The brains behind the idea is Daniel Veloso, a graduate of the Geophysics program at the University of Concepción, who wrote his thesis under the supervision of professors Aldo Montecinos and Óscar Pizarro, and was awarded the IMO scholarship for undergraduate students.

Veloso took on a new challenge: a Facebook page called “Forecasts and Meteorology for Everyone”, commenting on weather conditions and forecasting them in words that everybody can understand.

“I’ve always been interested in climatology, meteorology and the atmosphere. While I was taking the courses offered in my program, I learned how to forecast the weather. Then I started to get better and, after a while, I began analyzing some websites with weather reports,” explains Daniel Veloso, when asked to talk about the origins of his interest.

Dr. Aldo Montecinos, IMO researcher and Veloso’s thesis supervisor, explained that he is a brilliant person with an extremely promising future. “I’d say that Daniel has everything it takes to become a very active scholar at any university. It’s clear that he has great intellectual capacity and that few people work as hard he does. Nevertheless, his attitude stands out above all. I met him as a student, then I got to know him as a student assistant and later as a thesis student, and he’s always had a very professional attitude. His behavior was professional from the very moment he entered our program. The day on which he presented his thesis, his family told me that he had always wanted to become a meteorologist,” said Dr. Montecinos.

“At first, I began forecasting the weather in my personal Facebook profile. Then, I came up with the idea of creating a fan page to reach more people. I was surprised and motivated when they started sharing my forecasts. 2016 was the year in which this project took off, although it started in 2015, especially during Concepción’s heavy rains,” said Veloso.

Daniel Veloso received the best grade possible (7) for his undergraduate thesis defense, which took place in an auditorium filled with people, and he was congratulated by the three professors on the evaluation committee. It is also important to highlight his interest in the dissemination of science, which is clear from his active participation in the Travelling Scientific Audiovisual Exhibit (MACI) and in science fairs with IMO’s Outreach team. Without a doubt, a bright future lies ahead of this young scientist.

You can visit his Facebook fan page at the following link:

https://www.facebook.com/Pron%C3%B3sticos-y-Meteorolog%C3%ADa-para-todos-858452387636074/