The GatherDC blog strives to present a holistic portrait of the DMV’s Jewish community, sharing a wide variety of Jewish voices and perspectives. If you have a 20- or 30-something to nominate as our Jewish Person of the Week or for a Spotted in Jewish DMV feature, please email us!
Steve and I grab a table at Java Nation on Rockville Pike. As the intrastate traffic rolls by, we chat about Steve’s obsession with meteorology, how he’s found a Jewish home, Bruce Springsteen, what makes a place welcoming, and admitting you don’t always have all the answers.
Samuel: What brought you to the DMV?
Steve: I was finishing up my Master’s degree at the University of Miami in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography. In that time, I determined that I’d prefer working in the field of applied research-to-operations, where you take the science aspect and develop a product or service that can be used for the benefit of the general public. That gave me more fulfillment and excitement than any additional paper I could have written or grant I could have applied for. I got my first job as a contractor, and was up here looking for apartments! In August, I will be celebrating my seventh year as a DMV resident.
Samuel: What has kept you here, apart from work?
Steve: It’s the friends who I call family. I met some at prior stops – University of Miami, Penn State, or people who work in my field – but it’s the pull of the Jewish community here as well. It’s very accessible, welcoming, and kind. It checks every box I could possibly want.
Samuel: What got you hooked on meteorology?
Steve: I was mesmerized by the Blizzard of 1996. You walk out and your childhood lawn is completely bare, and the next day it’s [covered] in almost 3 feet of snow. I thought it was one of the most amazing things: how quickly weather can happen and how the atmosphere evolves over any timescale.
Then, during my time in Florida, I experienced Hurricane Wilma firsthand. I remember putting up the hurricane shutters with my dad on short notice, and running out to purchase a generator. It was almost a week without power. It was nothing like I’d ever experienced – especially the sustained winds. That was just an eye-opening experience.
Samuel: What was your Master’s thesis at University of Miami on?
Steve: We were looking at subtropical and tropical convection – basically, the means by which tropical thunderstorms form and intensify, and how they organize [themselves]. There’s an inflection point in convective precipitation magnitude dependent on water vapor in the tropospheric column and how it is distributed in that column.
My thesis found that tropical and subtropical convective precipitation intensity is particularly sensitive to a corresponding inflection point in humidity within a specific layer in the tropospheric column: the midtroposphere. Once tropospheric humidity exceeds that inflection point, precipitation can rapidly evolve from a light rain regime to a heavy rain regime.
We found that this phenomenon exists in the global circulation models that we have, but that there are biases in the models that inhibit the accuracy of its representation. So our research gave a frame to that. We’re seeing how things manifest in observations, and how well the models can simulate that as well. By bridging those, we create a better picture of our Earth system.
Samuel: What do you wish people outside your field were aware of?
Steve: The ability we might have to expand our forecasting horizon using technological advances. Long-standing barriers to our forecasting capabilities might not be barriers anymore. We can take our physical understanding of [the Earth] through our research and bring it closer to being usable. And Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning applications (AI/ML) have a role in that as well. It’s not the chat box or large language model you’re consulting – We can use it side by side with physical models to recognize all these different patterns within the historical record of the atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, and land surfaces, and apply that in real-time forecasting.
At the same time, the physical models give the numerical physics-based face to that. AI/ML models aren’t thinking with the same understanding as their conventional physical model counterparts. It’s not saying: Okay, this happens because of this or that process, it just recognizes the pattern. AI/ML is only as good as the data, observations, and analysis they’re trained on. But, it has the potential to deliver skillful forecasts at longer lead times and with less computing power.
Samuel: Is your interest in weather and climate informed by your Jewish identity at all?
Steve: Absolutely. It’s this idea of giving back. We’re not doing research for the sake of doing research – we’re taking all these advancements and making them technologically applicable, to help guide good practices and decision-making and resilience in the face of extremes and hazards presented by our integrated Earth system: floods, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, et cetera. It’s fulfilling to know that my work isn’t done in a vacuum. Everything is integrated.
Samuel: What feels alive for you Jewishly?
Steve: Community, regardless of the times. [The Jewish community] is a place where I can lean in and feel comfortable and communicate freely and authentically. I can feel like I’m not isolated and alone, and we can draw strength from each other as we go through difficult times.
I’ve been shul-shopping for the last year or so, and I’ve settled in at Adas Israel Congregation. There’s a wonderful, engaging young professionals community there, and my experiences at Adas never fail to provide a spiritual lift and recharge after a long week. It helps reframe everything within proper perspective before the weekend and the start of the next week.
Samuel: What made Adas Israel feel like home?
Steve: For me, it’s being able to share Jewish experiences with people my age. It’s the welcoming environment. I didn’t feel like a stranger, no matter who I spoke with.
Samuel: Okay, a few quick ones to close. You and I keep talking about music at Gather happy hours. What are you listening to right now?
Steve: I’ve been revisiting stuff that I overlooked when I was a teenager, like The Killers. I mean, Hot Fuss is a no-skip album. I like how much they draw from music I grew up on, from alt rock and nu-wave and pop-punk. And I’ve shared it with my family, too. My dad said: This is basically The Cars doing alt rock.
Samuel: We’re both from New Jersey. I’ve always thought that “When You Were Young” was –
Steve: It’s basically a Springsteen song.
Samuel: Exactly what I was going to say. What’s your other favorite Killers album?
Steve: It’s the follow-up to Hot Fuss. It’s Sam’s Town. It’s a lot of introspective storytelling. I like that Brandon Flowers writes a lot about his experience growing up in Las Vegas, his experience growing up in a religious family and finding his own identity. I relate to it from my Jewish perspective because so much of being an adult is just finding a life for yourself. You’re shaped by your upbringing and what your parents want for you, but finding what you want for yourself and building your life around that…that’s the great opportunity you have. You have to be kind to yourself, to experience life, and take what life brings to you. Even if you think you have everything figured out.
Something I’ve learned from the sciences, and the best advice I’ve gotten from my mentors, is that it’s sometimes okay to say: I don’t have all the answers. Or: I don’t know right now. It’s the process of finding it along the way that makes it worth your while. I love learning something new every day. It’s humbling and inspiring, because the horizon just grows bigger and bigger.
Samuel: What are you feeling proud about right now?
Steve: Finding my place within the Jewish community. For me, looking to join a synagogue – and it’s my choice – that feels like finding a position within my community.
I’ve also picked up guitar again. Maybe to the displeasure of my neighbors.
Samuel: You’re hosting Shabbat dinner and can invite any three people. Who are you bringing?
Steve: I’d like to invite my paternal grandfather, who passed away before I was born. I know him through my parents’ stories, and he just seems like one of the most interesting people in my family history. I’d love to pick his brain. For the second one, I’d like to chat with Sandy Koufax. Even though I’m a Phillies fan. And my third person would be Bruce Springsteen. I’d want to talk to him about storytelling, and how he’s able to tap into his family, his experiences, to put those into a melodic story and share it with millions of people.
Samuel: Last one. Finish the sentence: When Jews of the DMV gather…
Steve: There’s nothing we can’t do.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog and on this website are solely those of the original authors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the organization GatherDC, the GatherDC staff, the GatherDC board, and/or any/all contributors to this site.
