Michelle Denise Hawkins is an American atmospheric scientist and chief of the severe, fire, public and winter weather services branch at the United States National Weather Service.[1]
Early life and education
Hawkins grew up in Chicago.[2] She earned her bachelors of sciences in chemistry and PhD in atmospheric science from Howard University.[2]
Career
In her role at the National Weather Service, Hawkins leads programs and policies related to severe, public, and winter weather services, as well as weather-support response services for wildland fires in support of National Weather Service land management partners.[2] In 2014 she worked with undergraduates at Howard University in a campaign designed to expand publicly-available information about summertime weather,[3] and in 2016 she talked with The Daily Beast about heat domes and increasing awareness of weather-related issues.[4] Her work includes issuing high heat warnings, and considerations of optimal timing for such warnings.[5][6]
In 2022, Hawkins was named a fellow of the White House Leadership Development Program, and she is assigned to the Council on Environmental Quality.[7]
^ abcUS Department of Commerce, NOAA. "Michelle Hawkins". www.weather.gov. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
^Samenow, James (June 18, 2014). "Howard University students pump up Weather Service's "Beat the Heat" campaign". Washington Post – via ProQuest.
^Warshaw, Amelia (July 21, 2016). "Is a 'Heat Dome' Really Going to Fry the U.S.?: We've got a new word for your apocalyptic weather dictionary". The Daily Beast, New York: The Newsweek/Daily Beast Company LLC – via ProQuest.
