I am currently Team Lead Environment & sustainability at the government of Heist-op-den-berg. Before, I was climate expert at the KU Leuven where I performed climate research over Antarctica. I also have a big passion for weather. I have experience in the field of weather forecasting through an internship as meteorologist at Meteogroup Belgium. As part of my study program I also followed the course 'Operational meteorology' at the airbase of Beauvechain. There, I learned to make detailed short- and medium range weather forecasts. In my leisure time I often write weather - and climate-related artices for NoodweerBenelux, Eos Science and HLN.be. On my own Facebook page and website I daily post weather bulletins for the Southern Campine region of Belgium. See: https://www.facebook.com/WeermanSamuelHelsen and https://weermansamuel.wixsite.com/website as well as for MSN.be. In the ballooning season I also regularly advise hot air balloon pilots before and during the flight. Next to that, I also make weather forecasts for the National Belgian Pigeon Association during the flying season, for festivals and for the company MeteoSupport. I am an advocate for sustainability. I care about the climate and like to communicate about the science behind climate change. Via presentations and workshops about climate change, I try to raise awareness about this topic and to open the discussion on how we can combat climate change and its consequences (through mitigation and adaptation) and how we can live in a more sustainable way. Next to my passion for weather, I also like playing music. I am a pianist playing for several choirs, and I have been active as conductor of a youth choir and as pianist of a bigband.Since my childhood I have always been passionate about hot air balloons. Since August 2024 I also became oficially a hot air balloon pilot! A dream come true!