This year’s winner of the Jim Johnson scholarship is Gannon Rush from Phillips, Nebraska. Gannon graduated from Aurora High School in May 2017 and is attending Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. Mr. Rush plans to major in Geology at Fort Hays State, and then go on to graduate school where he would like to pursue a degree in Agrometeorology. Ultimately he would like to combine his passions of weather and farming to serve as an advisor for the agriculture industry. The scholarship was established to honor Jim Johnson, of the key individuals who helped start the High Plains AMS/NWA chapter in 1996. Jim’s career spanned several decades, first with the U.S. Air Force, and then with the National Weather Service (NWS). Jim retired as a NWS Lead Forecaster from the Dodge City, Kansas office in September 2006.