Thanks for visiting my website. I’ve been writing professionally for decades but this is my first blog. You’re on this page for a reason, so let me introduce myself. The text that follows shares my background and was taken from my freelance writing website www.dancarlson.net.
Dan started his broadcasting career at WCCO-TV, the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis, as a TV weathercaster, producer and fill-in news anchor. It was the beginning of a 25-year career in TV and radio that would expand into other roles in the broadcast industry (listed below). Dan would eventually earn four undergraduate degrees or professional certifications from accredited institutions with emphasis of study in communications, earth sciences, broadcast meteorology and ministry. He is also a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
Motivated by a constant dedication to learning and expansion of professional skills, Dan cannot remember a time when he wasn’t working at least two jobs. Doing so has given him a broad and diverse professional background. The following is a list of positions in which Dan has more than two years of professional experience over the course of his career thus far:
I started my broadcasting career at WCCO-TV, the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis, as a TV weathercaster, producer and fill-in news anchor in 1979. It was the beginning of a 25-year career in TV and radio that would expand into other roles in the broadcast industry (listed below). I eventually earned four undergraduate degrees or professional certifications from accredited institutions with emphasis of study in communications, earth sciences, broadcast meteorology and ministry. I’m is also a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
Motivated by a constant dedication to learning and expansion of professional skills, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t working at least two jobs. Doing so has given me a broad and diverse professional background. The following is a list of positions in which I have more than two years of professional experience over the course of my career.
- Weathercaster/Broadcast Meteorologist (20 years)
- Freelance Newspaper Columnist (18 years)
- Freelance Writer (16 years)
- Small Business Owner (12 years)
- Retail Copywriter (11 years)
- Pastor (7 years)
- Corporate Crisis Management and Emergency Preparedness (6+ years)
- Forensic & Consultant Meteorologist (6 years)
- Corporate Meteorologist (5+ years)
- Corporate SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analyst (5 years)
- Daily Newsletter Editor/Writer (5 years)
- Director of Radio Programming and News, on-air personality (5 years)
- Magazine Contributing Writer (4 years)
- Market Research Analyst (3 years)
- Fire Meteorologist/Wildfire Behavior Specialist (2+ years)
Please keep in mind I typically had one primary full-time job with two or three part-time side gigs going, so there is chronological overlap in the positions listed.
I’m voracious reader and published author and am usually reading three or more books at a time. My first published book, “Trophy Bucks in Any Weather“, was released in 2008. It was the first detailed book written by a meteorologist about how weather impacts big-game animal behavior.
My first novel, “Species Unknown” was published late in 2019. It’s a science-fiction thriller set in the Black Hills of western South Dakota and has received glowing reviews from readers. You can see it on Amazon.com.
My hobbies and interests include hunting, fishing, shooting sports, storm chasing, weather and nature photography, military history, cryptozoology, and thoughtful discourse about theology, philosophy and current geopolitical events. I live with my wife of 32 years on a farm in western Nebraska. We have two grown children.