CoCoRaHS

Henry Reges

Weather & Environmental Hazards –
The Challenges of Awareness, Research, and Education in NJ

Friday, November 14, 2008

CoCoRaHS, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network engages volunteers of all backgrounds and ages, in both New Jersey and throughout the country, to measure precipitation in their own backyards. It takes only five minutes a day and is a fun "citizen-science" project that you can participate in regardless of your prior experience. Since precipitation is very important and amounts can vary greatly (literally from one side of the street to the other), citizens can help scientists fill-in the observation gaps while learning a great deal about rain and snowfall patterns in their communities.

As part of the "WE CARE about NJ" Symposium, we will show you how > and where to place a rain gauge in your yard, as well as how to > accurately measure precipitation though the use of slides and other hands-on > activities. We will also talk about the important role your > measurements play in both your local area as well as over the rest > of the state. After the talk, our hope is that you will walk away > with confidence knowing that you are now equipped to make good > precipitation observations that can benefit many.

Henry Reges, the CoCoRaHS national coordinator, is a meteorologist at Colorado State University. Henry has been part of the CoCoRaHS team is since 2004. His background includes fire weather in Alaska, time with the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, NC and six years at the American Meteorological Society Headquarters in Boston. In addition to meteorology, he also holds degrees in business management and economics. A close call with lightning when he was eight "sparked" his interested in weather. Henry enjoys photography, gardening, running, cooking, and puns. He lives in Fort Collins with his wife Nancy and their Australian Shepherd Goliath.