Dr. Robert Ballard, Titanic discoverer and JASON Project founder (Photo: WFO Lake Charles)
Tornado generator (Photo: WFO Lake Charles)
Nearly 9,000 students from the Beaumont area were in attendance for the program. A few years after his discovery of the Titanic in 1985, Dr. Ballard established the JASON Project because he received more than 16,000 letters from students asking about his adventures. The project is a middle school science curriculum program that is designed to motivate and inspire students to pursue interests and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The forecast office in Lake Charles was asked to participate as a primary presenter at the 2012 event which focused on a "Forces in Motion" theme.
"Our staff provided a demonstration and discussion of an upper air balloon launch, followed by a live demonstration of a nine-foot tall tornado generator," said Lake Charles Meteorologist-in-Charge Andy Patrick. "The machine was designed to show the wind field of a tornado, along with the impacts of debris being lifted into the tornado."
Lake Charles also made daily presentations in early February at Lamar University's John Gray Center, which were followed by additional scientific experiments in a classroom setting. The classroom experiments included a hurricane simulator and an interactive demonstration of how the forces of nature (wind) can cause significant motion in the atmosphere.
In addition to Dr. Ballard's extensive credits in locating significant and historical shipwrecked vessels (RMS TITANIC in 1985, the German battleship BISMARK in 1989, the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in 1998, and John F. Kennedy's PT-109 in 2002), he and his scientific teams are also known worldwide for researching and mapping the ocean floors. One of their most notable discoveries included the gigantic tubeworms located near ocean floor hydrothermal vents.
More information: NWS Lake Charles @ 2012 Jason Project, Jason Project and Lamar University.
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