March 28, 2023 • 9 mins
UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May talks with student and Twitter-famous storm chaser Colin McCarthy in this episode of "Face to Face." Chancellor May's sage advice to Colin: "School first, tweet later."
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to “Face to Face,” a UC Davis podcast
featuring students, staff and faculty innovators.
I’m your host, Chancellor Gary May.
Stay tuned for my next guest.
Hi, my name is Colin McCarthy, and
(00:24):
I'm a freshman from San Carlos,
California, studying atmospheric
science at UC Davis.
My lifelong passion for weather and
climate has allowed me to build one
of the largest social media
platforms on the internet, covering
extreme weather with over 100,000
combined followers across social
media. I've been interviewed by some
of the biggest publications in the
world, such as BBC, NBC
(00:45):
and CBS, and was lucky enough to do
my first-ever TV interview with
CBS Sacramento on my first day
of school at UC Davis.
His Hurricane Ian posts have been
viewed 30 million times
this week by people all around the
world, and I had the opportunity to
talk to him today while he sat in
his Aggie dorm room.
Colin, welcome to "Face to Face."
(01:06):
Thank you.
Good to have you here with me.
Glad to be here.
So, listen, you've been making
headlines, clearly,
starting at UC Davis this fall.
You're Twitter famous — more famous
than me. I'm jealous.
Tell us about how the @US_Stormwatch
Twitter feed came to be.
Yeah.
I've had a lifelong passion in
(01:27):
weather from a very young age —
a lot of time spent outdoors,
backpacking, camping.
I have family in the Midwest.
So I've been in tornado warnings out
there. So it all kind of just
continued on this path.
I did science fairs on climate,
stuff like that.
And then in eighth grade, seventh
grade, I created my account
on Twitter just to learn more about
(01:48):
weather, because I knew there was a
great community on there.
And then it was
pretty slow growth for the first few
years, because I didn't really take
it too serious. I was pretty young.
I was like, oh, just a little fun
thing I do.
But then in 2020, when we had all
those wildfires, I
really started taking it serious.
And since then it's really exploded.
So, yeah.
So you started the Twitter account
(02:09):
when you were 13?
... Yeah. ... Did you tell your
parents?
I didn't tell them for a long time.
None of my buddies or any people
that knew me knew that I had the
account until like senior
year pretty much, so.
Full confession (02:21):
The only reason I'm
on social media is because I got on
it to monitor my children.
Yeah.
And then it kind of grew from there.
So do your parents know now?
Of course they do. Yeah.
Yeah, I told them.
And they love
what I do, and they're so happy for
me. And I appreciate all their
support and allowing me to go
to such a great university like
here, which has one of the best
(02:41):
atmospheric science programs in the
country. So it's been
awesome.
Indeed. Do they know all of your
accounts or just the public ones?
Just the public ones.
Just my main ones for Twitter and
TikTok and Instagram.
So yeah.
Because I learned that my kids made
up other accounts under other names
and avoided my scrutiny.
So ... Yeah. ... I'm sure you're all
wise to that stuff.
Yeah, exactly. You got to be careful there.
(03:01):
Yeah.
Anyway, so what drives
you to keep doing this now?
Climate change, a lot of it plays
a big role in weather becoming
more extreme around the world,
especially in California with all
the droughts, wildfires and
the big storms we're seeing now.
So there's a big need for people
to know about extreme weather,
(03:22):
and how climate change is going to
impact it, make it worse.
And I just love communicating it and
just covering it.
It's really not even like a job to
me. It's my true passion.
And now you're at UC Davis
in your second quarter studying
atmospheric science.
So it fits right in with your
passion, right? So how is this
affecting the side hustle on
Twitter?
Yeah, I had a tough time
(03:43):
balancing both things in the first
quarter. And I still at times am
like, do I do this tweet or do I do
schoolwork? Because
it's just I feel a need
to let people know what's going to
happen.
And it's just really fun to cover
it. But then, you know, if I want
to become a meteorologist, I need to
focus on school and get the good
grades so I can get my degree.
And then I can really focus on all
(04:04):
that stuff when I graduate.
That's right. You got it.
You're very wise.
School first ... Yeah.
... tweet later. Right?
... Exactly. ...
What's the plan for after you finish
school? You mentioned being a
meteorologist. Is that your goal?
Yeah, become a meteorologist.
There's so many different things I'm
interested in.
There's a social media route that
I've been able to grow a lot.
