NOC Students Present Climate Research at OSU Symposium

Three Northern Oklahoma College students presented summer research on climate baselines for Grant, Kay, and Garfield Counties.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Current Conditions

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a single weather monitoring mast with an anemometer rising from open prairie under a pale sky. — Three Northern Oklahoma College students presented climate baseline research for Grant, Kay, and Garfield Counties at an OSU symposium in Hulbert, informing rural weather equipment placement. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Blake Beebe, Orrin Few, and Eglan Ochoa presented posters at an OSU Rural Renewal Initiative Symposium held at Sequoyah State Park in Hulbert, Oklahoma. Their work established climate baselines for three northern Oklahoma counties across two poster sessions featuring 33 posters.

Why it matters

Climate baselines give local planners a reference point for infrastructure decisions and for placing new weather monitoring equipment in rural Oklahoma. The research also highlights undergraduate participation in regional scientific work at Northern Oklahoma College.

The symposium drew 33 posters across two sessions from 13 institutions, with the three NOC students presenting climate baseline work for Grant, Kay, and Garfield Counties. The specific measured values in the baselines were not reported in the source material.

The players

Northern Oklahoma College

A public two-year college serving nearly 3,100 students through its Tonkawa campus, Enid branch, and NOC/OSU Gateway Program in Stillwater.

Oklahoma State University

The state's land-grant university, which hosted the Rural Renewal Initiative Symposium where the posters were presented.

The details

Students presented posters during two sessions at the symposium hosted at Sequoyah State Park in Hulbert, Oklahoma. The research supports infrastructure planning and the installation of new weather equipment in the region.

Summer 2026: Students conducted the summer research projects.
May 2026: Eglan Ochoa graduated from Northern Oklahoma College.

Seasonal Patterns

The climate baselines produced by these students extend the Oklahoma State University Rural Renewal Initiative's focus on rural data collection into northern Oklahoma counties. Establishing baselines like these provides the historical reference needed to compare future weather observations in the region.

Residents in Grant, Kay, and Garfield Counties can use local weather observations as the research on regional climate baselines continues to inform infrastructure planning. Anyone interested in participating in similar programs can contact Northern Oklahoma College about its Tonkawa and Enid campuses.

The takeaway

Undergraduate research at community colleges can contribute useful baseline data to regional weather and infrastructure planning. Local residents benefit when these local studies inform decisions about monitoring equipment placement.