David Changnon Professor Meteorology Program Department of Geography Northern Illinois University DeKalb, IL 60115 Email: dchangnon@niu.edu

David Changnon is an atmospheric scientist specializing in climatological studies in the Department of Geography at Northern Illinois University (NIU). After receiving his Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences in 1991 from Colorado State University, he spent a year and a half at the Southeast Regional Climate Center in Columbia, South Carolina, before taking an academic position at NIU. His major expertise rests in developing climatological information and models for use by weather-sensitive decision makers in agriculture, utilities, insurance, and transportation. He has developed an innovative new "education-to-career" program to train students and simultaneously solve climatological problems facing government and private industry. He has served on various committees of two scientific societies. His research interests also involve spatial and temporal variability of climate extremes in the United States. Changnon is the author or co-author on over 40 journal articles, book chapters, and other refereed publications. He has participated in a number of climate change workshops including the July 1998 summer session of the Aspen Global Change Institute titled "Climate extremes: Changes, impacts, and projections," a June 2002 National Academy of Sciences National Disasters Roundtable titled "From Climate to Weather: Impacts on Society and Economy," and a July 2005 summer session of the Aspen Global Change Institute titled "North American Weather and Climate Extremes: Progress in Monitoring and Research." Currently, he is participating in a National Research Council (NRC) Panel titled "Estimating and Communicating Uncertainty in Weather and Seasonal Climate Forecasts.

Mike Sandstrom Research Scientist Department of Geography Northern Illinois University DeKalb, IL 60115 E-mail: wxtrw44@yahoo.com

Mike Sandstrom is a meteorologist and research scientist specializing in understanding relationships between agriculture and climate/weather patterns in the Department of Geography at Northern Illinois University (NIU). After receiving his M.S. in Geography (emphasis in Meteorology/Climatology) in August 2005 at NIU, he continued a working relationship that had begun at the very end of his undergraduate work in Meteorology at NIU in the spring of 2003 with Dr. Brian Flood, manager of Integrated Pest Management for Del Monte Foods, Inc. One of his major responsibilities is relating the migration of crop-damaging insects to central United States weather patterns. Through work with Dr. David Changnon over the past several years while at NIU, he has developed an interest in the interactions among climate and weather sensitive user groups and atmospheric scientists. Sandstrom is the author or co-author on nearly a half dozen refereed journal articles or book chapters that relate weather/climate to agriculture in the Midwest.