather for the NEK. He has made the Dean’s list every semester at Lyndon, taking a wide variety of classes in topics such as meteorology, broadcasting, music and communications. During his time at Lyndon, Jordan has also volunteered for HOPE. HOPE is a non-profit organization that helps families and individuals with life’s basic needs, as well as striving to create a community that responds in a caring and supportive way to individuals and family needs so that all members of the community can grow and thrive. If you can’t find Jordan on the atmospheric science floor or in the News 7 studio, you can find him at the gym, going for a hike, watching baseball, or hanging out with friends.
Historian – Dakota Wiley
Dakota is a fourth-year student majoring in Atmospheric Science with concentrations in National Weather Service and Private Industry. He comes from a small rural town called Sheldon, Vermont, where he grew up for most of his life. During Kindergarten at Sheldon Elementary School, he developed a strong passion for weather which has since continued to grow. Dakota got the incredible opportunity this summer to attend and complete a research internship with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He examined the lightning contrast in tropical environments between ocean and land. During his free time he likes to go fishing on land or by boat, do some nightime photography, and be with friends and family. Dakota is excited to step up and join the Lyndon Chapter of AMS/NWA Executive Board for the first time as Historian.
Club Representative – Benjamin Cohen-Tyler
I am a third-year Atmospheric Sciences student at VTSU Lyndon with concentrations in Graduate School and the National Weather Service, and a minor in Outdoor Education. I love all things meteorology, but my primary interest is in tropical cyclones. I hope to one day work at the National Hurricane Center or be an attending meteorologist for the hurricane hunters. I enjoy all things related to the outdoors, but especially hiking, caving, and rock climbing. I am excited to see you all at NESC!
Committee Chair – Patrick George
Advisor – Dr. Ari D. Preston
Dr. Preston joined the Atmospheric Sciences faculty in 2017 after earning his Ph.D. in Meteorology from Florida State University. He has enjoyed engaging students in the Lyndon community and getting them excited about the weather by implementing classroom activities that make them apply concepts from the classroom to the real world. For example, first-year students get to examine severe weather case studies using GRLevel2 Analyst in Survey of Meteorology. Dr. Preston also implements GRLevel2 Analyst and the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) into his labs for Remote Sensing.
Dr. Preston recently submitted a paper for publication to the Journal of Geophysical Research. The paper includes results from his work with the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with chemistry (WRF-Chem). Results from the simulated fields show that pollution from distance sources is wrapped into Typhoon Mireille (1991) and subsequently lofted by eyewall convection to the upper troposphere, enhancing concentrations in this region. Dr. Preston plans to continue studying tropical cyclones at NVU-Lyndon with a focus on intensity forecasting.
Dr. Preston also has considerable experience conducting lightning-related research. He closely collaborated with the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron in developing lightning cessation guidance to help improve lightning warnings for America’s space program at NASA Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Dr. Preston will be using the Warning Decision Support System – Integrated Information (WDSS-II) software to continue researching convective storms and lightning at NVU-Lyndon. He plans to test the lightning cessation algorithm that he developed for isolated thunderstorms in Florida on storms in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S.