As the morning meteorologist at CBS 4 in Indianapolis, I bring my A-game every day.  I know that our viewers depend on me to energize them and prepare them for the weather that they’ll face as they start their day.  My strongest skill is making complex meteorology understandable and usable for anyone who tunes in.  

 

My producers can always count on me to hit my time cues -whether it’s a standard full weather or if the control room needs me to fill time unexpectedly.  Working with Chief Meteorologist Chris Wright has been instrumental in taking my team-centered mentality to the next level.  He has led by example on how to be a great employee and reliable coworker.  I greatly value the urgency and “rolling with the punches” vibe that you have to balance in a newsroom and I have sharpened those skills immensely during my time in Indianapolis.  

 

Throughout my career I have moved a lot but never went far from home.  I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Climatology & Hydrology from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.  My first job out of college was at WIFR in Rockford, Illinois under fellow former Tom Skilling intern, Mark Henderson.  I then traveled north to live in beautiful Madison, Wisconsin where I worked as a morning meteorologist at WKOW.  After my time in Wisconsin, I found myself driving back through Chicagoland and down I-65 into the Hoosier State.

I value the time viewers spend with me in the morning.  I am sure to get them out the door with all the weather information they need with just enough climatology and astronomy to give them something to talk about during their day.  I incorporate viewer photos and videos in my forecasts when possible to localize weather phenomena.  I also am strong in my ‘tease’ hits where I give the viewer a useful nugget and a reason to stick around for more. 

 

Working with a Chief Meteorologist like Chris Wright means that I am not sitting in the wings during severe weather coverage.  Chris and I act as equal members of the team during severe weather coverage and that has given me a lot of experience covering severe warnings and damage reports.  We both take turns balancing the on air, web, and social media responsibilities during all severe weather events.  

 

I have a passion for meteorology and that shines the most when I’m visiting local schools.  Each year, I visit dozens of schools, speaking to thousands of students.  I have an interactive program that caters to all ages and gets those students excited about using science in real life.  When the pandemic hit, my school visit  season was cut short so I launched “Star’s Weather School” online.  Both of the duopoly stations carried it with great success and my recognition soared because of that engaging content.  I soon had meteorologists from all over the country contacting me for information on how I was coming up with my weekly lessons.  I was honored that so many of the country’s best were looking to me.

 

Outside of work I stay busy taking care of my horses and cats.  I also regularly volunteer with schools that need help tutoring and with the Boys & Girls Club.  Until the pandemic hit, I would volunteer in the annual Keep Indy Beautiful Cleanup where volunteers go to underserved areas to pick up trash and add landscaping.  Being involved in my community is fulfilling personally and has helped me stay connected to viewer’s needs professionally.

 

Social media is a big part of my job.  I like to link to the station website for full forecasts since that gets the site more hits but for severe weather I definitely go hard on shareable content on Twitter and Facebook.  I always keep my pages professional and engaging, posting a mixture of weather information and pictures of my animals.  I have a sponsored segment on our main Facebook page where I interact with viewers a lot and will even cater to individual forecasts when viewers comment.  One of the most rewarding things about social media has been seeing viewers who first liked my page when I started my career in Rockford continue to comment and interact with my posts.  The fact that they have stayed loyal and connected to me all these years later means so much to me.