What have you been up to since your time at DAS?

I had an NRC post-doc at the National Severe Storms Lab and joined the federal staff in 1992. I’ve worked on the forecasting and impacts of severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and flash floods and on the quality and value of weather forecasts. I worked in the early stages of short-range ensemble forecasting, the understanding of severe thunderstorms in the climate setting, and the interaction between physical and social sciences in meteorology.

How have you benefited from your degree in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Illinois?

One of the benefits of Illinois was the chance to play with things that weren’t directly in my PhD (forecast evaluation, interactions with forecasters.) The degree opened doors, but the experience allowed me to do a variety of things once I was in those doors.

What’s next for you?

There are still a lot of questions I’d like to know the answer to. I’m doing some basic work on how to structure and communicate weather forecasts a decade from now and trying to figure out how large scale climate change impacts severe thunderstorm occurrence