UFS Ambassador Program
Background
As a Unified Forecast System (UFS) Ambassador, you will have the opportunity to work directly with the UFS Community, Education and Outreach (CEO) Group and the Earth Prediction Innovation Center’s Community Engagement Team to get more students and researchers involved in the UFS community. This program is the result of, and builds on work from, previous UFS Lapenta Interns.
A UFS Ambassador has the opportunity to choose from three task tracks: Technical, Strategic, or Outreach. Each of the task tracks have a baseline and advanced option, depending on the Ambassador’s available time and interest. The Ambassador(s) will work with the UFS Community Engagement Specialist to select task track and time commitments.
Eligibility: Who should be an Ambassador?
For the UFS to be successful in years to come, the academic sector (i.e., students, professors, researchers) needs to play a central role. Any student is encouraged to join the UFS Ambassador Program. If you have an interest in the UFS, numerical weather prediction, or operational weather forecasts this opportunity could be for you. If you are an educator or researcher in this space and would like to share the UFS within your network, we would also love to hear from you.
Responsibilities
Formally represent the UFS community and the EPIC Program.
Provide feedback and recommendations to the UFS Community Engagement Specialist and the UFS CEO Team
Communicate how the UFS can benefit students and researchers within your network and community. Review How UFS Benefits Academia to learn more.
Relevant Links
Task Tracks
1. Technical
Baseline: Attend a UFS training and/or do a virtual tutorial and provide your perspective or feedback. The end deliverable should be a document on your experience reviewing online resources, using the tutorials, running UFS applications, or attending a training. This should include found code errors/bugs, and recommendations for improvement, etc. UFS Tutorials can be found on EPIC’s website and EPIC’s Get Code Page
Advanced: Create your own tutorial or test case of the UFS. The end deliverable can be in any format desired (ie, step-by-step written tutorial, video, or other multimedia presentation).
Requirements: Have access to High-Performance Computing (HPC) or cloud resource and familiarity with Linux/Unix terminals and shell scripting.
Point of Contact(s):
EPIC Support Team |
2. Strategic
Baseline: Review the existing UFS Student Engagement Plan and EPIC’s Student Page and provide feedback and recommendations from a student perspective to the existing strategies. The end deliverable should be 1-3 pages documenting what you think will or will not work in the engagement plan and identify areas of improvement.
Advanced: Develop a new comprehensive student engagement strategy and/or implement a student engagement strategy. The end deliverable will be a written engagement strategy or will vary depending on the engagement strategy administered.
Point of Contact(s):
Jen Vogt EPIC Deputy Program Manager | Hendrik Tolman UFS Steering Committee Chair |
3. Outreach
Baseline: Review existing social media, infographics, web resources, and share these posts within your network. This track does not have a specific end deliverable but can be ongoing depending on interest and availability. You may also provide recommendations and feedback on existing social media efforts.
Current EPIC Social Media Accounts:
X | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | Vimeo | Youtube
Advanced: Create new social media posts, infographics, and web resources in consultation with the UFS Community Engagement Specialist.
Point of Contact(s):
Alison Gregory UFS Community Engagement Specialist |
