Graduate Student Research Interests

Explore the diverse research interests of current Penn State Meteorology graduate students.

Alexander Avramov: Currently I’m working on the mesoscale modeling of Arctic mixed-phase clouds using RAMS. These modeling results are used to examine the relative importance of large-scale advective effects and internal cloud processes in determining the longevity and structure of mixed-phase arctic stratus clouds. My research interests include simulations of the ice-breeze mesoscale circulation over the marginal ice zone and associated cloud generation.
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Martha Butler: Within the broad context of carbon cycle science, I study carbon fluxes, especially the exchange of carbon dioxide between terrestrial biosphere and atmosphere, ocean surface and atmosphere, and anthropogenic exchanges. My interests cover time scales from hours to decades and spatial scales from forest stands to the whole globe. I am using a tool called global inversion modeling to try to locate more precisely carbon sources and sinks in North America.
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Zack Byko: I am studying the evolution of hook echoes in supercell thunderstorms. In particular, I am using high-resolution, mobile Doppler radar data to look for descending reflectivity cores associated with supercells. These features may be important in hook echo formation.
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Adam Edson: My previous research includes the exploration of nonlinear effects of momentum forcing in an eulerian frame. My present research involves the exploration of the atmospheres of terrestrial planets orbitting M dwarf stars inside their habitable zones. These planets are tidally locked and have interesting atmospheric chemistry due to their parents star's emission spectra.
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Jeff Frame is interested in both observational and modeling studies of convective storms. His Masters thesis examined the interaction between simulated squall lines and idealized terrain. For his Ph.D. work, Jeff is looking at the effect of radative transfer and surface physics on simulated supercell thunderstorms. In 2002, Jeff participated in the IHOP convection initiation field experiment, and he was part of the ROTATE tornado study in 2004 and 2005.
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Jeff Gall: My research interests combine numerical modeling with tropical meteorology. I am currently investigating the effects of reentrant sea spray on tropical cyclone intensity. At high wind speeds (>25 m/s), sea spray accounts for a non-negligible increase in the total enthalpy flux. Thus, inclusion of spray effects in numerical models of hurricanes results in a moderate increase in maximum wind speed and a lower central pressure. The boundary layer also becomes cooler and moister through the evaporation of spray, which is supported by the most current available observations. The ultimate goal of my research is to develop a parameterization for the latent and sensible heat exchange coefficients used in calculating the bulk surface fluxes. These exchange coefficients will be modified for spray effects, and this will eliminate the need to explicitly calculate the spray mediated sensible and latent heat fluxes in the boundary layer.
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Jacob Haqq-Misra: I am a PhD student working with Dr. Kasting and Dr. Lee. I am interested in planetary atmospheres with application to habitability using 1-D and
3-D climate modeling tools. I am currently using a radiative-convective model to calculate the extent to which early Mars could have been warmed with methane as a greenhouse gas. My proposed thesis work will involve a calculation of the outer edge of the "habitable zone", the distance at which a planet can be from its star while still sustaining surface liquid water.
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Timothy Hilton: Interests center around climate dynamics and climate change. I am interested in understanding the forces that drive the global climate system, how the human community may affect the climate at global and regional scales, and how changing climate affects biogeochemical systems.
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Nathaniel Johnson: My current research interests include statistical pattern recognition, particularly with self-organizing maps, and the dynamics of large-scale teleconnection patterns. I intend to use the knowledge and tools I have developed to gain understanding of climate variability over the Arctic, including variability in sea ice extent and cloud cover. I hope to contribute to our understanding of the alarming changes that have been occurring in that part of the world.
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Eunha Kang: My research interest is : gas-to-particle conversion, coupling of the atmospheric oxidation and aerosol formation mechanism.
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Songlak Kang: I am interested in the interaction between land-surface and atmosphere. Specifically the effect of the CBL variability associated with heterogeneous land-surface on the moist convective initiation is my concern. With the observational data collected during IHOP_2002 and the numerical simulations by MM5, I am studying on the correlation between surface CBL, and moist convective initiation.
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Mark Kelly: Turbulence, Air-sea interaction, atmospheric boundary layer simulation.
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Jingqiu Mao: My research interest is Atmospheric Chemistry.I am working on HOx instruments andair qualitymodelling.
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Shannon Michaels: I am a master's student working under Dr Anne Thompson, specifically looking at air quality and ozone. Currently, I am involved in an ozone trend analysis for the mid-Atlantic states, a study on the transport of pollution by the mid-Atlantic nocturnal low level jet, and some fieldwork for the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment.
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Jon Petters: My interests lie in the interaction of clouds and radiation. I am researching how the use of different radiative transfer solvers affects the evolution of cloud properties in atmospheric modeling simulations. I am focusing on marine stratocumulus clouds, which persisently cover large regions off the west coasts of continents. I also have great interest in pedagogy and educational theories, as I plan to pursue a career in university education.
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Brian Reen: My current research involves using mesoscale modeling to study the magnitude and scales of surface-PBL interactions through the use of IHOP (International H2O Project) data.
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Addison Sears-Collins: My interest is in business applications of weather and weather risk management. Specifically, I am interested in the weather as it impacts the insurance, reinsurance, and energy industries. My research focus will be on the uncertainty of hurricane measurements and how it impacts catastrophe bonds.
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Seok-woo Son: My interetss are in the effect of baroclinic eddies to the extratropical tropopause and associated isentropic slope.
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Victor Yannuzzi: Currently I am studying clouds along the north slope of Alaska from the EOS-AM1 satellite in conjunction with forecasting duties across the North Slope, particularly Barrow Alaska. My interests include cloud physics, synoptic meteorology, forecasting, and severe storms.
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Stephanie Zick: I am working with Dr. Frank, studying environmental interactions with tropical cyclones. Specifically, I will be using the WRF to model how various wave-like disturbances affect the cyclone structure of a real hurricane, hoping to improve current knowledge of tropical cyclogenesis.
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