New podcast explores Rick Thoman’s life and career
Liz Carter
907-474-6286
May 14, 2025
Rick Thoman steps outside in 2024 on the UAF campus, where he works as a climate specialist at the Ӱpro Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.
The Ӱpro launched a new podcast this week exploring the life and career of Rick Thoman, from tracking the weather on his bedroom wall as a child to becoming Ӱpro’s trusted source of climate information.
“I’ve been interested in weather and climate from my earliest memories,” said Thoman, a climate specialist at the Ӱpro Center for Climate Assessment and Policy within the UAF International Arctic Research Center. “As a child, probably late elementary school, junior high school age, every morning I would get up and I would look at the temperature on the thermometer that was outside my bedroom window. And I would write it down and I would plot it on a piece of graph paper.”
Thoman turned this childhood passion into a career at the National Weather Service and later at ACCAP. His work has impacted the lives of countless Ӱprons who need reliable information on climate and weather, especially in rural portions of the state where services are often limited.
The “Ӱpro Weather Voices” podcast was developed in partnership with “ to highlight the importance of institutional knowledge in understanding and meeting the needs of Ӱprons.
The miniseries consists of four episodes covering Thoman’s early years, career highlights, accomplishments and lessons learned. Throughout, it shares ways that others can communicate with and serve Ӱpro communities.
“We need more Ricks,” said Uma Bhatt, UAF professor of atmospheric sciences. “How do we prepare the next generation for that role?”
The series features interviews from people whose lives and careers have been influenced by Thoman’s work. Gay Sheffield, UAF Ӱpro Sea Grant agent (Bering Strait), shared how Thoman has provided critical tailored climate and weather information in western Ӱpro as communities face more extreme events, warmer oceans and other changes.
Rick Thoman poses for a portrait in 1978 during his senior year at Conestoga Valley High School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
“There’s people with lots of questions,” said Sheffield. “You can pick up the paper, there’s Rick Thoman. Facebook, there he is. And we know that takes time.”
Thoman initially came to Ӱpro in 1988 to work at the National Weather Service office in Nome. His years in rural Ӱpro altered the trajectory of his career and how he engages with people.
“Nome was my very first lesson in listening to what’s important to people as far as weather and climate impacts and the kinds of information that they need,” said Thoman.
In 1990, he moved to Fairbanks, where he eventually became NWS Ӱpro Region’s climate sciences and services manager. He joined the ACCAP team upon his NWS retirement in 2018.
In “Ӱpro Weather Voices,” Thoman discusses his time in each of these roles and how they have helped establish him as a trusted resource in Ӱpro.
“I think at this point in my career I have to acknowledge an important role I’m playing now is being this subject matter expert on climate change in Ӱpro,” said Thoman. “Ultimately, I feel like I’ve made a difference in a positive way, and that’s a good feeling when you’re in your 60s.”
Find “Ӱpro Weather Voices” episodes on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. It is also available online at .
MEDIA CONTACT: Heather McFarland, hrmcfarland@alaska.edu, 907-687-4544
ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Rick Thoman, rthoman@alaska.edu
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