Shirley is a research meteorologist and her scientific interests are in tropical cyclone wind field structure, radar observations, and hurricane field program planning.

She is also the on-site lead for the Hurricane Wind analysis science team. This group of meteorologists and computer software engineers conducts real-time wind analyses products that are available to the scientific community.

Shirley is also the science liaison for NOAA's Joint Hurricane Testbed. She also participates in numerous research flights into tropical cyclones aboard NOAA's WP-3D aircraft over the Atlantic Basin and the Gulf of Mexico.

On these flights, she has operated and monitored various instruments onboard the aircraft. Ms. Murillo served as the Hurricane Field Program Director (2011 and 2012) where she was responsible for organizing, planning and overseeing all research and operational flights into tropical cyclones.

Below is an interview that she gave Women of Color Magazine to mark the 2003 Women of Color Research Science and Technology Awards Conference.

Shirley Murillo often flies into the face of storms, and she loves it. As a research meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Research Division, Murrillo considers flying into hurricanes an exciting part of a job she has wanted to do for as long as she can remember.

Murillo found her calling early in life when, in the third grade, she took part in a school field trip to the National Hurricane Center.

"I want to do that," she remembers thinking.

She began checking out books from the school library about clouds and weather. She quickly saw that she would need superior math skills to pursue her dream, however, and math wasn't a strong subject for her.

"I did just enough work in math to get by," she recalls.

But Murillo began applying herself and later learned that she enjoyed the very classes she previously avoided. An opportunity to pursue her interests came in high school when she was admitted to the first graduating class a new magnet school, the Maritime and Science Technology Academy (MAST).

Math and science were emphasized, she said, and "since these were weak subjects for me, I worked harder and pushed myself to excel in those classes," she added.

MAST also required students to seek out summer internships, and she was fortunate to be accepted at the local NOAA Hurricane Research Division, beginning after her junior year and continuing during her senior year in high school.

" I enjoyed it and worked extra hours," Murillo said. "I was excited because I got to work with real scientists doing real research. They allowed me to do statistical work on a conference paper they were presenting."

Murillo continued working for NOAA parttime while studying at Florida State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in meteorology in 1998.

Today, she is living her dream, conducting research on the wind structure of tropical cyclones, providing analytical data that will be sued by forecasters to improve early warning systems and forecasting techniques.

When she talks with students about her experience, she tells them, "Follow your dreams, and be prepared to overcome obstacles. Always have a support group, such as family or friends, to help you through the tough times."

She might also tell them to develop effective time management skills, which she is finding the need to do for herself. In addition to her challenging work with NOAA, she is pursuing her master's degree in meteorology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She has completed two years of classwork after spending only one year on campus and is writing her thesis now while working fulltime at NOAA.

"I've always dreamed of doing this," she said, "and I get to do it for a career." That her work betters the lives of others makes it all the more rewarding.

" The data I collect is disseminated to the public and helps save lives," she said. "Plus, I get to fly into hurricanes."