ABOUT
Francis Lavigne-Thériault
Manager & Founder
Since it's creation in 2014 on Facebook, we have amassed over 50,000 followers across platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Threads. NZP Chasers© is now a registered trademark name in Canada. This organization is mainly comprised of content created by Francis Lavigne-Theriault, the founder & owner of NZP Chasers. "NZP" stands for Near Zero Probability, which is a concept where group members chase every severe thunderstorms, regardless of the probability of seeing tornadoes. Some of our best chases and moments in the field have been low probability days and this is why our motto exists to this day. This attitude and passion has allowed us to witness some of the most intense storms in North America over the last decade logging over 400,000km chasing weather and seeing over 70 tornadoes from EF0 to EF5's.
Over the years, Francis specialized in weather content and developed fundamental skills in photography (including sales), videography (including extensive international licensing) and content creation to the point where, in 2015-2016, weather content creation and sales was his primary source of income. Since then, the market has shifted significantly and so has NZP Chasers. Francis continues to adapt his skills as a videographer, photographer and freelancer. Over the last several years, Francis gained professional experience in science communications, social media, media relations, content creation, weather consulting and field research.
Francis has a Bachelor's degree in Geography with Honours from York University and several university diplomas specializing in GIS, Remote Sensing and Digital Communications. He worked as a Research Associate at the University of Western Ontario where he conducted and led wind damage surveys across Canada and specialized in UAV research. In 2022, he became the first Field Coordinator for the Northern Hail Project, where he managed to recover Canada's new record hailstone in size/weight near Markerville, AB on August 1st. Francis and his team still hold the record to this day.
After attempting a Master's Degree in Engineering Science, Francis left academia to pursue other career goals, but remains actively engaged with the weather enterprise. More recently, Francis got certified as an Environmental Professional in training by ECO-Canada. He is a licenced advanced drone pilot with Transport Canada and with the FAA (United States) and is currently working as a professional meteorologist.