ERF's Meteorologists and Staff

Phil Volker
ERF Company was incorporated in 1981 and was the culmination of a childhood ambition of founder Phil Volker. Phil has been keenly interested in weather ever since he and his family witnessed first hand the fury of the 1962 Columbus Day storm from their home in Vancouver, Washington.

Phil has a degree in Atmospheric Sciences from Oregon State University. He served 14 years as senior meteorologist at KOIN-TV, the CBS affiliate in Portland, Oregon. He brings a scientist's eye to the formidable task of forecasting weather in the Pacific Northwest and Western United States. Phil is ERF Company's president and senior meteorologist.

George Stephan
Technical Operations
ERF also boasts a second regionally-known meteorologist. George Stephan is a 1981 graduate of Oregon State University and holds a degree in Atmospheric Sciences. George has served as a meteorologist at KPTV-TV in Portland, a UPN affiliate. A native of the region, George is able to lend both his weather forecasting experience and his computer skills to help in generating new weather products for ERF clients.

Don Foster
Operations Manager
At some point or another, ERF subscribers will very likely interface with Don Foster. Don is ERF's Operations Manager, and is the primary customer service link with ERF's clients. Don has 18 years experience in the field of client relations. He is responsible for maintaining the systems that automatically send forecast products to clients, and he fields many of the incoming client calls. Don keeps constantly informed of weather changes from ERF's technical staff and is able to field all but the most technical weather questions. Don is a 1978 graduate of the University of Oregon.