When he was at school, Mark Guishard’s favourite activity was going on environmental field trips.

So it should have been no surprise that the young Bermudian chose to pursue a degree in environmental sciences, although he is the first to admit that he never expected to become a meteorologist.

“Geography field trips were always my favourite part of school,” Dr. Guishard, now the director of the Bermuda Weather Service, explained.

That fascination led him to a degree in Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA), while holding summer jobs at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research and the Bermuda Electric Light Company’s Environment Office.

“I decided I wanted to continue studying such phenomena as air pollution, so I continued on a Master’s degree in Atmospheric Sciences, also at UEA,” said the director.

“The meteorology component of that made me eligible to train as a forecaster at the Bermuda Weather Service. I’ve been blessed to be in the right place at the right time, because the US Naval Air Station had just handed the airport services back to the Government. At that time, they required Bermudians to fill positions in Serco, who managed the air traffic support services, which included the weather service.

“At that point, my experience of meteorology was limited to classroom exercises heavily involving mathematical equations, so I must admit, the prospect of becoming a meteorologist did not interest me in the slightest. I benefited from the wisdom of my parents who encouraged me to apply anyway.”

It became apparent at his interview that meteorologists were not peopled by people who sat in cubicles, trying to derive equations all day.

“The practical aspects of forecasting interested me immediately when I saw that I’d be working with sophisticated equipment such as satellite and radar imagery, and working in a very hands-on fashion towards early warning of the public in a hurricane situation,” said Dr. Guishard.

“I signed on in 1997 and underwent training at the UK Meteorological Office and at the US National Hurricane Center over the course of the next year.

“I was a meteorologist (otherwise known as a forecaster) on shift up until 2002, by which time I had cultivated a keen interest in hurricanes and subtropical storms, after having seen several operationally since starting at the Bermuda Weather Service, including Gert in 1999, and Karen, a subtropical storm, in 2001.

“The thing that interested me particularly about Karen was that it was a frontal system that developed an intense low right on the doorstep, which approached Bermuda, as it was evolving into a hurricane-like system. This interest eventually led to to my going off to study subtropical storms towards a PhD at Penn State.”

During the course of his studies, he travelled back to classes a few days before Hurricane Fabian hit the Island.

“I was disappointed that I was unable to be there with my family and soon-to-be wife, but also that I had missed the most significant weather event to affect Bermuda in living memory,” he says ruefully.

“There I was in Pennsylvania studying hurricanes, and the most intense hurricane to hit us in decades was bearing down on the Island!

“Fortunately I was able to keep a close eye on the storm, no pun intended, from afar by satellite. Surprisingly, I was able to stay in phone contact with my family even up to the worst of the storm. Also, I was able to talk to my colleagues, who were braving the storm at BWS to bring updated information to the Government and public.”

Dr. Guishard graduated with his doctorate in April, 2006 and came back to the Island to take over from his predecessor, Roger Williams, as Director of the Bermuda Weather Service.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Mr. Williams’ sterling efforts over the previous ten years are what have made BWS what it is today. His work is the foundation that I will continue to build on.

“Since then it has been a challenging, rewarding job, part of which has been successfully ‘weathering’ Hurricane Florence in September last year.”