Captain John Callahan was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1944. His family moved to New Jersey, where he attended St. Joseph’s Grammar School and graduated from Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey, in 1961. John was the first in his family to attend college. He went to the State University of New York Maritime College and graduated with a degree in marine engineering before earning his law degree from Catholic University in 1971. Captain Callahan started his career as a naval architect/marine engineer for M.

Craig McLean was born in Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1957. His father was a first-generation immigrant from Scotland who served in the US Navy during World War II. His mother was a second-generation daughter of Sicilian immigrants. He grew up along the Passaic River, was a self-described "river rat," became a certified diver, and worked for a boatyard next to his house. At Rutgers College, Craig studied marine biology and zoology and worked on research cruises with NOAA ships. During the summers, he worked in the commercial and retail dive industry.

David Vallee is the Hydrologist-in-Charge of the National Weather Service’s Northeast River Forecast Center. The center provides detailed water resource and life-saving flood forecasting services to National Weather Service Forecast Offices and the hundreds of federal, state and local water resource entities throughout the Northeast and New York. David has worked for the National Weather Service for 30 years, serving in a variety of positions including Senior Service Hydrologist at the Taunton Weather Forecast Office from 1993-2000 and as Science and Operations Officer from 2001-2006.

Dr. Jerome "Nick" Heffter served as a research meteorologist at OAR's Air Resources Lab. He was a pioneer in modeling the dispersion of nuclear radiation and other atmospheric pollutants during the Cold War.  Nick tracked the release of nuclear radiation from Chernobyl in 1986 and reported it to US leaders before Russia informed the world of what is considered the worst nuclear accident in world history.  Currently, Nick is retired from NOAA, but works as a contractor at the Air Resources Lab.

Scope and Content Note

Dr. John Bossler was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1936.  He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in civil engineering in 1959 and went to work for the Coast and Geodetic Survey.  John earned a master's and PhD in Geodetic Science from Ohio State University.  Until 1986, John served as Director of the Coast and Geodetic Survey (C&GS) and the National Geodetic Survey (NGS).  As Director of C&GS, he was an Admiral in the NOAA Commissioned Corps.

John Ogren was born in 1966 in Blue Island, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He was fascinated by the weather from an early age. He grew up listening to his grandfather's stories about the deadly 1967 oak lawn tornado outbreak. In high school, John became really interested in earth science and was "hooked" after a six-week weather unit in science class. Mr. Ogren attended Western Illinois University, where he graduated in 1988 with a degree in geography and a minor in broadcasting and communications.

Laurel Bryant was born in Mount Vernon, Washington, and raised in Seattle.  She attended Shoreline Community College for two years and then graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Political Science and Economics with a concentration in Environmental Sciences.  She came to Washington, DC, in 1989 and worked for the United States House of Representatives Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, the predecessor to the House Natural Resources Committee.

Mrs. Linda Lawhorn-Brown was born in Winnsboro, South Carolina in 1958.  She moved to Washington, D.C. while she was in high school, and after graduation, attended the University of Maryland- College Park, where she majored in special education.  In 1987, Linda came to work for NOAA.  Her first position was with Bill Stanley, who served eventually as NOAA's historian.  Since 1990, Linda has worked in the Office of the Under Secretary, working closely with various administrators, dignitaries, and NOAA staff.  

Scope and Content Note

Dr. Lixion Avila is a renowned meteorologist who has made significant contributions to the field of weather forecasting. Born on November 25, 1950, in Havana, Cuba, Avila grew up in an American church, celebrating holidays like Thanksgiving. His family history traces back to Spain on his father's side and Eastern Europe on his mother's side. Avila's father held various jobs, one of which was a cowboy, transporting cattle from Central Cuba to Havana. Growing up in the Caribbean, he encountered and became fascinated with tropical storms.

Ms. Louisa Koch was born in Boston in 1959 and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts.  She attended Middlebury College in Vermont and graduated with a degree in Physics in 1982.  After working as a consultant for Booz Allen and Hamilton and a researcher for the National Academy of Sciences, Louisa went on to earn her master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987. She started her career in Washington working for the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress as a staff economist.