Bison Trailblazers | Donald Long
by Anna De Cheke Qualls
Donald Long is not one to shy away from a challenge. Concurrent to his PhD work in Atmospheric Sciences, Long teaches full-time in Baltimore City’s Graceland Park/O'Donnell Heights Elementary Middle School. He is as passionate about weather as education.
By day, Long preps for classes, corrects assignments, engages with colleagues and parents. By night he is a doctoral student advancing his own research and working on plans to establish a middle school science program at Howard University's Beltsville Research Campus.
“I never thought I would be a teacher, but after doing some tutoring in undergrad and grad school, some TA work, and a lot of K-12 outreach as a student intern at the National Weather Service, it sort of hit me one day. So I decided to apply, try it out. I have loved it though it is incredibly hard work every day,” says Long.
Over time, Long’s teaching and doctoral work have evolved into a symbiotic relationship. His research, professional and personal development have been transformed by time in the classroom.
“Teachers get to participate in extensive professional development. Grad school can sometimes focus heavily on academic professional development (writing workshops, resume building, etc. I've found that in the workforce, professional development is more geared towards continued attainment of tangible skills and the refinement of those skills. I've also done a lot of identity work though professional development, so I know myself and my tolerances really well. Like they say, you teach who you are,” observes Long.
His atmospheric research also pivoted to include an emphasis on K-12 science education - direct experiences with students coupled with his long-term goals to work at NOAA Education.
“I'm coming at teaching from an alternative certification pathway, so it was an experiment for me. I have confirmed that I love teaching. I love the idea of doing educational research in atmospheric science (which for my master's I only knew I wanted to do social science research), and I love working with students. So more specifically I've honed in on the topic I want to study, the population I want to study, and all while figuring out my vocation,” says Long.
Long has also become a better learner. Having to juggle a rigorous school schedule has pushed him to work on time management and other organizational skills. Through his school’s ethos of constant professional practice improvement, Long has been able to examine how he learns. Lastly, teaching has allowed Long to observe the implementation of research in a practical environment.
“When creating and conducting research projects it helps when you have seen and worked as an end-user yourself. I can see theories from educational psychology (i.e. Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory) in practice daily, which allows me better perspective as I form my own theoretical perspectives. That is something that is big in weather - in research to operations - operations being operational meteorology a.k.a. the practice of meteorology a.k.a. forecasting. So being a teacher is a little different professional practice but given that I've done forecasting as a Pathways Intern for the National Weather Service, what I'm doing now rounds out my experience,” says Long.
Long is currently working across his school district and within his degree program at Howard, including his own faculty, to find support to complete the Beltsville project. He is hoping to run a pilot program this summer, and is in the process of recruiting students.
“The biggest thing we can do (in my opinion) is go into schools, and get in front of students. We often discuss representation, but if a student never knows you exist then it’s work done in the dark. I’ve experienced this as a student myself in high school and undergrad — if you don’t know of opportunities, you can’t possibly apply to them. One of the reasons I became a teacher was because I can serve as a scientist in front of them daily, building relationships with them daily. Every day my students ask me questions about the work I do, the degree I’m working toward, why am I so passionate about that, and why I become a teacher if I am already a scientist,” says Long.
In turn, his interdisciplinary research experiences as a master’s student in Howard’s NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology (NCAS-M) have informed his teaching philosophy.
“I collaborated with the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO) to process some emergency manager transcripts they had collected after a tornado outbreak. I took courses in social theory and sociological research methods, which helped me conduct my analysis. I hope to make the findings public soon so I cannot say too much yet. Outside of this project, I served as a science communicator since much of the work going on in the center is interdisciplinary,” says Long.
As to how Long manages all of these commitments, he does the best he can. Long has not been able to fully commit to the graduate student experience - he has missed conferences and other networking/research opportunities due to his school schedule.
“I have a therapist, I try to work out regularly, and summer breaks are nice because I can focus more on research. I've had to get better with time management, discipline, and managing my schedule. And saying "no" to things on both sides. Being aligned helps for sure. Letting both entities (my advisor and my coworkers) know has been helpful, as well. It can be done, but overall it is incredibly difficult balancing two full-time occupations at once, but easier if they are aligned,” says Long.
Long has certainly had an amazing journey. From fishing trips on Lake Michigan with his father, storm stories, and tornado drills at school - seeds were planted in young Donald’s mind. Since grade three, he has been hooked on weather.
Believing in taking chances, making mistakes, Long sees life as positively messy. He is refreshingly honest and unapologetic about the fact that his path up to this point has largely been the result of his own trial and error. And yet, throughout his journey, Long has been fully conscious of his important role in the atmospheric science space, science in general, and the impact he can make both now and long-term.
“My legacy would be that I was/am pioneering a new way of interdisciplinary research in atmospheric sciences. The days of discrete fields are essentially over, but some still hesitate to allow space and dollars for multidisciplinary research. My work continues to pave the path forward so that more people can do and succeed in interdisciplinary research. Integrated social sciences basically recognizes the need to look at the human factor when considering natural hazards - work being done to look beyond a great forecast and more at how communities prepare for and respond to inclement weather,” says Long. "But, nothing we as professionals choose to do today can be accomplished without the students of tomorrow."