Sean Arms joined the Unidata Program Center software development staff on May 23rd, 2011. Sean comes to Unidata from the University of Oklahoma, where he completed his Bachelor's, Master's, and most recently Doctoral degrees in Meteorology.
Sean is a familiar face to the rest of the Program Center staff; in addition to attending numerous Unidata workshops over the years, he served as the first student representative to the Unidata Users committee. "I got involved after Unidata's 2006 Triennial workshop," Sean says. "I was so impressed when I learned that the National Science Foundation was funding this community-driven, service oriented organization; I wanted to get involved however I could." Sean talked with members of the Users committee at that meeting, pointing out that many students were using Unidata software and data streams and asking why there was no student representation on the committee. "That's when I learned that suggesting can be the same as volunteering," he says.
Sean's research interests of late have focused on coherent structures in turbulent flows of the atmospheric surface layer, and he predicts that being able to interact with NCAR scientists will keep him well informed on that front. As for making the transition from spending the bulk of his time doing basic science to working in Unidata's service-oriented environment, he says "I enjoy research — it satisfies my own intellectual curiosity — but there are very tangible outcomes from what we (Unidata) do, and I like that as well."
"My interests are research, teaching, and interacting with people," says Sean. "While traditionally that might look like a career in academia, You can do all of those things nicely here at Unidata." Sean hopes to be active in teaching workshop sessions, participating in UCAR's SOARS and HIRO mentoring programs, and in reaching out to the Unidata community.
To read Sean's impressions of his first few weeks at the Unidata Program Center, click over to his posts on the Unidata Developer's Blog.
Please join us in welcoming Sean to the Unidata Program Center!
