ENHS Nature Trails October 2002 Article 1

This month's speaker: Joseph Calbreath

Most of us think of a meteor as a particle of matter from outer space that incandesces upon entry into our atmosphere--that's one kind, it can also be a rainbow or a hurricane or that green glow on the horizon that precipitates calls to the police that space invaders are about to land. Thus the word meteor includes any "phenomenon or appearance in the atmosphere." And this month's speaker has researched and reported on these phenomena since his introduction to meteorology in college. With meteors such an integral part of his daily life, it's an easy slide into the study of global warming. Joseph Calbreath, the Channel 16 KMTR-TV weatherman, tells us the directions his life took to lead him to his current research of global warming.

FROM LOCH NESS TO VIET NAM
We traveled a lot because my father was in the Air Force. I lived in England (age 5-8) and Okinawa (13-15). In England I still remember going to Loch Ness and Nottingham Castle. In Okinawa I remember learning to snorkel and experiencing the four typhoons we were in. Two of those typhoons, Nancy and Tilda, were what's known as super typhoons with winds in excess of 155 mph. I later spent time in Viet Nam (age 21-22) as well as experienced extended visits to the Philippines during my year and a half in Viet Nam. My observations of the way the people live in all of these countries has had a profound effect on the way I view the world.

FROM TRACTOR TO TRAIL
Our family took lots of long car trips visiting many of our National Parks. We camped a lot on vacations at parks along the coast and in the mountains. Several of my uncles are farmers, and in my early teens, I would get to stay with them during family visits. I loved being around the horses and the sheep as well as helping with the work as I got older. The first time I was put to work driving a tractor by myself is still a vivid memory. My cousins taught me to hunt and fish and took me into the mountains for the first time. I still love being in the mountains and try to find as many reasons as possible to spend time there. I love hiking, skiing, and fishing and my wife and I love waterfalls. We plan waterfall hikes every year and we look for local waterfalls wherever we go.

13 SCHOOLS IN 12 GRADES
Since I changed schools 13 times to get through 12 grades, I don't have a lot of memories of my early teachers, but several college professors influenced me greatly. After getting out of the service I went back to college wanting to learn as much as I could about the world and how it worked; I found myself studying geography. As an undergraduate at Sonoma State College I went on lots of field trips, both memorable and influential, especially the ones to Baja California. One of the courses offered in the Geography Department was meteorology. I know that may sound funny, but the Physics Department didn't have anyone who could or wanted to teach meteorology. The meteorology professor was Leon Hunsaker. He had been the lead forecaster for Pacific Gas & The Electric Company, then became the first meteorologist on TV in San Francisco. He wanted to get into teaching and the Physics Department wasn't interested but the Geography Department found a place for him.

PURSUIT OF PHENOMENA
My interest became very focused after Dr. Hunsaker's class. I took the other two classes in climatology that he taught and assumed the responsibility for the Department's weather station. My senior year Leon went back on TV and asked me to intern as his assistant. After graduation I wanted to continue working with Leon so I went to graduate school at San Francisco State University. Leon and I talked about someday starting a forecasting company for morning radio. In the fall of 1978 we did just that in Medford, Oregon; about a year later we started Jet Stream Weather Inc. I finished my masters thesis and started doing the weekend weather on one of the local Medford TV stations. In 1983 I left Jet Stream Weather to work full time at a competing TV station, but Eugene beckoned. In 1980 my wife and I were visiting a family friend in Eugene and thought that it would be a nice place to live and raise our two boys. I was lucky enough to get hired by KMTR in September of 1988.

AND FRIDAY'S TALK'S ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING
My professional specialty is short-term weather forecasting, but I am asked all the time what I think about Global Warming I have always been very concerned with what is going on with our environment, so I try to keep up with the latest studies and theories. It is impossible to read everything that is going on, but I do have some personal thought and observations about what might be going on, and I'll be sharing those with you on October 18.

NOT JUST A METEOROLOGIST
Joseph Calbreath is currently a Senior Nordic Ski Patroller and has been with the Willamette Backcountry Ski Patrol for the past 10 years. He's been a volunteer with Lane County Search and Rescue for the past nine years. In addition, he's taught weather classes at Home Source an alternative school in the Bethel School District and teaches weather classes for Elderhostel. Along with his forecasting duties for KMTR, he gives weather lectures at schools about 35-40 times a year. With this enthusiasm for teaching and background in climate, his talk on Global Warming should be meteoric.

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