Gilbert Sebenste

Gilbert has been a weather nut since he was a kid, a professional meteorologist since 1994, and staff meteorologist/severe weather safety specialist/system administrator at Northern Illinois University since 1998. During his early career, Gilbert was a morning and noon meteorologist at the NBC affiliate in Rockford, IL, and the weekend evening meteorologist at the CBS affiliate in Lafayette, IN.

More recently, Gilbert was awarded the 2010 Russell DeSouza award for outstanding community service to the Geoscience community. He has also won awards for his StormReady certification, the first in the country at a university, as well as helping other schools and universities become prepared as well. He served with a team of experts to develop DeKalb county, IL's severe weather and preparedness plan, and is frequently interviewed in local media during major storms. He has been heard on WMAQ-AM 670 in Chicago, and currently does interviews with local radio stations and state radio networks and newspapers on high-impact weather events. A storm chaser for over 20 years, he's seen the Plainfield, IL (1990) storm, and numerous tornadoes and severe storms ever since.