Certified Broadcast Meteorologist

Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.

The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding, especially with respect to environmental issues. The goal of the CBM program is to certify that the holder meets specific educational and experience criteria and has passed rigorous testing in their knowledge and communication of meteorology and related sciences needed to be an effective broadcast meteorologist.

In order to acquire a CBM, new applicants must hold at least a Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology (or equivalent) from an accredited college/university, pass a written examination, and have their work reviewed to assess technical competence, informational value, explanatory value, and communication skills. All CBMs may retain their certification and display the CBM logo as long as they pay their membership and renewal fees each year and complete a 28 point professional development requirements every five years. The only experience requirement is a nominal three consecutive days, for the purpose of filming demonstration tapes (this contrasts with the NWA's seal, which requires at least two years full-time experience, but allows those who do not have meteorology degrees to apply).

The CBM is given to "recognize broadcast and consulting meteorologists who have achieved a certain level of competency". [1] The CBM designation replaces the "Seal of Approval" program, which was discontinued in 2008 and was open to those without meteorology degree but who had taken the minimal courses set forth by the AMS. Original Seal of Approval holders did have to take at least a minimal amount of courses in Meteorology from an accredited program before they could receive a Seal. This included at least 5 courses in meteorology and related sciences with at least 4 of the 5 courses directly related to Meteorological sciences. Though the original AMS Seal of Approval and the CBM designation are considered roughly equivalent, the AMS considers the CBM an "upgrade" over the original seal. Persons who held the old Seal of Approval do not have to have a degree in meteorology to upgrade to the CBM seal. Many meteorologists with the old Seal of Approval do in fact contain a degree in Meteorology or related sciences and/or a general meteorological certification from an accredited University program. Many of these candidates have chosen not to upgrade to the new CBM and will continue to maintain the original Seal. A person that contains an original Seal of Approval or CBM, Contains a bachelors degree or higher in meteorology and/or certification from an accredited University program and has sufficient experience in the field is referred to as a meteorologist in the broadcast community.

The first person to receive the CBM seal was WRAL's Greg Fishel. ^[1]

References

1. ^ List of AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologists (CBM)

External Links

• AMS Certification Programs