Most people on Saint Louis University’s campus already know who David Koeller is. They just don’t know they know.
“Hello, I’m David Koeller with your Busch Student Center Weather Update.”
Sound familiar? Koeller is the weatherman on the BSC televisions.
Hundreds of students and faculty members watch his weather reports each day, so his is a familiar face around campus. But there’s more to Koeller than just rain-clouds and sunshine, and it’s time we paid attention to the man behind the weather. Unsurprisingly, Koeller is meteorology major. However, what is surprising is that, even though he’s only in his sophomore year, he’s already president of SLU-TV.
“I got involved last fall just by going to the interest meetings,” Koeller said. “My goal was to do the weather. The group wasn’t big, though, so I mostly did everything on my own.”
Through his involvement with SLU-TV as a freshman, he was eventually able to restart a news program and work his way to the top.
As the local television personality, Koeller’s career is off to a good start, especially since he wants to continue his weatherman job when he graduates.
“I got into weather when I was about five years old,” he said.
Koeller used to live in Colorado Springs, Colo., and it was there that he first developed an interest in meteorology.
“We had this funnel cloud pass over my house,” Koeller said. “I videotaped it with my dad. Once it passed, a tornado actually formed and touched down. I wanted to know how that happened.”
Koeller gets most of his information from the National Weather Service and uses it to make his own forecasts. It is a fairly the reliable method, as he is rarely wrong when it comes to his predictions. Even when he does mess up, most people don’t seem to mind.
“Most people don’t confront me about it, but more and more I’m getting recognized by students. They’ll walk up to me and be like ‘Hey! You’re the weather guy!’ They rarely know my name, though,” Koeller said, with a smile.
When he’s not in front of the green-screen, Koeller enjoys the outdoors.
“I like bike riding and camping a lot,” he said. “I’m also an Eagle Scout, and am assistant scout master to a troop of Boy Scouts back home.”
He also enjoys swimming, but said that between SLU-TV and his RA position in Reinert Hall, he doesn’t have much spare time. This doesn’t seem to bother him in the least, though.
“I’m working to get more people watching SLU-TV,” Koeller said, when asked about his plans for the upcoming year. “It’s currently not being shown in Griesedieck and Reinert because of cable difficulties, but we’re trying to change that. I’d also like to see some more student involvement with the station.”
Tune in on the BSC TVs every day to watch Koeller report the weather. And who knows, he might just save you from the next surprise rainstorm.
