Allen Dutcher is an Extension
Agricultural Climatologist at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
He states that climatology, in its purest
sense, is being able to take weather data
and apply it to long-term trends. Dutcher
wants the public to understand their
risk, especially in this irrigated state.
He believes there is a certain degree of
general knowledge it is important for
the public to access. They should be able
to know whether there is going to be a
potential water shortage issue, how the
weather of neighboring states will
affect Nebraska and how to make
comparisons in a given growing season.
Dutch received his Bachelor's in
Meteorology and Masters in Agriculture
Climatology from Iowa State University.
He's been involved with the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln since graduating
college and currently works with the
Nebraska Extension Office as an
Agricultural Meteorologist. His work is
very important. There are very few people
across the nation that are qualified to
do the work that he does. Dutcher's work is
somewhat rare or unique. He combines his
expertise in meteorology with the
extension land-grant mission to deliver
science-based information to the public
through interactive and engaging formats. He
relays information about what drives
yields and critical time thresholds for
yield prospects to the public. This is
work that a simple meteorologist would
be unable to do. There is a need to
understand crop-weather relationships and
it takes a person like Allen Dutcher to
blend these together. As an Extension
Educator he also spends time giving
talks to groups of people and is a
renowned weatherman, which many people
rely on for an accurate forecast, that he
delivers on a weekly basis, for both
Market Journal and KRVN. Most young boys
want to be a firefighter or even a
doctor when they grow up. However, five-year-old
Al knew he wanted to be a
meteorologist and he followed that dream
through to reality. His work with
Extension and the path he has followed
helped provide non-formal education and
learning activities for people
throughout the country. You
learn more about the important work that
the Extension Educators do by visiting
the UNL Extension website at extension.unl.edu.
