2018-2019 Student Meteorologists
Graduate Students
Jessica Moore is a long time Mississippi native and proud former Texan. She is a second year graduate student studying Broadcast Meteorology at Mississippi State University . In 2017, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Mississippi.
From an early age, Jessica always had a passion for working in television news. Although, she began with Journalism, Meteorology has always been an interest that she could not let go until she took the courage to pursue it. Jessica finds the classes challenging, but also interesting, which she says has allowed her love for weather to grow beyond what she imagined.
Her former internships include a news internship in Jackson, MS at WLBT and a weather internship in Memphis, TN at WMC5.
A defining weather event that Jessica experienced happened in 2011 when a tornado hit her hometown. Even though her family remained safe, the man who lived across her street lost his life when the tornado hit his mobile home. Because of that unfortunate event, it lead to her passion with severe weather and for educating the public on weather safety so that more lives can be saved.
In her free time she enjoys swimming, playing the ukulele, and biking!
Brittany Lockley is a second-year graduate student at Mississippi State University.
Born and raised in Orlando, Florida, Brittany has witnessed countless hurricanes and tropical storms that sparked her love and passion for meteorology at a very young age. She would spend countless hours as a child in front of the TV with a hurricane tracker. However, it was not until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, that she really grasped the severity of these storms. Hurricane Katrina continues to be the driving force behind her goal to inform, educate, and empower people on all aspects of weather.
She is a proud graduate of Florida Atlantic University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Multimedia Journalism. Brittany is a member of the East Mississippi Chapter of the National Weather Association and American Meteorological Society.
During her down time, she enjoys dancing, exercising, binge-watching Netflix, and spending time with the ones she loves. Besides reporting the weather, Brittany loves to give back to the community! This summer she worked with the United Way helping to mentor underprivileged kids in STEM.
Nikki Pietrus is a second year graduate student working toward a Master of Geoscience with a concentration in Broadcast Meteorology. Before moving south to Starkville, Nikki earned undergraduate degrees in Journalism and Environmental Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Nikki was a weather intern at WGN-TV in Chicago where she assisted beloved and nationally respected meteorologist Tom Skilling. Prior to WGN, she also interned at WLFI-TV in Lafayette, Indiana. At UW-Madison, Nikki was the News Director and Lead Forecaster at WSUM 91.7FM where she provided daily radio forecasts for an award winning news program.
Born and raised in Chicago, Nikki cultivated her passion for meteorology living through years of extraordinary Midwestern weather. Communicating weather to the public is her most favorite aspect of broadcast meteorology. She is excited to serve as a Campus Connect Forecaster at Mississippi State as she works toward completing her meteorology degree.
Undergraduate Students
Chelsea Brown is an Amory, MS native since she was seven years old. Before moving to Mississippi, she lived in San Antonio, TX for five years and Jacksonville, FL for a year. She lives with her husband of two years and her three fur babies: Hank, Thunder, and BB. She was inspired to seriously pursue weather from the 2011 tornado outbreak which was less than five minutes from her. Then in 2012 her house was struck by lightning and burnt, declared a total loss. She graduated with high honor from Amory High School in May of 2015 and went on to Itawamba Community College. While at ICC she majored in meteorology; Chelsea was also part of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society. From ICC she received her Associate of Art and Science degree in May of 2017. After graduating from ICC, she moved onto Mississippi State University where she is currently studying broadcast meteorology. Between her Junior and Senior year, she interned with WTVA out of Tupelo, MS.
Kris Hudson is from Bauxite, Arkansas. Kris is currently earning his degree in Broadcast Meteorology from Mississippi State University. Kris has always known he has had a deep love and passion for weather. When Kris was 5 years old you could catch him outside during a tornado waring trying to figure out where the tornado was. From then on Kris has continued to build on his love and passion for weather. Not only does Kris love studying the weather, but he also loves to get involved with the community. Kris is currently an active member of the East Mississippi NWS/AMS chapter and has been recognized by a local school district in Arkansas for community service.
Kris has completed two internships with KARK 4/KLRT in Little Rock, Arkansas, were he gained valued experience in forecasting and graphics building. On most days you can find Kris outside looking at clouds or playing with his dog Meso. After Kris graduates from Mississippi State University he plans to work as an on-air meteorologist.
