Clear Skies Ahead: Alyssa Bates

ALYSSA BATES, research associate at the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations and the National Weather Service Warning Decision Training Division, both in Norman, Oklahoma, on how she obtained a position in her field. For more, listen to the Clear Skies Ahead podcast, with new episodes released every other Tuesday. 

“I discovered what I like to do through trying various things and then pursued those opportunities. I would ask if I could work on a project with someone or help design an experiment even if it wasn’t my chain of command. Once you get your foot in the door it leads to other opportunities. I was even the lead principal investigator for one of the projects and I never thought I would be a lead principal investigator because I work in training. So you never know what opportunities will present themselves unless you start putting feelers out in whatever you’re interested in.”