Climate change is creating conditions for extreme weather as well as disasters like fires and floods. At the same time, the federal databases — and even data archives — that inform understanding and predictions about such events are disappearing.
In this CASW Connector Chat, co-organized with the American Statistical Association, we’ll walk through the pipeline from data analysis to media publication, hearing from a statistician, climate scientist and journalist. They’ll address how the changing data landscape is affecting the questions they can ask and answer, and offer tips for reporting on this dynamic and challenging beat.
You’ll hear from:
Christopher K. Wikle, the Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Statistics at the University of Missouri. He specializes in spatio-temporal statistics, with primary applications to geophysical processes, weather, climate, complex biological processes and the environment.
Jason Samenow, the founder and chief meteorologist for Capital Weather, a company dedicated to providing trustworthy D.C. area weather coverage. He was previously The Washington Post‘s weather editor and also worked as a climate change analyst at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Sarah Kaplan, a climate reporter at The Washington Post covering humanity’s response to a warming world. Her reporting focuses on extreme weather as well as climate change impacts on food, water and biodiversity. She was part of the team of Post journalists recognized as a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for coverage of Hurricane Helene’s human and environmental toll. She previously reported on Earth science and the universe at The Post.
The event will be moderated by Regina Nuzzo, a professor of mathematics and data science at Gallaudet University, co-host of the Normal Curves podcast, and a science journalist specializing in statistics and the scientific process.