![]() ![]() In the 1960s, Bacon-Bercey rejoined NOAA in its New York City offices as a radar meteorologist. While in this role, she studied fallout patterns caused by nuclear detonations. She accepted a position as a senior adviser at the Atomic Energy Commission in 1959 because of her interests to better understand the effects of hydrogen and atomic bombs on Earth’s atmosphere. īacon-Bercey continued her career as an engineer, when she worked for the Sperry Corporation, then worked for a variety of federal organizations including the United States Atomic Energy Commission. Shortly after graduation, Bacon-Bercey moved to Washington, D.C., for a position as a weather analyst and forecaster with the National Meteorological Center, now known as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. At the age of 59, she earned a teaching credential to be able to serve as a county relief teacher for elementary and high school math and science courses until she was in her 80s, with her last assignments at Westmoor High School in Daly City, California. She earned a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from the Journalism School of University of Southern California in 1979. I got a D in home economics and an A in thermodynamics.” Bacon-Bercey became the first African American woman to be conferred a meteorology degree from UCLA. ![]() She faced opposition and discouragement in her pursuit of her meteorology degree, as she stated during a 1977 interview for a Baltimore Sun article, "When I chose my major, my adviser, who is still at U.C.L.A., advised me to go into home economics. She then attended and earned her bachelor's degree in 1954 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), which at that time was one of the few schools in the nation to offer a four-year degree in atmospheric science. She first attended a private college close to home with an intent to major in math, but she left Friends University after two years to pursue a degree in meteorology. A high school physics teacher is credited for noticing Bacon-Bercey’s interest in water displacement and buoyancy and encouraging her to pursue a career in meteorology. She was an only child that enjoyed bike riding, hiking, playing the piano, and participating in Girl Scouts activities. Her father died when she was young, and her mother remarried and moved to Florida, leaving her to be raised by an aunt and uncle. Her father was an attorney and her mother a music teacher. Early life and education īacon-Bercey was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, in 1928. She was the first African-American woman to earn a degree in meteorology and was the first female TV meteorologist trained in the field of meteorology in the United States. June Esther Bacon-Bercey (née Griffin, Octo– July 3, 2019) was an American international expert on weather and aviation who worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Weather Service and the Atomic Energy Commission. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. ![]()
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