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Internships and Service

Valpo’s meteorology program is a real boon to Northwest Indiana, a region that often faces volatile and dramatic weather conditions. The region, in turn, offers a plethora of opportunities for meteorology students to learn by doing.

Valpo meteorology students also gain experience, both during the academic year and in the summer, through internships. Cooperative placements, which combine paid, professional work with the academic program, are occasionally available as well.

The Valpo Weather Center, with its sophisticated instrumentation, provides a critical service to the community. Municipal officials, as well as the University, rely on the forecasts and weather bulletins issued by the center’s student staff, especially during the seasons affected by thunderstorms and lake-effect snow. Students who staff the center also answer questions from the community.

Student forecasters use their expertise to report severe weather events to Skywarn, a volunteer program of the National Weather Service, and students interested in broadcast meteorology volunteer for the campus TV and radio stations, VUTV and WVUR.

In addition to the everyday work of forecasting, the meteorology honor society hosts an annual Meteorology Field Day, inviting students at local elementary schools to learn about earth and atmospheric science through hands-on experiments, presentations, and videos.

Valpo meteorology students are welcomed as interns, both in Northwest Indiana during the school year and across the country during breaks. Internships, in addition to providing valuable work experience, can be undertaken for academic credit with the approval of the department. Valpo meteorology interns have worked at TV and radio stations, in industry, and with research organizations. Internship locations include:

Valpo meteorology students compete nationally for summer Research Experience for Undergraduate positions. These REU programs aim to match students with professional mentors to conduct research on a variety of topics. Students engage in field campaigns and study severe weather, satellite meteorology, climatology, societal impacts of weather, and a multitude of environmental and atmospheric topics. A short list of REUs available to Valpo meteorology students: