State Climatologist​/Associate in Research, 12 Month Salaried (Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Pred

Department

College of Arts & Sciences

Florida Climate Center / Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS)

The State Climatologist heads the Florida Climate Center (the State climate office for Florida), housed within the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) in the College of Arts and Sciences, and oversees its day-to-day operations. The State Climatologist directly supervises one full-time employee, assigns and oversees the work of undergraduate students, summer interns, and computer programmers/IT staff, and works in partnership with the National Weather Service, the National Centers for Environmental Information, and the Southeast Regional Climate Center to provide climate services for the State of Florida.

The Florida Climate Center is an AASC (American Association of State Climatologists) Recognized State Climate Office (ARSCO), and the State Climatologist is responsible for maintaining ARSCO status as a full member of the AASC. Travel to conferences, workshops, and outreach events is required.

• Take an active role in listening to and understanding customer needs and respond quickly and effectively by providing or directing customers to information that fills those needs, including answering routine questions and data requests and certifying climate data for use in legal matters.
• Participate in working groups where climate matters are involved, such as the U.S. Drought Monitor (Florida Monitoring Group), the NIDIS Southeast Drought Early Warning System, the Tri-State Row Crop Working Group, University of Florida Extension climate variability/change groups, climate/agriculture/forestry working groups, and AASC committees.

• Engage in collaborative research, including research into climate variability and downscaled climate information and their application to agriculture, forestry, urban planning, and water resources.
• Advance the understanding of regional interannual climate variability in Florida and the Southeast U.S. by contributing to peer-reviewed research and providing applied climate forecast information and products to user groups.

• Oversee and develop the suite of climate data and products served through the Florida Climate Center website, as well as partner websites such as Florida Climate Institute and Agro Climate.org, including an interactive historic climate database and data display/download tools.
• Maintain and refine the Florida Climate Center website (climatecenter.fsu.edu) to ensure it remains a relevant, easy-to-use clearinghouse for historic climate data and information in Florida.

• Participate in Extension-sponsored workshops, commodity meetings, in-service training, and invited talks and workshops each year.
• Represent the Florida Climate Center at community events such as NWS Weather Fest, the Mag Lab open house, Earth Day at FSU, and the FSU Marine Lab open house.
• Oversee the production of regular climate summaries and newsletters highlighting climate stories, new climate data decision and research products, outreach events, and activities of the Center.

• Serve as the primary spokesperson for the Florida Climate Center to traditional media (State and national newspapers and radio interviews).
• Oversee the Center's presence on social media (Facebook, X, and Blue Sky) and contributions to climate blogs to expand the Center's reach and audience.

• Work collaboratively with research scientists at COAPS, FSU, and external institutions to pursue competitive federal and non-federal funding opportunities through research proposals; prepare peer-reviewed publications based on research and project findings; and secure funding to grow the activities of the Center.

The position requires a master’s degree from an accredited institution in Meteorology, Climatology, or a related science, and a minimum of five years of professional experience in climate services, applied climatology, or a closely related field. A doctoral degree from an accredited institution in a relevant field and a minimum of three years of professional experience in…