Natalie Hasell
I joined Environment Canada to become a forecaster in late 1999 after university with a Diploma in Meteorology and Masters Degree in Atmospheric Sciences under my belt. My first posting was to the Winnipeg office where I learned a lot (and not only about meteorology, I might add) and met a great group of people. I have to say that Winnipeg has been a good thing. In early 2003, I won a competition to be a Military Meteorology Instructor with the Training Services Unit in Winnipeg, under Aviation and Defence Services. This job uses my strengths as a communicator as I teach Military Met Techs to give briefings and forecast the weather; in addition to that, I have taught Air Crew about the weather and to understand the weather briefings. I have also had the opportunity to visit other ADS offices and to work as a briefer for NORAD activities on a short assignment. I am always interested in how weather information can be used to people's benefit. On a similar slant, I recently did a stint as the Warning Preparedness Meteorologist for the region where my interests in severe weather and the societal impacts of weather were renewed. My interests outside of the world of weather lie mainly in learning languages, travelling, reading, music, and food (to keep the list short). I also really like kites.