Teresa Bals-Elsholz has been working at Valparaiso University (VU) for 23 years as a professor of meteorology and the chair of the school’s Geography and Meteorology Department. She has a tremendous love for teaching all her students, valuing greatly every moment of discovery they make.
Bals-Elsholz spent most of her childhood years in both Crete and Grand Island, Nebraska. She went to high school in the state’s capital, Lincoln, and really spent most of her life there. Then, she went to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln for her bachelor’s. The rest of her studies were completed at Texas Tech University, where she obtained her master’s, and State University of New York at Albany, where she obtained her doctorate.
Bals-Elsholz knew she wanted to pursue a career in meteorology ever since she was little. She was somewhat uncertain at first about what a life in that field would look like, and she knew she didn’t want to be on TV. However, she found that what brought her the most joy was the complexities of meteorology and how they can be studied.
“I remember getting up in the middle of the night with my dad to close the windows because of the thunderstorms rolling through Nebraska. Just watching the weather back then was fun. We'd get blizzards and lots of snow when it got cold. That’s how my passion started,” she said.
Most of the courses Bals-Elsholz teaches cover a range of topics from atmospheric dynamics to tropical meteorology, some she herself didn’t receive an A in during school. What she prioritizes, then, is that students form their own individual understandings of the content. Their ways of thinking don't necessarily need to follow what’s said to be correct but instead must inspire previously unknown realizations.
“What I teach is challenging, so I try to explain things to students so they get it in whatever way they can. I don't expect them to get it perfect right away. I just want them to look at everything in different ways. You need to get them to change their mindset to ‘Yes, I can do it,’ because I know they can,” she said.
The hard work Bals-Elsholz puts into her job also hasn’t gone unnoticed. In fact, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) recently presented her with the 2024 Edward N. Lorenz Teaching Excellence Award. She will formally receive it in Baltimore, Maryland, during February 2024 at the annual AMS meeting. Bals-Elsholz was actually unaware of the nomination until she discovered a seemingly routine email in her inbox. It turned out to be one unlike any other she’s ever gotten. All the recognition has since meant the world to her.
“I didn't even know I was nominated. Everyone kept that very quiet. I got the email this summer, and I just could not believe it. I had tears when I read it because it was all about my teaching and making a difficult subject approachable. I was especially taken by what it said about my helping with empowering women, which is really important to me as a woman in science,” she said.
Bals-Elsholz is involved with many groups in her community as well, serving as part of the Hanna Lions Club. Her involvement with that is important to her because it allows her to help to put on events intended to engage everybody in the community. She also has a role with the Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) where she assists with fundraising for scholarships and other educational opportunities for women.
Though instructing tomorrow’s meteorologists and advocating in her area takes up a lot of her time, Bals-Elsholz spends her summers gardening and her autumns baking in her free time. Various fruit trees stand outside in her garden and inside her home are her cats. Much of her family resides outside of Indiana, so she goes all over to visit them, traveling from Texas to Massachusetts to Colorado.
While she works in Valparaiso, Bals-Elsholz actually lives in La Porte County. Not working and living in the same place invites her to form a perspective of the Region as a whole.
“The Region is great. I love what it has to offer. I love getting blueberries all summer long. Lake Michigan is nearby, so we’re just in a neat area with great people all around. The town of Valparaiso’s restaurants are fantastic, too,” she said.