Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center Hosts Ninth Annual STEM Conference
The Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center is hosting the ninth annual STEM Conference on Friday, November 21, 2014, for over 700 sixth-grade girls and their teachers from the counties of Washington , Smyth and Russell, and the City of Bristol. The purpose of the STEM Conference is to introduce sixth graders to careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through hands-on workshops led by female chemists, engineers, doctors, programmers, and other professionals from regional industries and colleges. These professionals emphasize the link between their education and the important jobs they perform today. They encourage the students to enroll in core STEM classes while they are in middle and high school.
The keynote speakers for this year’s event are Dave Dierks and Mark Reynolds.
Dave Dierks has been Chief Meteorologist with WCYB-TV since 1987. He has fond memories of growing up in the small farming community of Traer, Iowa. Baling hay and detasseling com earned spending money for Dierks in his youth. However, it wasn’t what was sprouting from the soil that garnered his interest, but rather what was falling on it from the clouds.
Dierks’ interest in weather began at an early age when the tornado siren sounded one summer evening, and his mother insisted that hunkering down in the basement was the appropriate plan of action. While his mom was absolutely correct, every bit of Dierks’ inner desire was to go outside and look for that tornado!
Dierks earned his degree in meteorofogy from Iowa State University, where he also received a minor in mass communications. While in college, he presented the morning weather for WOI-TV in Ames/Des Moines, Iowa. Following college, he worked as an on-air meteorologist for KCCI-TV in Des Moines until coming to WCYB. For more than two decades, Dierks has been honing his skills on what he deems “a very challenging” part of the country to forecast the weather. While his forecasting confidence over the years has increased for the geographically diverse southern Appalachians, Dierks says he is always learning something new about how weather systems affect the Tri-Cities.
Storm Team 11 Chief Meteorologist Mark Reynolds has been with WJHL for nearly 25 years. He attended Florida State University, and holds the CBM (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) designation from the American Meteorological Society-the highest mark of distinction and recognition available in broadcast meteorology. His broadcast career has covered the southeast, with stops in Gainesville, Jacksonville and Tallahassee, Florida, before coming to the TriCities. During his time in the TriCities, Reynolds has been honored with numerous awards, including Best TV Weather Anchor by the Tennessee Associated Press in 2007 and Best Weathercast by the Tennessee Associated Press in 2000.
Reynolds has been very active with the American Meteorological Society, as well as in the local community. He served with the American Red Cross of Washington County,
Tennessee, and was instrumental in establishing the Red Cross Health Fair in the TriCities. Reynolds also worked extensively with the March of Dimes for more than 10 years.
Having presented thousands of school presentations throughout the region over the last 25 years, Reynolds is an enthusiastic supporter of STEM education. He is also an avid aviation enthusiast and enjoys the mountains and the beach.
Again this year students will meet TechTron, the Virginia Tech “robot” mascot created by student Jesse Johnson. TechTron appears courtesy of Penny McCallum, Virginia Tech’s Southwest Site Director at the Higher Education Center.
The STEM Conference is a partnership between the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, Alpha Natural Resources, CGI, Eastman Chemical Company, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Range Resources-Pine Mountain, Inc., Thompson & Litton, Food City, and other regional firms. Joining them are faculty from Emory & Henry College, Radford University, the University of Virginia, VCU’s Department of Nurse Anesthesia, Virginia Highlands Community College, and Virginia Tech.