Introduction

Have you ever asked yourself what effect the weather can really have on our moods?

In this episode of Align podcast, Ginger Zee and I discuss the negative connotations surrounding mental health and the effects this can have on someone who is struggling with a mental disorder. Ginger shares her own personal experience with suicide and what we can do to create a better future for ourselves. We also talk about the similarities between our minds and the weather, how climate relates to our moods and find out what the real definition of a storm actually is. 

Ginger Zee is the chief meteorologist at ABC News, reporting on the nation’s weather for “Good Morning America” and across ABC News broadcasts and digital platforms. Additionally, Zee is the managing editor of the climate unit at ABC News. Since joining ABC News, Zee has covered almost every major weather event and dozens of historic storms. She broadcasted from the devastated Jersey Shore during Hurricane Sandy, the Colorado floods and wildfires, and covered the aftermath of tornadoes in Moore and El Reno, Oklahoma. In 2018, she was in the eye wall of Category 5 Hurricane Michael live in the Florida Panhandle and in the 2020 hurricane season, Zee told the stories of devastation from the record number of named storms. From the epic bushfires in Australia to Boston blizzards and record-breaking heat in Death Valley, Zee is there to warn and show the impacts including the relationship to climate change.

Zee’s passion does not stop with storm chasing. Her love of adventure has taken her and ABC News viewers across the world.  She has gone para-hawking in Nepal, flown a drone into the fissure of a volcano in Iceland, hiked the largest cave in the world in Vietnam, para-glided from the Himalayas to the Andes, dove with sharks in the Bahamas, rappelled 27 stories down the exterior façade of the Wit Hotel in Chicago, explored the 275 waterfalls of Iguazú Falls in Argentina and talked climate change on the edge of Victoria Falls in Africa. Plus, skydiving, ice boat racing and surfing live on “GMA.” Prior to joining ABC News, she was a meteorologist at NBC station WMAQ-Channel 5 in Chicago from 2006-2011, also filling in for several NBC and MSNBC News programs. Before that assignment, Zee worked at WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she part of the Storm Team 8, also covering the environment, science and the impact of weather throughout West Michigan. From 2003-2005, Zee worked at WEYI NBC 25 in Flint, Michigan.

She began her career at WLAV FM/ WXMI in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zee, who has storm chased since college, has a genuine passion for the atmosphere and a dedication to getting young people interested in science. Zee is the author of a trilogy for 8-12 year-olds called “Chasing Helicity.” She is also the author of two bestselling memoirs, “Natural Disaster” and “A Little Closer to Home,” which feature Zee’s life and mental health journey. Additionally, Zee and her husband, Ben Aaron, starred in “Renovation Realities: Ben & Ginger” on DIY Network. Zee is the co-host of Hearts of Heroes on ABC Saturday’s, highlighting the natural disasters she knows so well from the first responder and hero's point of view.

The Emmy Award-winning meteorologist attended Valparaiso University and holds a Bachelor of Science in meteorology. She also served as an adjunct professor at the University from 2008-2011. Zee also holds the CBM Seal for Meteorology.

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