Biography
Amber Liggett obtained her B.S. in Meteorology and M.S. in Emergency Management from Millersville University of Pennsylvania (MU). She strives to work in both fields throughout her career. Currently, Amber is a communications analyst for Groundswell Consulting Group working as a Federal contractor at The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Climate Program Office. She is also a science writer, and public speaker for weather, climate, and emergency preparedness and disaster sciences.
Formerly, Amber was the Pennsylvania Department of Health Public Information Officer working in public health emergency preparedness and response communications. She was also a freelance broadcast meteorologist at the Harrisburg, PA ABC affiliate (WHTM-TV).
Training and volunteering are important to Amber. In 2019, she completed both the National Emergency Management Basic Academy through the FEMA Emergency Management Institute and the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Summer Policy Colloquium.
Additionally, Amber is a devout member of numerous national organizations. She is active in the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) as an active IAEM Region III member, Diversity Committee member, Climate, Water & Weather caucus member, and Emerging Professionals Caucus member. She works to bridge the gap between weather and emergency management as a current member of the AMS Committee on Emergency Management and previously chaired the AMS Local Chapter Affairs Committee. Formerly, Amber served as the Student representative on the National Weather Association (NWA) Board of Directors and served on the NWA Student Conference planning committee for six years. She is still an active NWA member today.
Amber has an extensive history of research and related internships. In 2015, Amber participated in the Research Experience for Undergraduates at the National Weather Center in Norman, OK. There she worked with gust front signature detection using Doppler radar and machine intelligence detection algorithms. In 2016, she was awarded the Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research & Science (SOARS) scholarship/internship. Her project worked with an experimental short-term forecasting weather model from The NOAA lab in Boulder, CO to identify the best way to quantify severe weather parameters within the model. Amber was also awarded the NOAA Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship in 2016, though her internship was not until 2017. The NOAA Hollings internship was with the NWS Headquarters Office of Communications Office. Her project strengthened the Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) initiative by utilizing effective communication and education to increase public awareness, safety, and preparedness of weather, water, and climate hazards. In 2018, Amber completed a second year of the SOARS internship and worked with the NWS Denver/Boulder Weather Forecast Office surveying their WRN Ambassadors on educational and outreach material needs to further strengthen relationships with the Ambassadors as a part of the SOARS program. Still today as a consultant, Amber conducts presentations and workshops on these topics for various audiences.
During grad school, Amber was a Graduate Assistant (GA) in the MU Center for Disaster Research & Education. As a GA, Amber served as the student lead in making MU a StormReady University through the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) StormReady program, co-facilitated Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) trainings, instructed Hazardous Weather Primers for CERT, co-coordinated a campus-wide Preparedness Day, and co-developed the North American Humanitarian Response Initiative virtual Resource Center. Amber’s capstone research was evaluating local flood risk perceptions and use of flood safety messaging from expert local, state, and Federal meteorologists and emergency managers.
Lastly, Amber incorporates Arts into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (S.T.E.A.M.) through her award-winning business Amber's Amazing Animal Balloons. She talks about how balloons are an important tool for measuring weather elements while creating weather-themed balloon art sculptures. Amber's Amazing Animal Balloons has been a proud Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador since 2017.
Amber Liggett obtained her B.S. in Meteorology and M.S. in Emergency Management from Millersville University of Pennsylvania (MU). She strives to work in both fields throughout her career. Currently, Amber is a communications analyst for Groundswell Consulting Group working as a Federal contractor at The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Climate Program Office. She is also a science writer, and public speaker for weather, climate, and emergency preparedness and disaster sciences.
Formerly, Amber was the Pennsylvania Department of Health Public Information Officer working in public health emergency preparedness and response communications. She was also a freelance broadcast meteorologist at the Harrisburg, PA ABC affiliate (WHTM-TV).
Training and volunteering are important to Amber. In 2019, she completed both the National Emergency Management Basic Academy through the FEMA Emergency Management Institute and the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Summer Policy Colloquium.
Additionally, Amber is a devout member of numerous national organizations. She is active in the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) as an active IAEM Region III member, Diversity Committee member, Climate, Water & Weather caucus member, and Emerging Professionals Caucus member. She works to bridge the gap between weather and emergency management as a current member of the AMS Committee on Emergency Management and previously chaired the AMS Local Chapter Affairs Committee. Formerly, Amber served as the Student representative on the National Weather Association (NWA) Board of Directors and served on the NWA Student Conference planning committee for six years. She is still an active NWA member today.
Amber has an extensive history of research and related internships. In 2015, Amber participated in the Research Experience for Undergraduates at the National Weather Center in Norman, OK. There she worked with gust front signature detection using Doppler radar and machine intelligence detection algorithms. In 2016, she was awarded the Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research & Science (SOARS) scholarship/internship. Her project worked with an experimental short-term forecasting weather model from The NOAA lab in Boulder, CO to identify the best way to quantify severe weather parameters within the model. Amber was also awarded the NOAA Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship in 2016, though her internship was not until 2017. The NOAA Hollings internship was with the NWS Headquarters Office of Communications Office. Her project strengthened the Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) initiative by utilizing effective communication and education to increase public awareness, safety, and preparedness of weather, water, and climate hazards. In 2018, Amber completed a second year of the SOARS internship and worked with the NWS Denver/Boulder Weather Forecast Office surveying their WRN Ambassadors on educational and outreach material needs to further strengthen relationships with the Ambassadors as a part of the SOARS program. Still today as a consultant, Amber conducts presentations and workshops on these topics for various audiences.
During grad school, Amber was a Graduate Assistant (GA) in the MU Center for Disaster Research & Education. As a GA, Amber served as the student lead in making MU a StormReady University through the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) StormReady program, co-facilitated Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) trainings, instructed Hazardous Weather Primers for CERT, co-coordinated a campus-wide Preparedness Day, and co-developed the North American Humanitarian Response Initiative virtual Resource Center. Amber’s capstone research was evaluating local flood risk perceptions and use of flood safety messaging from expert local, state, and Federal meteorologists and emergency managers.
Lastly, Amber incorporates Arts into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (S.T.E.A.M.) through her award-winning business Amber's Amazing Animal Balloons. She talks about how balloons are an important tool for measuring weather elements while creating weather-themed balloon art sculptures. Amber's Amazing Animal Balloons has been a proud Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador since 2017.
To learn more about Amber's diverse background, see her resume.
To see some of Amber's broadcast work, watch the below videos.
To see some of Amber's broadcast work, watch the below videos.
