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When Glen “Hurricane” Schwartz tells Channel 10 viewers that it’s going to rain, there’s a good chance University of Delaware graduate student Jennifer Glovier had something to do with it.
She’s not a rainmaker; she’s been an intern with WCAU-TV Channel 10, the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia, since January 2001, a year-and-a-half after she entered the UD geography department’s Atmospheric Science Program.
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| Channel 10 meteorologist Kathy Orr coaches UD graduate student Jennifer Glovier, as part of Glovier's internship with the NBC affiliate. |
Glovier helps meteorologists Schwartz, Kathy Orr and John Bolaris gather meteorological data. Then, she and Orr, her mentor, discuss the data and weather systems that affect the Delaware Valley.
“At first I was confused by what data to use to make the forecast, but they were very patient with me and after a while, I understood,” Glovier said.
The intern also takes calls from viewers with information about the local weather and helps coordinate different elements of the weathercast, such as graphics and new viewer information, for the on-air meteorologists.
Channel 10 likes to hire students studying meteorology and then teach them broadcasting, instead of the other way around. This is why WCAU’s weather internships include a considerable amount of coaching by the on-air staff, Glovier said.
Since she has considerable training in meteorology and climatology, but no background in communication or journalism, she said she finds the broadcast-oriented coaching extremely useful.
When the studio isn’t in use, Glovier practices weathercasts. The camera crew tapes them and then she and Orr critique her performance. She’s produced a tape good enough to be sent to smaller market television stations and she said she’ll start doing more of that soon.
Glovier earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental science with a concentration in atmospheric conditions from UD in 1999. During the summer of 2000, after her first year in graduate school, she realized that she had to make a decision about what she wanted to do with her education. A friend suggested a career in broadcasting—forecasting the weather. She thought it was an intriguing idea and decided to apply for an internship with a television station to see if weathercasting was for her.
She said the idea of using her science-based education to give the public information they can use in their daily lives was appealing.
Her family has always been fascinated by the weather and its power over people’s lives, but even more so when the threat of Hurricane Gloria and the possibility of a flood forced the family to clear everything out of their basement. Their respect for the fearsomeness of weather grew even more when their home in Hockessin came close to being hit by a tornado, and they witnessed the damage done to the homes of their friends and neighbors, Glovier said.
When weather conditions reach that potential for harm, “everybody looks to the weather forecaster to tell them what’s going to happen. People rely on those forecasts,” she said. “It’s amazing what weather can do.”
The more she worked with the meteorologists at WCAU, the more Glovier said she was convinced this was what she wanted to do with her life.
Her master’s degree thesis, on severe thunderstorms in the Philadelphia area, is almost finished. In the meantime, she’ll be interning at the station through the spring semester and working on an audition tape to secure her own on-air job.
Story by Barbara Garrison
April 15, 2002
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