FSU Panama City partners in WeatherSTEM station

FSU Panama City has partnered with FSU alumnus Edward Mansouri, Master of Science in Meteorology, Class of 2000, to further K-12 curriculum in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) with the introduction of the FSU Panama City WeatherSTEM station.

WeatherSTEM units, created and developed by Mansouri over the past 15 years, are being outfitted throughout Florida. Mansouri’s goal is to have a station located in every county, creating a geographical learning component as well. To date, there are 57 WeatherSTEM stations across Florida.

Each weather station has a network of sensor components designed to integrate weather and agricultural data collected throughout the day. A camera that captures cloud activity is usually mounted on a west-facing building for live streaming that can be used to enhance data collected from the soil and the atmosphere. The data accumulated in Bay County is stored and displayed via the FSU Panama City WeatherSTEM website.

“WeatherSTEM is an education and public safety initiative where we take data and images from weather stations we’re setting up all over Florida and integrating them into K-12 science and math curriculum,” Mansouri said. “Florida State University Panama City has agreed to be our host site for Bay County. Data for courses will come from weather stations across the state, sort of creating a Florida geographical lesson as well.”

“WeatherSTEM’s generous donation of state-of-the-art equipment in this effort furthers STEM education,” said Dan Nix, director of business and finance at FSU Panama City.

This partnership benefits our K-12 students, the university and the community, he noted.

Dave Bujak, director of emergency management at Florida State University, said he believes that the partnership with WeatherSTEM, both at the Panama City campus and in Tallahassee, helps with local education in meteorology and in public safety.

“If there is a severe thunderstorm warning or high heat temperatures or in winter when it might get really cold, we can use the live weather data that is recorded on campus to help us make safety decision,” Bujak said.

Check out your weather at your WeatherSTEM location; download the WeatherSTEM App to your mobile device.