Susan Wild: Director of Applied Science Applications

Meet Susan Wild.

Susan Wild is the Director, Applied Science Applications at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). Over her 33-year career, Susan has remained inspired by the dedication and commitment of her colleagues, fueling her mission of serving and protecting Canadians.

Susan first joined ECCC as a scientific software developer supporting the creation of weather forecasting tools. Before the internet, she and her colleagues exchanged data using a teletype system, and later, by satellite broadcast. “The internet is by the far the greatest advancement in propelling us towards the digital age,” she says. Following its implementation, Susan continued to develop more systems for the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) that have played a crucial role in supporting the health and safety of Canadians.

“My greatest memories of working at ECCC each represent the collective hard work towards modernizing end-to-end IT enterprise systems,” says Susan. In collaboration with experts from the MSC, her team of software engineers led the development of a system to send alert-ready tornado warnings to mobile phones alerting users of impending danger. This alert system was attributed to saving lives when residents in the Ottawa and Gatineau regions were impacted by a tornadic event in September 2018.

Another of Susan’s proudest accomplishments was the launch of the WeatherCAN mobile weather app on Valentines Day, 2019. “This was our first venture into mobile app development with the complexity of directing products and alerts based on geolocation,” she says. “The launch of this application expanded our dissemination footprint to reach even more Canadians.”

To learn more and to download the WeatherCAN app, visit: WeatherCAN – Canada.ca

Here are a few random facts about Susan:

• What was your first job? Candy Striper.
• If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be? The UK.
• Would you rather ride a bike, ride a horse, or drive a car? Bike. Free, clean and healthy.
• If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? Mac ‘n cheese.
• If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to? No time like the present.
• What is your favourite flavour of ice cream? Pralines and Cream.
• If you were a super-hero, what powers would you have? Operational Meteorologist Powers.
• If you could share a meal with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? My Mom.
• Do you love or hate rollercoasters? Love wooden rollercoasters.
• What's your favourite movie? Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.