Dr. Shakila Merchant, CUNY CREST HIRES Director served as a co-panelist on the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS) – UPEC panel discussion held on January 23, 2025. The session focused on the evolution of careers in disruptive environments. The session was moderated by Mariette Kulin, Senior Meteorologist, Training and Career Development Division, Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC), Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and other panelists included Dr. Véronique Bouchet, Director General of the Canadian Centre for Meteorological and Environmental Prediction (CCMEP), MSC, ECCC; Ada Loewen, PhD Candidate & Chair of the CMOS Student Committee; and Dr. David Sills, Director, Northern Tornadoes Project, Canadian Severe Storms Lab, Western University.
The overarching question discussed at the panel was: “In light of the themes discussed on day 1 of the workshop (advances in AI/machine learning, climate change, EDI in the disrupted environment), in what ways do we anticipate careers in the weather and climate enterprise to evolve?” The session entailed enlightening discussions and sharing of views on what the future workforce enterprise would look like with the ongoing fears raised about AI taking away jobs through increasing automation. It also included talks on how climate change is leading to increasing impacts on the public at large and fueling the need for more development in the weather and climate enterprise via research, innovation, science communication, and delivery of weather services. Given these uncertainties, panelists also discussed what skills or competencies might be needed for students and scientists to succeed in the future atmospheric, oceanic, and climate sciences workforce, and how universities and professional development programs should evolve to meet those needs.
