Clear Skies Ahead: Kim Klockow McClain

“Social sciences are recognized because we have a community and we’re starting to gel and create opportunities. I love that one of the things that I’ve gotten to do is create new jobs and new opportunities for people coming up so they don’t have to face the kinds of uncertainty that I did. I kind of feel like I’ve been the Johnny Appleseed of social science positions, especially in NOAA. I’ll create something and get a federal job brought into it, and then I’ll go to another thing and plant it at another organization. I started at NOAA headquarters after I graduated and spent a year as a Congressional Science fellow. I helped develop strategy, put out calls for proposals, and did the work to figure out the science and help gear the research community toward meeting the needs of NOAA and the weather service specifically.”
—Kim Klockow McClain, UCAR senior social scientist supporting the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, on the expanding opportunities for people coming into the social sciences. For more, listen to the Clear Skies Ahead podcast (https://blubrry.com/clear_skies_ahead/), with new episodes released every month.