Research Scientist, Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Ames Research Center (October 2017-present).
Postdoctoral Fellow, NASA Postdoc Program (USRA), NASA Ames Research Center (October 2015-October 2017).
Postdoctoral Fellow, Board on Atmospheric Science and Climate/Polar Research Board, National Academy of Sciences (April-October 2015).
Fulbright Grantee, Departamento de Geofísica, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile (March 2014-December 2014).
Graduate Student Researcher, Ramanathan Group, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD (June 2009-February 2014).
PhD, Oceanography (Climate Science), Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA.
“Observational estimates of planetary albedo changes due to anthropogenic effects,” 2014
Advisor: V. Ramanathan
MS, Oceanography, 2009, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
BS, Physics with Specialization in Astrophysics (cum laude), 2008, UC San Diego
BA, Literatures in Spanish, Honors with High Distinction (cum laude), 2008, UC San Diego
Pistone, K., Wilcox, E. M., Zuidema, P., Giordano, M., Podolske, J., LeBlanc, S. E., Kacenelenbogen, M., Howell, S. G., and Freitag, S.: Vertical structure of a springtime smoky and humid troposphere over the southeast Atlantic from aircraft and reanalysis, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7983–8005, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7983-2024, 2024.
Jethva, H. T., Torres, O., Ferrare, R. A., Burton, S. P., Cook, A. L., Harper, D. B., Hostetler, C. A., Redemann, J., Kayetha, V., LeBlanc, S., Pistone, K., Mitchell, L., and Flynn, C. J.: Retrieving UV–Vis spectral single-scattering albedo of absorbing aerosols above clouds from synergy of ORACLES airborne and A-train sensors, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2335–2366, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2335-2024, 2024.
Chang, I., Gao, L., Flynn, C. J., Shinozuka, Y., Doherty, S. J., Diamond, M. S., Longo, K. M., Ferrada, G. A., Carmichael, G. R., Castellanos, P., da Silva, A. M., Saide, P. E., Howes, C., Xue, Z., Mallet, M., Govindaraju, R., Wang, Q., Cheng, Y., Feng, Y., Burton, S. P., Ferrare, R. A., LeBlanc, S. E., Kacenelenbogen, M. S., Pistone, K., Segal-Rozenhaimer, M., Meyer, K. G., Ryoo, J.-M., Pfister, L., Adebiyi, A. A., Wood, R., Zuidema, P., Christopher, S. A., and Redemann, J.: On the differences in the vertical distribution of modeled aerosol optical depth over the southeast Atlantic, Atmos. Chem. Phys., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4283-2023, 2023.
Cochrane, S. P., Schmidt, K. S., Chen, H., Pilewskie, P., Kittelman, S., Redemann, J., LeBlanc, S., Pistone, K., Segal Rozenhaimer, M., Kacenelenbogen, M., Shinozuka, Y., Flynn, C., Ferrare, R., Burton, S., Hostetler, C., Mallet, M., and Zuidema, P.: Biomass burning aerosol heating rates from the ORACLES (ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS) 2016 and 2017 experiments, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 61–77, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-61-2022, 2022.
Doherty, S. J., Saide, P. E., Zuidema, P., Shinozuka, Y., Ferrada, G. A., Gordon, H., Mallet, M., Meyer, K., Painemal, D., Howell, S. G., Freitag, S., Dobracki, A., Podolske, J. R., Burton, S. P., Ferrare, R. A., Howes, C., Nabat, P., Carmichael, G. R., da Silva, A., Pistone, K., Chang, I., Gao, L., Wood, R., and Redemann, J.: Modeled and observed properties related to the direct aerosol radiative effect of biomass burning aerosol over the southeastern Atlantic, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1–46, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1-2022, 2022.
Baibakov, K., LeBlanc, S., Ranjbar, K., O'Neill, N. T., Wolde, M., Redemann, J., Pistone, K., Li, S.-M., Liggio, J., Hayden, K., Chan, T. W., Wheeler, M. J., Nichman, L., Flynn, C., and Johnson, R.: Airborne and ground-based measurements of aerosol optical depth of freshly emitted anthropogenic plumes in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10671–10687, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10671-2021, 2021.
K. Pistone, P. Zuidema, R. Wood, M. Diamond, A. M. da Silva, G. Ferrada, P. Saide, R. Ueyama, J.-M. Ryoo, L. Pfister, J. Podolske, D. Noone, R. Bennett, E. Stith, G. Carmichael, J. Redemann, C. Flynn, S. LeBlanc, M. Segal-Rozenhaimer, Y. Shinozuka: Exploring the elevated water vapor signal associated with the free tropospheric biomass burning plume over the southeast Atlantic Ocean, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9643–9668, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9643-2021, 2021.
Gupta, S., McFarquhar, G. M., O'Brien, J. R., Delene, D. J., Poellot, M. R., Dobracki, A., Podolske, J. R., Redemann, J., LeBlanc, S. E., Segal-Rozenhaimer, M., and Pistone, K.: Impact of the variability in vertical separation between biomass burning aerosols and marine stratocumulus on cloud microphysical properties over the Southeast Atlantic, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4615–4635, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4615-2021, 2021.
