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Q1: Which degree programs should I apply for?
A: If you have a B.S. degree, you would apply for M.S. If you have a M.S., you would apply for Ph.D. Our Department offers M.S. and Ph.D. in atmospheric science, hydrology, and hydrometeorology. You only need to choose one.
Q2: Who are your current and previous group members?
A: Check our group pictures (above) and the list of current and previous group members (above); They work in a variety of fields: university teaching, research (at universities and national laboratories), private sector, higher-education administration, military weather support, science policy, and non-profit organization.
Q3: What are your research areas?
A: Our interests are very broad. There are multiple ways to answer this question.
Land-atmosphere-ocean interface processes, weather and climate modeling, hydrometeorology, remote sensing, and nonlinear dynamics
check the title of our current grants
check the title of our publications
check the Program of our recent Research Showcase
Q4: What are the research style and highlights of your group?
A: The news media coverage and research highlights are provided here
Our research style is simply "Think Different" and "Just Do It". More specifically, it is to to address a particular issue using whatever datasets, models, and methods are available and needed along with our research insights. This also includes the big data analytics and artificial intelligence in combination with our physical insights. Everybody in our group is exploring different ideas each day until we have an innovative idea on a specific issue. As ideas don't come at the time and on the subject as we hope for, the topics of our publications have been very diverse.
Q5: What do you look for in my applications?
A: Besides carefully reading the whole package, I pay particular attention to quantitative background (e.g., scores for math courses); any computer programing experience; and willingness to learn and explore new frontiers.
Q6: If I join your group, what will I work on?
A: Most M.S. students have some vague ideas of what they want to do (e.g., hurricanes, global warming, water resources, weather forecasting, climate modeling, big data analytics, artificial intelligence), but don't have the concrete ideas that can be pursued for a M.S. degree within a 2-year time frame. Therefore, I usually sit down with each new student at the beginning to design a thesis topic of mutual interest. With the broad projects we have, we can be quite flexible (see Q3).
Q7: What types of programming does your group do?
A: Modeling is usually done in Fortran 90 or C. For data analysis, group members typically use Matlab, R, or NCL. If you have any prior programming experience, you will be fine, as group members will help you become familiar with specific programs.
Q8: What approach do you take to the student-advisor relationship?
A: I expect my students to be fairly independent, although my door is always open for questions and guidance. I also encourage my students to interact with other group members.
Q9: What activities and meetings does the group participate in?
A: My group meets biweekly when one or more members present their research results and/or share their experiences (new graphics, datasets, softwares, and tools), and the remaining members of the group ask questions and offer discussion/critiques. For alternating weeks, group members meet (biweekly) themselves to help each other. We also hold an annual Research Showcase where each member of the group gives a conference-style presentation of their work, followed by questions or comments from the group. Furthermore, we hold occasional (and optional) happy hours and group lunch.
Q10: How can I prepare myself ahead of time for the demands of my coursework and research?
A: It would be helpful to brush up on math (e.g., differential equations, multivariable calculus), physics (e.g., physics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics), and computing (e.g., introduction to computing). If you have no programming experience, a powerful and fairly easy language to learn is Matlab.
Q11: What does a research assistantship entail?
A: When funds are available, half-time research assistantships (including the coverage of tuitions) are awarded to group members during the academic year. Being a graduate student supported by half-time research assistantship to do coursework and research is akin to a full time training. I don't keep track of hours, but I do expect students to provide me with updates on their research progresses on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
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