NASA researchers working on technology to improve aerial firefighting
On Tuesday, NASA researchers performed their first wildfire test flight mission, using their new airspace management technology.
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Bay Area native Mary Lee joined KPIX 5 in February of 2018.
Mary was born in Berkeley, grew up in Fairfield and is a proud UC Davis Aggie. She is extremely grateful to finally come home to the Bay Area.
"There's nothing like reporting and forecasting for your hometown," she said. "It's truly a privilege and an honor to do what I love and to do it here in the Bay Area."
Mary started her broadcast career as a writer at KOVR-TV, our sister station in Sacramento before taking her first on-air reporting job in KHSL-TV in Chico.
Mary then moved to Austin, Texas, to forecast severe weather. She covered the flash floods of 2007, one of the most devastating weather events in Central Texas history. In 2010, she packed her bags and headed to Houston to forecast weather at KPRC-TV. She flew with Hurricane Hunters into Hurricane Isaac in 2012, flying into the eye of the storm several times and was in the storm when it made landfall along the Louisiana coast.
In 2013, Mary moved to Seattle to join the weather team at KING 5. She worked closely with the Washington state hydrologist to give critical information just hours after the deadly Oso landslide.
Mary is KPIX 5's weekday meteorologist providing weather coverage on the KPIX 5 Morning News and KPIX 5 News at Noon. She is passionate about encouraging and inspiring young people especially girls and minorities to love and pursue science, tech, engineering and math or STEM.
Mary hosts her own iTunes podcast called STEM Boldly where she interviews amazing women and men who are boldly pursing their passion in STEM.
She is involved with several community organizations, including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Special Olympics, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Mary is also a big foodie. She absolutely loves trying new restaurants. If you have a favorite Bay Area restaurant, she definitely wants to hear from you.
On Tuesday, NASA researchers performed their first wildfire test flight mission, using their new airspace management technology.
Vibrant colors exploded over Discovery Meadow Park. Holi Fest is an Indian festival that welcomes spring and celebrates new beginnings, new hope, unity and diversity.
One of the benefits of our recent rain is the rushing waterfalls around the Bay Area including Uvas Canyon County Park in Santa Clara County.
To celebrate Women's History and Empowerment Month this March, the Golden State Warriors partnered with an Alameda County nonprofit and e-commerce company Rakuten to encourage and empower girls in science, tech, engineering, arts, and math.
For Jordan Cummings, the NBA HBCU Classic inspires him to follow his passion and pursue his dreams.
A group of scientists from Southern California recently came to the Bay Area to send up a series of weather balloons to help them study the atmospheric river event dumping rain on Northern California.
Vietnamese people around the world and here in the Bay Area are celebrating the Vietnamese New Year Tết.
Thousands came out to San Jose's Grand Century Mall this weekend to celebrate the Vietnamese Tết Lunar New Year in Little Saigon.
The new Stanford Robotics Center, which will be developing machines for future use in medicine, the arts, ocean and space exploration and your own home, recently opened its doors for the first time.
San Jose State wildfire researchers are studying the impact of the CZU Lightning Complex Fire in the Santa Cruz mountains and the importance of forest management.
As Florida continues to recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, NOAA said the East Bay tech company Saildrone helped in hurricane forecasting.
Stanford University researchers have developed a new solution to fight wildfires and protect homes.
Two UC Berkeley alums developed technology to help keep communities safe from wildfires by closely monitoring the physical condition of the electrical grid.
This wildfire season, Stanford University is testing out new technology to stop monster wildfires with their own live fire lab. Researchers are working with the South San Francisco start-up tech company called BurnBot.
NASA is using its satellite data and machine learning technology to keep California safe from wildfires.