Interns

Jeff Wehrwein, recently graduated from Middlebury College, where he majored in computer science and mathematics. When planning a hike up Mount Washington last summer, he quickly became interested in the Observatory and its internship program. This summer, rather than seek lucrative employment in the software industry, he has joined the Observatory as an intern, where he hopes to learn more about weather and enjoy all that the summit offers. In addition, he is very excited about escaping from the hot and humid New England summer weather during his weeks on the summit.

A native of Massachusetts, Jeff is a northern New Englander at heart. He grew up skiing, hiking, and traveling with his family in Vermont and New Hampshire. His love of the outdoors inspired him to attend Middlebury, where he engaged in snowshoeing, hiking, biking, skiing, whitewater rafting, sledding, and occasionally academics. He is excited to explore his long-held interest in weather at the Observatory.

In his spare time, Jeff enjoys being outdoors, playing badminton, reading books, taking photographs, and squirrels. He also enjoys temperatures below 60F, learning new things, and spaghetti.

Lisa Hodges, a true New Englander at heart, is joining the observatory as a summer intern. She grew up in Rhode Island, making trips to the White Mountains of New Hampshire as well as the Adirondacks of New York to go hiking and skiing with her family. She has ventured across the country to Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR, although she has come back to New England for the summer. She is majoring in biology, and she will be a sophomore this fall.

Lisa has been interested in the weather since she overcame her fear of thunderstorms when studying the natural sciences in junior high. She now loves being in the heart of a storm, and is anticipating the first thunderstorm to be witnessed from the weather room at the summit. Her love for the outdoors has encouraged her to stay up to date with the weather. In particular, her experience on the water sailing taught her to keep a close eye on the skies.

In her spare time, Lisa enjoys anything to keep her outside or on the water: hiking, skiing, sailing, and photographing her adventures. She looks forward to learning as much as possible about Mount Washington's unique weather conditions and its unique inhabitants.

Ted Letcher has abandoned the warmth of the Mid-Atlantic for the callous climate of the Mount Washington summit. Ted was born in the fine state of Alaska however moved to central Maryland at the rather tender age of two. He has grown up canoeing and hiking with his parents all across America, which has fueled his growing love and respect for the great outdoors. Ted, preparing to start his senior year at SUNY Oswego, is majoring in meteorology and minoring in mathematics. Ted chose to attend Oswego due to rumors of "wild" weather, and that is what fascinated Ted with the Mount Washington Observatory.

Ted has had a love for weather for as long as he, and anyone he knows, can remember. He has always had this habit of providing some sort of weather forecast (though usually wrong) to everyone within earshot of him. Ted loves life experiences, and feels that the greatest way for him to learn about the weather is to be immersed in the most extraordinary weather he can get his hands on. He has no doubt in his mind that he will learn plenty on the aptly nicknamed "Rock pile".

For fun, Ted enjoys pretty much anything outdoors including of course the weather. Other hobbies include; reading, playing guitar, and the occasional differential equation. Ted looks forward, not only to his time up here on the summit, but also his time off backpacking around the New Hampshire backcountry.

Natalie Martin was scared of extreme weather as a child; tornado warnings near her Virginia home had her waking from nightmares many times. She ended up reading a lot about weather and watching shows on extreme weather in efforts to protect herself from it if need be. By the time she wasn't scared anymore she had learned a lot about weather and had forgotten why she started being interested in the first place!

Natalie moved to New Jersey a few years later and decided to study meteorology at Rutgers University where she and her friends visited the summit often. One summer she took an unexpected turn and took an internship in southwest Florida taking care of exhibit animals and giving tours to the public. She graduated in 2006 and moved to North Carolina to work at a museum where she again got to work with animals, gave tours, and recruited volunteers. She found she liked this work, but longed to use her love of people and a museum atmosphere with the weather she loved and studied. The observatory was a perfect fit! She now joins the team as a summit intern and can't wait to learn more and have fun.

In her spare time Natalie enjoys video games, traveling, biking, hiking, star gazing, photography, watching movies, and reading.