Network TV meteorologist Ginger Zee?s life isn?t quite so glamorous as people imagine, she told University of Georgia students Wednesday.
?There?s not as much glamour in this job as people think, but I have loved every minute of it,? said Zee, a rising star in her role as one of ABC?s ?Good Morning America? meteorologists.
Zee, a former student of UGA climatologist John Knox at Indiana?s Valparaiso University, spoke to about 75 students and faculty at UGA in a talk sponsored by the UGA student chapter of the American Meteorological Society.
Zee?s job takes her to the scenes of major weather disasters, such as a Midwestern tornado outbreak that killed 39 people earlier this year.
She spoke to the camera then from what had been a family?s living room, before tornadoes carried off most of their house. She uses dramatic shots like that for a reason, she said.
?You?ll get a sense of just how frightening it is to be in the crosshairs of this tornado,? she said in the broadcast ? and it?s a chance to educate people a little, she told her UGA audience.
Better yet, Zee was able to warn people the day before that a deadly tornado outbreak was coming as the remnants of Hurricane Ivan churned through the middle of the United States.
But being a rising star also has its price, she said ? no Christmases at home, no holidays, never two days off in a row.
?I don?t have a family life. I don?t have anything,? said Zee. ?So far in this job I can?t do it.?
Zee has known since childhood she wanted to be a meteorologist, and people should follow what they love, she said.
?If you?ve got this passion, it?s going to work out somehow,? said Zee, advising students to do what they love ? and what they?re good at.
But talent and a willingness to give everything to the job isn?t enough, she said.
?You?re a product, and you?re going to have to sell yourself,? she said.
The audience included students who?d like to join Zee in broadcast meteorology and at least one UGA graduate who, like Zee, works for a major network ? Sarah Dillingham, now a staff meteorologist at CNN in Atlanta.
At least two more UGA graduates have jobs as TV meteorologists, said UGA engineering professor David Stooksbury, a professor in the university?s 12-year-old Atmospheric Sciences Program.
About 30 students are enrolled in the program, now admitted to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, an atmospheric science research network, the program?s director, Marshall Shepherd, announced Wednesday. Shepherd is also president-elect of the American Meteorological Society.
The UCAR membership means the UGA program is now in the big leagues, Knox said.
? Follow education reporter Lee Shearer at www.facebook.com/LeeShearerABH or https://twitter.com/LeeShearer.
Source: http://onlineathens.com/uga/2012-10-17/tv-meteorologist-ginger-zee-talks-weather-career-uga
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