Tamsin Green (Class of 2012

ollowing her passion for geography, Tamsin became a meteorologist and weather forecaster. In the process, she has also picked up another career as a radio presenter.

I was little in Florida, I was quite scared – my fascination and curiosity probably stemmed from fear. In all honesty, strong winds still scare me a little, even now! However, my passion for Geography truly developed at RMS. My teachers at the time (Miss Williams and Miss Cook) were the main drive behind this and really encouraged me to want to learn and understand more about the world we live in.

It is very difficult to put into words how much my time at RMS impacted my childhood and made me the person that I am today. I used to wake up each day looking forward to school, and that’s something I don’t think many of my friends outside of RMS could say. The teachers were incredibly supportive and helpful, and I made the most amazing group of friends who I am still extremely close with to this day, over eight years after leaving.

When I first left school I went on to the University of Leeds to do a BSc in Geography. From there, I picked up a few elective modules in weather forecasting, which I really enjoyed, although it was a lot tougher than I’d anticipated! Before graduating I started looking into how I could get into a job as a Weather Forecaster. I spoke to a few potential employers and learnt that I would need a degree in Meteorology. So, I went and obtained a Masters in Meteorology and Climatology from the University of Birmingham. They were extremely helpful in terms of pointing us in the right direction of employers, and that is how I came across MetDesk, the private weather forecasting company in Buckinghamshire I have been working at since 2016. Although, it’s not just weather forecasting I do now.

Work experience now is one of the most important things; employers Extreme weather events have become far more frequent over recent years, always want people with experience, so unfortunately it’s a bit of a vicious and whilst I’ve only been working as a Meteorologist for around four of circle. At school, work experience is tough because you don’t really know them, it has still been enough to see the sheer scale of change occurring. what you want, or what you’re doing, and people generally don’t like to Just as an example of some recent events, early data suggests we have just give you too much responsibility. My University work experience was witnessed the hottest November globally on record, with this year also on more beneficial, as they had the connections to get me a week’s weather track to be the hottest on record. To put this into perspective, parts of the forecasting, and I knew exactly what I wanted at that stage. Arctic averaged around 14°C above normal for the month. It’s Even at school though, I think the key is to do a bit more also been the most active Atlantic hurricane season on research to find somewhere a little more out of the record, with some pretty devastatingly strong storms. ordinary, which I wish I’d taken the initiative to do back then. As long as you show your passion and curiosity, there is no reason why companies wouldn’t want to take you on. “ I began co-hosting with one of the Whilst it is exciting forecasting and seeing such records break first-hand, it is also hugely concerning to understand why; climate change plays an enormous part. Yes, extreme How did your career develop? other presenters and weather events have always happened, but the intensity and frequency of these events Given that my Masters was a vocational from there ended up is certainly not a natural cycle. degree, I was on the path I needed to take getting my own show, How have you found working during the to get there, although I know most people don’t necessarily have that luxury, and that’s now every Monday pandemic? OK too! In terms of radio presenting, I had a friend who was a producer on TalkRadio whilst I was at University, and he used to occasionally call evening 7-9pm!” Thankfully, the pandemic really didn’t affect my job, and I feel very grateful for that as I know what a tough time it has been, and still is for a lot of people. me up for quick phone interviews during my studies, to I’m classed as an essential worker at MetDesk as we provide ask about extreme and newsworthy events going on. That forecasts for the transport sector, so my office only closed for around continued into my job at MetDesk too, and in the summer of 2018, he a month or two when we worked from home, but we’ve been back in the asked me to come into the studio for an interview. I was interviewed by office for a while now. As I always say to people, the weather never stops! Trisha Goddard and Mark Dolan, which was a really exciting experience My hours can be really tough, 12 - hour shifts during both the day and and I absolutely loved the studio atmosphere. Around a year or so later I night. So when I had to work from home, it actually made my day-to-day was put in touch with someone who was a producer at Vibe 107.6FM – a life a lot more manageable! One of the things that really helped during community radio station in Watford, with regards to going on air more that time was getting out of the house for some fresh air and long walks. regularly to give the weather forecast. I began co-hosting with one of the I started doing weekly weather forecast videos at the beginning of other presenters and from there ended up getting my own show, now every lockdown for the radio station I work for, which encouraged me to explore Monday evening 7-9pm! new areas to film from around London and Hertfordshire each week. I am still continuing them now and put each video up on my dedicated I really enjoy mixing things up, and not just having the one career. I love Instagram page @weathergirldiaries, which took up a lot of spare time! building new connections and meeting new people; working in two different industries has really opened up so many doors to that. Are there any ways that your time at RMS has impacted what you do

The most challenging thing is adapting to the hours of night shifts, and, without wishing to sound dramatic, making decisions that could have a serious impact on people’s lives. On cold and icy nights, it could be my forecast that councils rely on to decide whether they go and grit the roads or not. One of the most notable events I have worked on so far was in December 2018. It started snowing really heavily overnight, and I have never experienced such a busy night shift with the phones ringing nonstop. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of it but was adamant to get home, even through the snow. Needless to say, I did not, and got stranded on the A41 for four hours. Quite ironic really considering I knew the situation better than anyone! The opportunities at RMS and the positive influence of some of my teachers instilled a lot of confidence in me. I took up extra-curricular activities such as Model United Nations (MUN), and became the Head of Geography Club, which I think really helped my public speaking skills amongst other things. Now it is part of my job to go across the country training various clients on how to interpret our weather forecasts (although this was on Zoom this year) along with speaking live on the radio, which can certainly be a daunting experience. I feel more equipped to deal with these aspects of my job and am extremely grateful to RMS for these skills.