Ernie Ostuno - NOAA/NWS, Weather Forecast Office. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Since 1999, I have been a Senior Forecaster with the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Grand Rapids, Michigan My research projects and professional interests include (a) communication issues, including assessing the effectiveness of wording used in NWS public products, particularly severe weather warnings; (b) creating public weather safety programs, specifically targeted to outdoor enthusiasts such as campers, hikers, and swimmers; and (c) investigating local historical weather events, especially details of how the events changed public awareness, and finding a strategy for overcoming the tendency for complacency towards very rare, extreme events.