Bobby Saba knew he wanted to chase storms his first year in the program. He reached out to his advisor, who connected him with the SUNY-Oswego Storm Observation Program. Bobby applied and was invited to join them on their spring trip to the Midwest. “It was a bucket list experience!” Bobby said.
Today, atmospheric sciences students can take part in the annual storm-chasing trip, and “that conversation three years ago led to this,” he said. “It’s so great!”
It’s also an example of the kind of opportunities that develop thanks to the close relationships here, he said. For Bobby, that included being encouraged to apply for the NOAA Hollings Scholarship his second year — an honor he received, along with the financial award and research opportunity that came with it.
It was the atmospheric sciences program that brought Bobby to campus from Massachusetts, and “having an equally strong broadcast program was great,” he said. He decided to attend NVU during the campus tour and says he “wouldn’t change it for the world.”
“Here, if you want to get involved you can — there are so many jobs, clubs, and activities,” Bobby said. And Bobby’s gotten involved in many — even playing on the men’s tennis team his final year because he hadn’t yet played a sport on campus!
Two-year president of the NVU-Lyndon student chapter of the American Meteorological Society, Bobby says the Lyndon chapter “is unmatched” among student chapters. The highlight of the club is putting on the annual Northeastern Storm Conference, the largest and longest-running student-run weather conference in the country, which draws roughly 300 students, faculty, and professionals from around the nation each year.
After chasing storms, conducting lightning research, and taking part in tornado research with the Storm Prediction Center, Bobby is readying to graduate and pursue his passion. In fall 2022, he will begin his master’s in meteorology in Oklahoma, where he was awarded a fully funded assistantship and will be advised by a member of the National Severe Storms Lab. “I’ll get to do a lot of field work — and will get to go chase tornadoes!”
