Dr. Melissa Burt is the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering at Colorado State University. In this position, Dr. Burt, oversees and leads the strategic and implementation efforts for diversity, inclusion, and equity goals across the College. The Office of the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion focuses on recruitment, retention, and engagement of faculty/staff, and supports the college-wide recruitment and retention efforts of undergraduate and graduate students from historically underrepresented groups. Her research focuses on the interactions of Arctic clouds, radiation, and sea ice, with interests ranging from cloud-radiation feedbacks, hydrological and energy cycles in climate, and climate change feedbacks. Outside of CSU, she is the Vice President for the non-profit 501(c)3 organization, the Earth Science Women’s Network. Dr. Burt has served on a variety of boards and councils and currently serves as a Council member of the American Meteorological Society and the inaugural chair of the AMS Culture and Inclusion Cabinet. Dr. Burt has a B.S. degree in Meteorology from Millersville University and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University.

Dr. Morris is a Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences and Director of the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences at the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. Previously, he was at Howard University, where he served as the Founding Director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program, a Professor of Chemistry and Atmospheric Sciences, and Founding Director of the NOAA Cooperative Science Center for Atmospheric Sciences. Dr. Morris has mentored over 150 students from Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other racialized groups including 20 PhDs and 20 MS students as primary advisor. Further, 40% of the undergraduate students that he has mentored have gone on to acquire advanced degrees in STEM fields. He has been committed to developing programs to increase access to advanced STEM education and careers for over thirty years. These efforts include spearheading the Colour of Weather Networking receptions at the AMS and the No Time for Silence Call to action earlier this year.

Dr. Morris holds degrees from Morehouse College (B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics) and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Ph.D. in Geophysical Sciences). Dr. Morris is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and currently serves on the EPA Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, the American Geophysical Union's Diversity and Inclusion Committee, the UCAR Board of Trustees, and the Council of the American Meteorological Society.

Dr. Louis W. Uccellini is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Assistant Administrator for Weather Services, Director of the National Weather Service and permanent U.S. Representative at the World Meteorological Organization. In this role, he is responsible for the day-to-day civilian weather operations for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters, and ocean areas.

Prior to this position, he served as the Director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) for 14 years. He was responsible for directing and planning the science, technology, and operations related to NCEP’s nine centers. He led the 13 year effort to plan, develop and build the new NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (the NCWCP Building) at the University of Maryland M Squared Research Center. He also oversaw the implementation of a Seamless Suite of Models from the S2S to Mesoscale modeling systems based on the principle of multi model ensembles. Prior to joining the NWS, Dr. Uccellini was the section head for the Mesoscale Analysis and Modeling Section at the Goddard Space Flight Center’s Laboratory for Atmospheres from 1978 to 1989. Dr. Uccellini received his Ph.D. (1977), Master (1972) and Bachelor of Science (1971) degrees in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.