biography and contact

“I thrive on the joy of tackling a wide variety of tasks, blending science with creativity in every aspect of my work and life. As a certified meteorologist, my expertise spans weather forecasting, satellite product applications, training and applied research. Beyond the sciences, I bring passion to communication, translation, content creation, graphic design and even video editing. Outside the professional realm, I embrace artistic pursuits like painting, playing musical instruments, and crafting intricate culinary creations."

Who is JOSE MANUEL GALVEZ ?

José is a meteorologist with a wide background of interests and skills ranging from languages and translating, through training and communicating, to the development of content and forecasting tools. He developed a professional career in science focusing in meteorology, emphasizing training on weather forecasting and satellite product interpretation. Having built experience as a teacher and trainer and having conducted several interviews in television and other media, José is comfortable speaking in front of large audiences and is capable of using several languages to communicate. Although the core of his professional work has been on science, has been able to develop and apply different skills and interests over the years.

Career

Early work
Science work started by setting up a weather station in his roof at Lima, Peru and collecting observations when 15 years old. At 16, while still in high school, José volunteered as an observer at the Alexander Von Humboldt Observatory in Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, where he started a B.Sc. in Science the following year. The first paid meteorology job was as an intern at Instituto Geofísico del Perú while still in college. This became a full time job one year later, in January 2000. The tenure at the Geophysical Institute consisted of working with the MM5 model to research boundary-layer schemes plus some weather forecasting and side research. During this tenure, he won a scholarship award to visit Penn State University, PA during 6 months to work with MM5.
The next step was graduate school at University of Oklahoma, for which he relocated to Norman, OK in 2002. There he worked as a research and teaching assistant, completing a M.Sc. and then Ph.D. in meteorology by 2011. During this period José developed many skills including research, programming, teaching, languages and development of educational material. He acquired experience with leadership at the Peruvian Student Association, and furthered his experience with graphic design and video editing, which had started in his teens.
trainer, developer and weather forecaster
José's career acquired speed during his appointment as a contractor for the NOAA Weather Prediction Center International Desks that started in 2012. He was able to condense and build on his knowledge of weather and apply it into sensitive weather forecasts for the Americas and into training over 100 international weather forecasters onsite, but much larger numbers virtually and in international training missions. A breakthrough was the development of the Galvez-Davison Index (GDI) in collaboration with Mike Davison in 2013, to improve the analysis and forecasting of tropical and subtropical convection. The GDI became a forecasting tool rapidly adopted by the Americas and is now widely used around the world. Since then, José has developed numerous forecasting tools in collaboration with colleagues in the US and Americas.
Information about the galvez-davison index
RECENT YEARS
By 2025, José has a 13-year tenure at the Weather Prediction Center International Desks, where he has been able to reach and connect with large audiences mostly across the Americas but occasionally across the world. He has been able to travel to more than 10 countries to conduct training on different weather and satellite meteorology-related topics. Interaction with most weather services in the Americas and with large audiences has enriched his knowledge in meteorology and his understanding of the training and data needs in the region. A noteworthy trend of recent work has been an increase in Impact-Based Decision Support Services, resulting in an increased frequency of graphical and text alerts before and during extreme rainfall events. In collaboration with his team, José has produced hundreds of rainfall forecast graphics to serve nations in the Americas since the mid 2010's, lately emphasizing tropical cyclone rainfall forecasts in coordination with NOAA's National Hurricane Center and countries in the Americas. Coordination and messaging involved the use of English, Spanish and French.
AWARDS
INTERVIEWS ABOUT JOSE

skills

Languages and Translation
  • Experience training and communicating in different languages including consecutive translation, assisting with translation, and translating documents. Languages:
  • Spanish: Fluent (native)
  • English: Fluent (written and oral)
  • French: Proficient (written and oral)
  • Portuguese: Familiar (oral especially)
Media Interviews, training/teaching, and communicating
  • Wide experience interacting with large audiences, from students to the general public.
  • Wide experience training and teaching in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
  • Experience with conducting media interviews in several languages, in short notice and live in TV.
Development of content and educational material
  • Wide experience developing educational material by combining skills in training, languages, communication, graphic design, cartoons, animations and video, research, and computing.
  • Wide experience developing presentations, designing graphics and websites.
  • Tools for Graphic Design and Presentations: Photoshop, Krita, Corel Draw, PowerPoint.
  • Tools for Video editing: Sony Vegas Studio, Windows Movie Maker.
Computing
  • Experience programming for data analysis and developing forecasting tools and setting them operational, educational material and building websites.
  • Tools for Data Analysis: IDL, GrADS, Python, Fortran, Windows Batch, Kornshell, Matlab.
  • Tools for website development: HTML/CSS and HAniS.
  • Tools for gridded analysis: WINGRIDDS, GrADS, NAWIPS, AWIPS (basic).
  • Tools in MSOffice: Excel, PowerPoint, Word.
  • Operating Systems: Windows, Linux and Unix.
Weather Analysis Forecasting
  • Wide experience with satellite product interpretation and application.
  • Wide experience analyzing and forecasting the weather for the Americas and world.
  • Wide experience producing graphics and messaging for tropical cyclone rainfall forecasts.
Leadership
  • Wide experience leading small and large groups of people and working in teams.
  • Wide experience leading international workshops and virtual training.
  • Experience leading the WPC International Desks on occasions.
  • Experience leading gained while secretary of the Peruvian Student Association of the University of Oklahoma (2009-10). Organizer of the Peruvian Cultural Night (300 people).
Commitment, dedication, adaptability, and interpersonal skills
  • Verifiable ability to work at a fast pace, during long hours with attention to detail.
  • Verifiable ability to learn rapidly. Verifiable ability to be adaptable and persistent.
  • Verifiable ability to have strong interpersonal skills.
  • Reliable.