Storm chaser shares passion
Timmer visits students at T.S. Cooley as part of Banners Series
{{tncms-inline alignment="left" content="<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>‘When you love what you do, you never feel like you’re working.’</strong></span></p> <p class="p2"><strong>Reed Timmer</strong></p> <p class="p4">Extreme storm chaser</p>" id="23491191-3fb5-4540-954f-7ebd523d369e" style-type="quote" title="Pull Quote" type="relcontent"}}
<p class="p1">Extreme storm chaser Reed Timmer said when he got his driver’s license he realized he didn’t have to wait for storms to come to him anymore.
<p class="p1">“I could go to them,” he told T.S. Cooley Elementary Magnet School fourth-graders Wednesday.
<p class="p1">Timmer, who visited the school as part of the McNeese State University Banners Series, said he has been chasing storms for more than 20 years. He said his love for weather led him to Discovery Channel’s “Storm Chasers” TV series from 2008 to 2012, where his intense storm chasing was brought into homes across the country.
<p class="p1">Students gazed intently at projections as he displayed his ever-evolving “Dominators,” custom-built, tornado-chasing vehicles. He also showed them images of the rockets and drones he utilizes to study storms.
<p class="p1">Audible gasps and squeals could be heard from the students as Timmer shared his up-close-and-personal encounters with some of the most dangerous storms and tornadoes in recent history. Nearly every hand was in the air at some point as Timmer took questions ranging from complex scientific laws to inquisitive probes such as, “Have you ever been lifted up into a tornado?”
<p class="p1">Timmer said he was surprised about the level of the questions.
<p class="p1">“They asked some really tough and advanced things,” he said. “I was really impressed. I was able to share and explain more concepts than I originally planned.”
<p class="p1">Fourth-grade teacher Angie Schmitt said the presentation was “amazing.” She said natural disasters are a part of new STEM standards and many of the scientific vocabulary terms and concepts embedded into the elementary science curriculum were part of Timmer’s presentation, which makes classroom instruction more relevant.
<p class="p1">With a doctorate in meteorology, Timmer urged students to study and pay careful attention to math and science courses if they are interested in becoming storm chasers. Even if storm chasing isn’t for them, he encouraged the students to “be passionate.”
<p class="p1">“When you love what you do, you never feel like you’re working,” he said.
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>‘When you love what you do, you never feel like you’re working.’</strong></span>
<p class="p2"><strong>Reed Timmer</strong>
<p class="p4">Extreme storm chaser