JOHN R. SCALA, PhD CCM, is a broadcast meteorologist with WGAL News 8 in Lancaster, PA and a private weather consultant preparing expert opinions in criminal and civil litigation including cases of personal injury, questionable death and storm-related damage. Previously, Dr. Scala held a tenure-track appointment at Millersville University of Pennsylvania from 2002-2005, and served as the Associate Director of Millersville’s Center for Disaster Research and Education. He was employed by The Weather Channel between 1998-2002 as their Meteorology Training Coordinator and first on camera Storm Analyst.

Dr. Scala served as the 2008 President of the National Weather Association, a professional nonprofit organization with over 2000 members dedicated to excellence in weather forecasting, communication and service. More recently, he served a two-year term as Treasurer after completing a second three-year term as Councilor. Dr. Scala also served on the Committee on Societal Impacts of Weather and Climate. He received the National Weather Association’s Member of the Year Award in 2009.

Dr. Scala is a member of the American Meteorological Society where he serves on the Board of Continuing Professional Development, the American Geophysical Union, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. His published work consists of 18 authored or co-authored papers in the peer-reviewed literature and over 30 conference contributions. Dr. Scala wrote an invited chapter on forensic meteorology which appeared in the second edition of CRC Press’s number one best seller, Forensic Entomology, published in July 2009.

Dr. Scala holds a B.S. degree in Biology and Geology from the University of Rochester, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia. Dr. Scala began his professional career at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center where he focused on the observation, and numerical modeling of storms. He earned the nationally recognized Certified Consulting Meteorologist designation by the American Meteorological Society in 2011. Dr. Scala serves on the Steering Committee of the Central PA Integrated Weather Impacts Team and on the Weather Advisory Council of the Event Safety Alliance. He is also a FEMA certified instructor with the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center.

Dr. Scala maintains a close working relationship with the National Weather Service by collaborating on research projects designed to improve operational forecasting and severe weather communication; he also assists in site surveys of tornado and severe storm damage. He consulted with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Association where he developed curricular-based materials for integrating service learning, scientific knowledge, and emergency response and preparedness activities.