Every spring semester at Loyola, Professor Molly Robey teaches a course in Practical Meteorology, where students study current weather events and how meteorologists measure temperature and pressure for forecasts.
But this semester, amid the California wildfire crisis, the 25 students in the course have collaborated on a project with the California Wildfire Relief Donation. The project was aimed to tangibly benefit firefighters on the front lines.
The California wildfire relief donations took place from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, collecting hygiene products, diapers, chapstick, socks, shampoo, and canned pet food. The Practical Meteorology students and Robey tabled on Wednesday Jan. 29, in the Boulder Atrium to provide more information on when and where to donate for the cause.
Wildfires in California stand as an extreme threat to residents in the state. Starting in the first week of January, thousands of people have had to flee their homes, including a handful of celebrities. Robey, having worked as a meteorologist for AccuWeather and WJZ-TV, explained that the state’s dry climate leaves the land susceptible to wildfires, particularly combined with the Santa Ana winds that move in from the deserts and out to the coast.
“From a meteorological perspective, you had a lot of things coming together. LA had an inch of rain last year. I mean, can you imagine getting an inch of rain all year? So, it’s very very dry, you have these powerful winds, it’s hot, it doesn’t take much to get that going,” Robey said.
Solutions to the wildfires have stood as a politically divisive issue. President Trump and his administration have criticized the California government for having less than adequate water infrastructure to combat the fires. Meanwhile, others argue that controlled burns could be a valid tactic to prevent the frequent bursts of wildfires in the area. California’s state government asserts that the wildfires are simply the result of this unfortunate combination of weather conditions. Robey weighed in on the situation.
“What I can speak on is that these weather conditions are not going away, and the magnitude and frequency of when we see Santa Ana winds and being in drought, that’s going to continue,” Robey said.
With this complicated issue being a relevant topic for her class, Robey tasked her meteorology students to research the California wildfires, as well as some of the donation efforts made to support those who have lost their homes. It was then that students realized there was an opportunity to contribute to the cause.
“I surveyed the students and said, ‘Would you guys actually want to do this?’ And I think a lot of them were kind of shocked like, ‘What? We could actually pull something together?’ And it kind of snowballed from there,” Robey said.
Robey then broke up her class into teams, each with an assigned task. These included teams for poster design, communications, events, and website design to form a cohesive project. The communications team was able to reach out to a YMCA in LA taking donations and hear from them about what physical goods they needed for firefighters and the wider community. Metro Baltimore, a local music venue, had also been taking donations at Penn Station and provided the class with a detailed list of items.
Robey had consulted Gia Grier, executive director of the Center for Community Service and Justice (CCSJ), who advised Robey to narrow down that list to what would be more accessible to students.
“I encouraged students to pick a few things from each list, so that people who donated weren’t overwhelmed with options,” Robey said.
For example, Jetboil, a specialized camping item that helps water boil faster, was included on the list. And while that would be beneficial to firefighters, it may not be an item a student could easily obtain. The students then set out to gather materials themselves as well as spread word to other students. Trey Sanders ’25 found this donation experience to be unique and out of his comfort zone.
“I think it’s interesting because we all live in our own personal bubbles, and it’s great contributing to something bigger than myself,” Sanders said.
While the wildfires seem to be an unsolvable issue by the common person, Robey spoke on future steps for the situation as people continue to support the local communities damaged by the fires.
“I think part of it is making sure the public is well educated and informed, but also making sure they have access to warning systems that are in place. The National Weather Service [has] a whole website specifically on California fires,” Robey said.
Additional information on the California wildfires is available on the Practical Meteorology class’ student-curated website under ‘Wildfire Education’, as part of this joint effort to support a good cause.
