Zachary R. Barkley

Zachary R. Barkley

  • Assistant Research Professor

Email: zrb5027@psu.edu
Phone: (570) 905-7621

Education:

  1. B.S. -- The Pennsylvania State University, Meteorology with honors, 2014
  2. M.S. -- The Pennsylvania State University, Meteorology, 2016

Research Specialties:

Atmospheric/Air Chemistry:

Biography:

"Every day is a winding road.   Lay back, enjoy the show. 
Have a great day, work hard, and take the time to enjoy every sandwich."    ~Dad

I've always had a fascination with data. As a three-year old, I would watch the numbers change on the microwave, performing various mathematical operations on them. My odd behavior displayed as a toddler only grew worse with time, inevitably leading me down the path of meteorology, a field of science specialized in data collection and interpretation.

In 2010 I began the process of obtaining a B.S in Meteorology at The Pennsylvania State University. Although I initially started my degree with the goal of becoming the ultimate snowstorm forecaster (everyone wants to know when the next snow day is going to be), I quickly discovered how vast a field meteorology is, and began to forge my own path through it. As an undergraduate I worked under Dr. Chris Forest, churning through large databases to write a thesis on the knowns and unknowns of the world's ocean.

After graduating with honors from Penn State I immediately began my work on my M.S. under the watchful eyes of Ken Davis and Thomas Lauvaux, calculating methane emissions from natural gas infrastructure in northeastern Pennsylvania, a practical problem with global consequences yet a problem that hits close to home for me, literally. Growing up in northeastern Pennsylvania I’ve experienced the socioeconomic impacts, both positive and negative, brought about from the intrusion of this industrial behemoth into the rural communities around me. To be able to use my higher education to explore the natural gas industry’s global consequences from a climate perspective seemed like the perfect fit for me.

Now with an M.S. in hand, I’m currently working on NASA’s ACT America project, applying the techniques I developed to estimate methane emissions in the Marcellus to other regions of the U.S.