There's so many cool things you can
(04:25):
do, like storm chasing.
And then there's really cool things,
and there's actually something
called forensic meteorology, which
I've always found was very
interesting.
It's where you basically work
and help as — you can testify as an
expert witness in court cases that
involve like extreme weather.
So there's like a plane crash, you
can testify as an expert witness
and say (04:44):
Did weather play a role
and — severe weather play a role in
this crash? Stuff like that.
There's just so many different
avenues that even I don't know about
that I'm excited to discover once
I graduate.
Do you want to do TV meteorology, or
do you want to be a real scientist
behind the scenes doing the work?
Yeah, I definitely like the more
social kind of communication side of
it, so less research, more
(05:05):
just communicating its effects
and stuff like that.
But in weather, actually there's a
big kind of shift away from that TV
weather, and it's a lot more on
social media and weather apps now.
So I actually recently
just became officially a part
of MyRadar, which is one of the
biggest weather apps out there.
So through that, they do a lot of
cool content online for weather.
(05:26):
And that's kind of where, you know,
people are going to start getting
their information more than TV now.
I didn't know that. Thank you.
... Yeah. ...
OK. I'm going to switch gears, and
we're going to play a little game we
call "Hot Seat." And
I'm going to ask you some short,
rapid-fire questions.
And I'm looking for a one-word or
one-sentence, quick answer.
That OK?
Yeah, let's do it.
Ready? Yeah.
All right, here we go.
Better movie (05:46):
"Twister" or "The
Perfect Storm"?
"Twister."
Why?
It's more real.
It's more in the field, so.
... OK.
Favorite thing
about UC Davis so far?
I love the location —
close to Tahoe.
I just love the college-town vibe.
Cool chancellor.
Yeah, cool chancellor.
(06:07):
Great guy.
Where's your go-to spot on campus?
Arboretum is somewhere
I want to check out more, actually.
... A lot of people's go-to.
I agree. Arboretum is great.
What music is at the top of your
playlist right now?
Probably hip hop.
Are you going to name an artist?
Metro Boomin, 21 Savage.
(06:27):
Yeah. OK.
All right.
Meet anybody alive or not, who
would it be?
Probably Abraham Lincoln.
I think he's the most influential,
critical president we ever had in
the United States, so I would want
to hear what he went through.
That's a great choice.
... Yeah. ... OK.
Now we're going to switch gears —
and your turn to ask me a question
(06:48):
or two, whatever you like.
Yeah. So one of my questions
was, is there any future plans
you're really excited about that
kind of no one knows about at UC
Davis that you think will really
be a game changer for the
university?
Well, I will mention something I'm
excited about that's just getting
started. And by the way, no secret
plans at UC Davis. We're
transparent.
But we have a task
force called Student
(07:10):
Success and Equitable Outcomes
that's just getting started.
And the goal there is to
ensure student success from
preparation through matriculation
through graduation.
So that means improving our
graduation rates, reducing
our opportunity gaps,
better aligning our co-curricular
and curricular activities, and
(07:30):
making sure our students get
gainfully employed when they finish.
So all of those things will serve to
have a better student overall
experience and I think will elevate
the university. So I'm really
excited about that. And it's just
getting started. So you'll hear more
soon.
That's cool, because I know the job
market's really tough right now — so
especially for those seniors, get
those jobs. I know a lot of seniors
that are really trying their hardest
to get jobs, and it's a tough time
(07:51):
right now for them.
We want every UC Davis
student at graduation to have a job
offer or acceptance into
a graduate program.
Yeah, that's awesome.
I guess this kind of goes hand in
hand.
How are you trying to make UC Davis
the best UC in the whole
system?
Well, I'm more ambitious than that.
I don't want to just be the best UC;
I want to be the best public
(08:12):
university in the country.
So we've got a strategic plan called
"To Boldly Go," because I like
"Star Trek." And it's online if you
want to check it out. But the idea
is to elevate the university in
many ways (08:22):
pedagogically,
researchwise, partnerships,
diversity, innovation
and entrepreneurship.
All those are elements to the
strategic plan.
And the idea is when we reach
all the goals that we have in the
plan, UC Davis is on the
tip of the tongue as one of the top
public universities in the country
that people think of immediately
when you ask them what's the top
(08:43):
university. ...
Yeah, that's awesome.
... Thanks for joining me today.
I really enjoyed getting to know
what you're up to and wish you the
best of luck going forward in your
studies and in your side hustle.
