For 22 Western Kentucky University students, a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, wasn’t a summer vacation, but another example of the applied learning experiences offered by WKU through White Squirrel Weather and the Emergency Management Disaster Science program.
Students in Meteorology, Emergency Management Disaster Science, Homeland Security Sciences and Recreation & Sport Administration provided weather and support services for the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games June 5-12 at several venues in Orlando.
Graduate student John Bowen of Louisville called the experience “the biggest resume builder of my academic career.”
Bowen, a second-year master’s student in the Homeland Security Sciences program with a concentration in EMDS, served as deputy to University Meteorologist Josh Durkee on the weather desk in the USA Games main operations center.
About 10 WKU students, faculty and staff were among the group of 40 people from around the country who worked together in the main operations center each day during the June 5-12 event in Orlando. Others in the WKU group conducted field observations at event venues or provided additional services like sports communication, crisis communication, transportation and safety services. More: View from the Hill
