Student Opportunities

Student opportunities at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA's) National Weather Service (NWS) offices are vital in enhancing the educational program for those who wish to get hands-on experience in becoming a meteorologist, IT officer, or ET/HMT technician. NOAA's NWS offers opportunities for students to expand and reach their educational goals.  As the job market becomes more competitive, skills obtained through hands-on experience and research will be vital for the future.

Have you ever applied for a job and been told that they are looking for people with "experience"? Have you ever wondered what it is really like to work in a particular career field? Have you ever been curious about how the Federal Government works? If your answer is "yes" to any of these questions, you should take advantage of the multiple student opportunities available at NOAA's NWS, particularly at the NWS/WFO San Juan office.

• NOAA Student Opportunities
• Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE): Internships, Fellowships, & Scholarships
• EPP/MSI Undergraduate Scholarship Program
• American Meteorological Society (AMS) Meeting Opportunities for Students
• The Science, Mathematics And Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship
• Brookhaven National Laboratory Educational Programs

• John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Program
• Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program
• National Estuarine Research Reserve System’s Graduate Research
• Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE)
• NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship

Summer Student Volunteer Program

The National Weather Service (NWS) San Juan office host students considering careers in the field of meteorology and hydrology as part of the Student Volunteer Program during the summer. This program is fully volunteer (non-paid) and allow students to work one-on-one with the NWS San Juan office staff, while gaining valuable work experience in an operational environment. In addition, our competitive program provides students with the experience of performing a mentored meteorological/hydrological research project focused on local topics.

• U.S. Citizenship
• Bilingual (Spanish & English), recommended
• Undergraduate (going into junior or senior year) or graduate college student
• Students should have an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Taken at least a Meteorology Introductory course
• Pass a background security investigation and fingerprinting

Note: Students don’t have to be studying meteorology in order to be considered for a volunteer position at NWS San Juan. We also are eager to host students with skills in various fields, including Hydrology, Information Technology, Geographic Information Systems, Social Science or other related fields.  We would be especially eager to host students who have all of these skills!!!

Students wishing to apply to the NWS San Juan Student Volunteer Program must submit the following documents by the established deadline::

1. Application Form
2. Statement of Interest, emphasizing on his/her motivation, extracurricular activities, research fields of interested, and a brief description of how participating on this program will help
3. Most recent transcript(s)
4. One Letter of Recommendation from an academic staff member (i.e. professor or department head)

• Work Hours: Student should volunteer approximately 16-20 hours per week from late May through early-mid August.
• Research Project: Working one-on-one with NWS meteorologist on an assigned research project. As part of this process, student will be required to provide a mid-term and final oral presentation, as well as a written report of his/her summer research.
• Progress/Review Meetings: Students will be required to attend weekly meetings to discuss their experience and research progress.

• Becoming familiar with NWS operations, policies and procedures, software and computer systems, and hydrological/meteorological products
• Join NWS HMT/MI during COOP visits & assist in Upper Air duties
• Join NWS meteorologist in post-event severe weather analysis
• Become upper-air certifies
• Submit summer research to the National Weather Association annual conference

The NWS San Juan Student Volunteer program will be scheduled for 12 weeks from late May to early August. Although activities and other additional duties will vary per student's interest and research project, students must comply with various tasks & deadlines. Here is a tentative work plan for the 2018 Student Volunteer Program:

• Comply with the NWS San Juan rules & regulations
• Comply with schedule agreed upon in advance
• Participate in all training, meetings, seminars and activities assigned
• Submits weekly writing assignments by assigned deadlines
• Prepares and presents two scientific talks (mid-term & final) and research paper

Ernesto Morales
National Weather Service
Warning Operations Meteorologist
4000 Carr 190
San Juan, PR 00976
(787) 253-4586
Ernesto.Morales@noaa.gov

Summer Job Shadow Program

The NWS/WFO San Juan Job Shadow Program is intended for students interested in meteorology as a possible career. The students spend around 2-4 hours with a NWS San Juan meteorologist observing the forecast process, and discussing NWS career opportunities. There are three levels of "Job Shadow" available to students. U.S. Citizenship is required.

LEVEL 1 - Pre-College
This level is intended for pre-college students (high school grades 10-12) interested in meteorology, atmospheric science, hydrology, information technology, and or electronics engineering as a career. A tour of the NWS facility is provided for the student followed by approximately two (2) hours with an appropriate NWS employee (meteorologist) observing and discussing career opportunities. These are usually done in the evening 5-7 pm to coincide with our daily upper air (weather balloon) observing activities.

Total Approximate Time: 2 hours

LEVEL 2 - Undergraduate Students
This level is intended for freshman and sophomore students enrolled in a university, college or technical program majoring in meteorology, atmospheric science, hydrology, information technology, and or electronics engineering. It is also for college students considering these fields as a major.
A tour of the NWS facility will be provided for the student followed by approximately four (4) hours with an appropriate NWS employee (meteorologist) observing and discussing career opportunities. The student will also meet with members of the local NWS management team to further discuss future career study options. These are usually done in the evening 3-7 pm to coincide with our daily upper air (weather balloon) observing activities.

Total Approximate Time: 4 hours

LEVEL 3 - Graduate Students
This level is intended for students nearing graduation or in graduate school majoring in meteorology, atmospheric science, hydrology, information technology, and or electronics engineering. The program is the same as level II, however it is expanded for up to two 6-hour days at the NWS office. The expanded time is intended to give the student a more comprehensive understanding of what it is like to work at an NWS Forecast Office. These are usually done in the evening 1-7 pm to coincide with our daily upper air (weather balloon) observing activities.

Total Approximate Time: 6 hours (up to two days)

Students wishing to apply to the NWS San Juan Shadow Program must submit the following documents by the established deadline:

1. Application Form
2. One Letter of Recommendation from an academic staff member (i.e. professor or department/school head)
3. A 500-word essay, emphasizing one of the following topics:
   • Life changing weather events: How did I prepared? What did I learned and why?
   • Meteorology: How it affects my life & the decision I make?
   • Career: What motivated my interested in Meteorology and why? Where do I see myself in 10 years?

Ernesto Morales
National Weather Service
Warning Operations Meteorologist
4000 Carr 190
San Juan, PR 00976
(787) 253-4586
Ernesto.Morales@noaa.gov

Although paid student programs are not directly available through the local NWS office, the Department of Commerce has a new program called Pathways. Pathways is designed for both undergraduates and graduate students. This program offers participants formal periods of work experience directly related to their academic field of study. Participants in this program may be eligible for permanent employment without competition after successfully completing their education and work requirements. Guidelines and the number of openings are determined on a regional and national scale, and are subject to budgetary limitations. For more information on the Pathways Program or current openings visit:

• NOAA/NWS Pathways Intership Opportunities
• Student Employment Programs

This page contains links to web sites that contain information about weather education and outreach.

• NOAA Education Page
• NOAA Office of Education
• NOAA Central Library
• NOAA/NASA Weather Games
• NWS and Partners Publications and Brochures
• NWS Glossary
• NWS Training page
• NWS Education - Owlies Skywarn
• NWS Owlie Skywarn's Coloring Book
• NWS JetStream - An Online School For Weather
• NSSL Learning Resources for Students
• Experiments/Demonstrations
• NASA's Climate Kids