Thank you.
Thanks to everyone for listening.
Tune in next time on “Face to Face.”Go, Ags!
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to “Face to Face,” a UC Davis podcast
featuring students, staff and faculty innovators.
I’m your host, Chancellor Gary May.
Stay tuned for my next guest.
Hi, my name is Colin McCarthy, and
(00:24):
I'm a freshman from San Carlos,
California, studying atmospheric
science at UC Davis.
My lifelong passion for weather and
climate has allowed me to build one
of the largest social media
platforms on the internet, covering
extreme weather with over 100,000
combined followers across social
media. I've been interviewed by some
of the biggest publications in the
world, such as BBC, NBC
(00:45):
and CBS, and was lucky enough to do
my first-ever TV interview with
CBS Sacramento on my first day
of school at UC Davis.
His Hurricane Ian posts have been
viewed 30 million times
this week by people all around the
world, and I had the opportunity to
talk to him today while he sat in
his Aggie dorm room.
Colin, welcome to "Face to Face."
(01:06):
Thank you.
Good to have you here with me.
Glad to be here.
So, listen, you've been making
headlines, clearly,
starting at UC Davis this fall.
You're Twitter famous — more famous
than me. I'm jealous.
Tell us about how the @US_Stormwatch
Twitter feed came to be.
Yeah.
I've had a lifelong passion in
(01:27):
weather from a very young age —
a lot of time spent outdoors,
backpacking, camping.
I have family in the Midwest.
So I've been in tornado warnings out
there. So it all kind of just
continued on this path.
I did science fairs on climate,
stuff like that.
And then in eighth grade, seventh
grade, I created my account
on Twitter just to learn more about
(01:48):
weather, because I knew there was a
great community on there.
And then it was
pretty slow growth for the first few
years, because I didn't really take
it too serious. I was pretty young.
I was like, oh, just a little fun
thing I do.
But then in 2020, when we had all
those wildfires, I
really started taking it serious.
And since then it's really exploded.
So, yeah.
So you started the Twitter account
(02:09):
when you were 13?
... Yeah. ... Did you tell your
parents?
I didn't tell them for a long time.
None of my buddies or any people
that knew me knew that I had the
account until like senior
year pretty much, so.
Full confession (02:21):
The only reason I'm
on social media is because I got on
it to monitor my children.
Yeah.
And then it kind of grew from there.
So do your parents know now?
Of course they do. Yeah.
Yeah, I told them.
And they love
what I do, and they're so happy for
me. And I appreciate all their
support and allowing me to go
to such a great university like
here, which has one of the best
(02:41):
atmospheric science programs in the
country. So it's been
awesome.
Indeed. Do they know all of your
accounts or just the public ones?
Just the public ones.
Just my main ones for Twitter and
TikTok and Instagram.
So yeah.
Because I learned that my kids made
up other accounts under other names
and avoided my scrutiny.
So ... Yeah. ... I'm sure you're all
wise to that stuff.
Yeah, exactly. You got to be careful there.
(03:01):
Yeah.
Anyway, so what drives
you to keep doing this now?
Climate change, a lot of it plays
a big role in weather becoming
more extreme around the world,
especially in California with all
the droughts, wildfires and
the big storms we're seeing now.
So there's a big need for people
to know about extreme weather,
(03:22):
and how climate change is going to
impact it, make it worse.
And I just love communicating it and
just covering it.
It's really not even like a job to
me. It's my true passion.
And now you're at UC Davis
in your second quarter studying
atmospheric science.
So it fits right in with your
passion, right? So how is this
affecting the side hustle on
Twitter?
Yeah, I had a tough time
(03:43):
balancing both things in the first
quarter. And I still at times am
like, do I do this tweet or do I do
schoolwork? Because
it's just I feel a need
to let people know what's going to
happen.
And it's just really fun to cover
it. But then, you know, if I want
to become a meteorologist, I need to
focus on school and get the good
grades so I can get my degree.
And then I can really focus on all
(04:04):
that stuff when I graduate.
That's right. You got it.
You're very wise.
School first ... Yeah.
... tweet later. Right?
... Exactly. ...
What's the plan for after you finish
school? You mentioned being a
meteorologist. Is that your goal?
Yeah, become a meteorologist.
There's so many different things I'm
interested in.
There's a social media route that
I've been able to grow a lot.
There's so many cool things you can
(04:25):
do, like storm chasing.
And then there's really cool things,
and there's actually something
called forensic meteorology, which
I've always found was very
interesting.