Alexandra Kent // alykatkentwx.weebly.com
Alexandra is from the community of Cantonment outside of the city of Pensacola, Florida. She will graduate in May of 2019 with a B.S. in Geosciences (Professional Meteorology with a Broadcast emphasis and a minor in Mathematics). She interned at WTVA in Tupelo, MS. under Chief Meteorologist Matt Laubhan, CBM, in the summer of 2018. She also is a volunteer at the National Weather Service office in Memphis. Alexandra’s passion of weather was fostered out of an original fear of it as a child and nurtured by experiencing Hurricane Ivan and the April 2011 Tornado Outbreak in Northeast Mississippi.
Alexandra is a huge history buff, football and baseball fan (Hail State and Go Pokes), and a cat lover. She also loves being outside, either in the trees in her hammock or on the water in a kayak. She is also an avid photographer and potter in her spare time.
Jacob Lanier // www.jacoblanier.com
Jacob Lanier is graduating in May 2019 with a B.S. in Geoscience and a concentration in Professional Meteorology. He currently works as a weekend/fill-in meteorologist at WVUA 23 News in the Birmingham-Tuscaloosa market. He also completed a 3-month internship with WAGA Fox 5 Atlanta during the summer of 2017. Jacob is fluent with both WSI Max and Baron Lynx, using both to build custom graphics for his weekly weather shows.
As a native of Atlanta, Georgia, Jacob has experience with severe weather, tropical systems, southern snow storms, and hot summers. His favorite weather is 85° with afternoon t-storms. When he isn’t forecasting the weather, Jacob enjoys swimming and traveling. He is also the head drum major of the MSU Famous Maroon Band and plays clarinet in the university’s top wind ensemble.
Jacob is a current undergraduate student in Professional Meteorology with an emphasis in Broadcasting. Jacob has spent time serving the ArkLaTex with KTAL 6 in Shreveport, LA as a meteorology intern during the summer of 2018. Jacob currently work as a part time meteorologist at WCBI in Columbus, MS.
Originally from Bloomburg, TX, Jacob has seen his fair share of wild weather. From severe weather, to winter weather, Jacob loves it all. Aside from storm chasing, Jacob enjoys spending time with his wife Emily, attending sporting events and assisting his community in any way that he can. Jacob is currently the Treasurer for the Starkville High School FFA Alumni Chapter.
Nearly having his home destroyed by severe weather, Jacob hopes to help the community become more weather aware and help educate them on how weather and climate can affect their everyday lives.
Aaron Lowery was born and raised in Marietta, Georgia, part of the Atlanta suburbs. At a young age, he feared thunderstorms that would often wake him at night due to a close call with a tornado when he was three. When Hurricane Ivan tore through Georgia in 2004, it spawned several tornadoes that also came close to hitting home. It was this event that turned the fear into an interest and later a passion for severe weather. In 2014, during his junior year of high school, a winter storm dumped several inches of snow in Atlanta, shutting down the city for a few days. In order to get home from school that day, Aaron had to run most of the way as his car could not drive on the ice-covered roads. This led to a strong interest in winter weather due to the fact that many meteorologists had not predicted the event to be that bad.
Aside from weather, Aaron has a strong passion for sports, particularly the Atlanta Braves, Indianapolis Colts, and Mississippi State Bulldogs. Additionally, he loves listening to music in his free time, with his favorite genre being 70’s classic rock with bands such as Boston, Electric Light Orchestra, and Pink Floyd. He also enjoys spending time with friends and family, and loves the outdoors and the beach
Emily Owen is from Oneonta, Alabama. She is currently earning her degree in Professional Meteorology with an emphasis in Broadcasting at Mississippi State University. Being from the south and experiencing multiple tornadoes pass through her hometown, it was hard for Emily to not develop an interest in weather, specifically severe weather. Getting to personally experience the tornado outbreak of April 27, 2011 is when Emily realized her love for weather needed to become her career. Emily has gotten to be hands on with well-known meteorologists while interning at WBMA ABC 33/40 and WVTM NBC 13 both located in Birmingham, Alabama. She is currently the weekend meteorologist at WVUA 23 News in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. When Emily is not studying the weather, she enjoys watching her favorite reality tv shows, shopping, and twirling baton. She would love to make Birmingham, Alabama her hometown market, so she could forecast for her family and friends.
For more information, contact: Lindsey (Morschauser) Poe // lmorschauser@geosci.msstate.edu