Biography
Amber Liggett is the current Public Information Officer working in communications and emergency preparedness & response at the Pennsylvania Department of Health. She is also a freelance broadcast meteorologist at the Harrisburg, PA ABC affiliate WHTM-TV. Since obtaining her B.S. in Meteorology and M.S. in Emergency Management from Millersville University (MU) of Pennsylvania, Amber strives to work in both fields throughout her career.
Amber is a devout volunteer and member of numerous national organizations. Currently, she is in her last of a three-year appointment as the Student representative on the National Weather Association (NWA) Board of Directors. She has also served on the NWA Student Conference planning committee for the past six years. Amber works to bridge the gap between weather and emergency management as a member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Committee on Emergency Management. She is also a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Diversity Committee.
During college, Amber served as the Treasurer and President of the MU-AMS and the President of the MU-IAEM. She was also a Graduate Assistant (GA) in the MU Center for Disaster Research & Education from 2018-2020. As a GA, Amber served as the student lead in making Millersville University a StormReady University through the 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 (more information can be found under the research tab).
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 National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (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.
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 is the current Public Information Officer working in communications and emergency preparedness & response at the Pennsylvania Department of Health. She is also a freelance broadcast meteorologist at the Harrisburg, PA ABC affiliate WHTM-TV. Since obtaining her B.S. in Meteorology and M.S. in Emergency Management from Millersville University (MU) of Pennsylvania, Amber strives to work in both fields throughout her career.
Amber is a devout volunteer and member of numerous national organizations. Currently, she is in her last of a three-year appointment as the Student representative on the National Weather Association (NWA) Board of Directors. She has also served on the NWA Student Conference planning committee for the past six years. Amber works to bridge the gap between weather and emergency management as a member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Committee on Emergency Management. She is also a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Diversity Committee.
During college, Amber served as the Treasurer and President of the MU-AMS and the President of the MU-IAEM. She was also a Graduate Assistant (GA) in the MU Center for Disaster Research & Education from 2018-2020. As a GA, Amber served as the student lead in making Millersville University a StormReady University through the 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 (more information can be found under the research tab).
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 National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (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.
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.
For more information, check out my CV!
| amber_liggett_cv_sept2020.pdf |