It's where you basically work
and help as — you can testify as an
expert witness in court cases that
involve like extreme weather.
So there's like a plane crash, you
can testify as an expert witness
and say (04:44):
Did weather play a role
and — severe weather play a role in
this crash? Stuff like that.
There's just so many different
avenues that even I don't know about
that I'm excited to discover once
I graduate.
Do you want to do TV meteorology, or
do you want to be a real scientist
behind the scenes doing the work?
Yeah, I definitely like the more
social kind of communication side of
it, so less research, more
(05:05):
just communicating its effects
and stuff like that.
But in weather, actually there's a
big kind of shift away from that TV
weather, and it's a lot more on
social media and weather apps now.
So I actually recently
just became officially a part
of MyRadar, which is one of the
biggest weather apps out there.
So through that, they do a lot of
cool content online for weather.
(05:26):
And that's kind of where, you know,
people are going to start getting
their information more than TV now.
I didn't know that. Thank you.
... Yeah. ...
OK. I'm going to switch gears, and
we're going to play a little game we
call "Hot Seat." And
I'm going to ask you some short,
rapid-fire questions.
And I'm looking for a one-word or
one-sentence, quick answer.
That OK?
Yeah, let's do it.
Ready? Yeah.
All right, here we go.
Better movie (05:46):
"Twister" or "The
Perfect Storm"?
"Twister."
Why?
It's more real.
It's more in the field, so.
... OK.
Favorite thing
about UC Davis so far?
I love the location —
close to Tahoe.
I just love the college-town vibe.
Cool chancellor.
Yeah, cool chancellor.
(06:07):
Great guy.
Where's your go-to spot on campus?
Arboretum is somewhere
I want to check out more, actually.
... A lot of people's go-to.
I agree. Arboretum is great.
What music is at the top of your
playlist right now?
Probably hip hop.
Are you going to name an artist?
Metro Boomin, 21 Savage.
(06:27):
Yeah. OK.
All right.
Meet anybody alive or not, who
would it be?
Probably Abraham Lincoln.
I think he's the most influential,
critical president we ever had in
the United States, so I would want
to hear what he went through.
That's a great choice.
... Yeah. ... OK.
Now we're going to switch gears —
and your turn to ask me a question
(06:48):
or two, whatever you like.
Yeah. So one of my questions
was, is there any future plans
you're really excited about that
kind of no one knows about at UC
Davis that you think will really
be a game changer for the
university?
Well, I will mention something I'm
excited about that's just getting
started. And by the way, no secret
plans at UC Davis. We're
transparent.
But we have a task
force called Student
(07:10):
Success and Equitable Outcomes
that's just getting started.
And the goal there is to
ensure student success from
preparation through matriculation
through graduation.
So that means improving our
graduation rates, reducing
our opportunity gaps,
better aligning our co-curricular
and curricular activities, and
(07:30):
making sure our students get
gainfully employed when they finish.
So all of those things will serve to
have a better student overall
experience and I think will elevate
the university. So I'm really
excited about that. And it's just
getting started. So you'll hear more
soon.
That's cool, because I know the job
market's really tough right now — so
especially for those seniors, get
those jobs. I know a lot of seniors
that are really trying their hardest
to get jobs, and it's a tough time
(07:51):
right now for them.
We want every UC Davis
student at graduation to have a job
offer or acceptance into
a graduate program.
Yeah, that's awesome.
I guess this kind of goes hand in
hand.
How are you trying to make UC Davis
the best UC in the whole
system?
Well, I'm more ambitious than that.
I don't want to just be the best UC;
I want to be the best public
(08:12):
university in the country.
So we've got a strategic plan called
"To Boldly Go," because I like
"Star Trek." And it's online if you
want to check it out. But the idea
is to elevate the university in
many ways (08:22):
pedagogically,
researchwise, partnerships,
diversity, innovation
and entrepreneurship.
All those are elements to the
strategic plan.
And the idea is when we reach
all the goals that we have in the
plan, UC Davis is on the
tip of the tongue as one of the top
public universities in the country
that people think of immediately
when you ask them what's the top
(08:43):
university. ...
Yeah, that's awesome.
... Thanks for joining me today.
I really enjoyed getting to know
what you're up to and wish you the
best of luck going forward in your
studies and in your side hustle.
Thank you.
Thanks to everyone for listening.
Tune in next time on “Face to Face.”Go, Ags!
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