Chang, I., Gao, L., Burton, S. P., Chen, H., Diamond, M. S., Ferrare, R. A., et al. (2021). Spatiotemporal heterogeneity of aerosol and cloud properties over the southeast Atlantic: An observational analysis. Geophys Res Lett, 48, e2020GL091469. doi:10.1029/2020GL091469
Redemann, J., Wood, R., Zuidema, P., Doherty, S. J., Luna, B., LeBlanc, S. E., Diamond, M. S., Shinozuka, Y., Chang, I. Y., Ueyama, R., Pfister, L., Ryoo, J.-M., Dobracki, A. N., da Silva, A. M., Longo, K. M., Kacenelenbogen, M. S., Flynn, C. J., Pistone, K., Knox, N. M., Piketh, S. J., Haywood, J. M., Formenti, P., Mallet, M., Stier, P., Ackerman, A. S., Bauer, S. E., Fridlind, A. M., Carmichael, G. R., Saide, P. E., Ferrada, G. A., Howell, S. G., Freitag, S., Cairns, B., Holben, B. N., Knobelspiesse, K. D., Tanelli, S., L'Ecuyer, T. S., Dzambo, A. M., Sy, O. O., McFarquhar, G. M., Poellot, M. R., Gupta, S., O'Brien, J. R., Nenes, A., Kacarab, M., Wong, J. P. S., Small-Griswold, J. D., Thornhill, K. L., Noone, D., Podolske, J. R., Schmidt, K. S., Pilewskie, P., Chen, H., Cochrane, S. P., Sedlacek, A. J., Lang, T. J., Stith, E., Segal-Rozenhaimer, M., Ferrare, R. A., Burton, S. P., Hostetler, C. A., Diner, D. J., Seidel, F. C., Platnick, S. E., Myers, J. S., Meyer, K. G., Spangenberg, D. A., Maring, H., and Gao, L.: An overview of the ORACLES (ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS) project: aerosol–cloud–radiation interactions in the southeast Atlantic basin, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1507–1563, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1507-2021, 2021.
S.P. Cochrane, K.S. Schmidt, H. Chen, P. Pilewskie, S. Kittelman, J. Redemann, S. LeBlanc, K. Pistone, M. Kacenelenbogen, M. Segal Rozenhaimer, Y. Shinozuka, C. Flynn, A. Dobracki, P. Zuidema, S. Howell, S. Freitag, and S. Doherty (2021). “Empirically derived parameterizations of the direct aerosol radiative effect based on ORACLES aircraft observations,” Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 567–593, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-567-2021.
Y. Shinozuka, P.E. Saide, G.A. Ferrada, S.P. Burton, R. Ferrare, S.J. Doherty, H. Gordon, K. Longo, M. Mallet, Y. Feng, Q. Wang, Y. Cheng, A. Dobracki, S. Freitag, S.G. Howell, S. LeBlanc, C. Flynn, M. Segal-Rosenhaimer, K. Pistone, J.R. Podolske, E.J. Stith, J.R. Bennett, G.R. Carmichael, A. da Silva, R. Govindaraju, R. Leung, Y. Zhang, L. Pfister, J.-M. Ryoo, J. Redemann, R. Wood, and P. Zuidema (2020). “Modeling the smoky troposphere of the southeast Atlantic: a comparison to ORACLES airborne observations from September of 2016,” Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11491–11526, doi:10.5194/acp-20-11491-2020.
Y. Shinozuka, M.S. Kacenelenbogen, S.P. Burton, S.G. Howell, P. Zuidema, R.A. Ferrare, S.E. LeBlanc, K. Pistone, S. Broccardo, J. Redemann, K.S. Schmidt, S.P. Cochrane, M. Fenn, S. Freitag, A. Dobracki, M. Segal-Rosenheimer, and C.J. Flynn (2020). “Daytime aerosol optical depth above low-level clouds is similar to that in adjacent clear skies at the same heights: airborne observation above the southeast Atlantic,” Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11275–11285, doi:10.5194/acp-20-11275-2020.
S.E. LeBlanc, J. Redemann, C. Flynn, K. Pistone, M. Kacenelenbogen, M. Segal- Rosenheimer, Y. Shinozuka, S. Dunagan, R.P. Dahlgren, K. Meyer, J. Podolske, S.G. Howell, S. Freitag, J. Small-Griswold, B. Holben, M. Diamond, R. Wood, P. Formenti, S. Piketh, G. Maggs-Kölling, M. Gerber, and A. Namwoonde (2020). “Above-cloud aerosol optical depth from airborne observations in the southeast Atlantic,” Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 1565–1590, doi:10.5194/acp-20-1565-2020.
S.P. Cochrane, K.S. Schmidt, H. Chen, P. Pilewskie, S. Kittelman, J. Redemann, S. LeBlanc, K. Pistone, M. Kacenelenbogen, M. Segal Rozenhaimer, Y. Shinozuka, C. Flynn, S. Platnick, K. Meyer, R. Ferrare, S. Burton, C. Hostetler, S. Howell, S. Freitag, A. Dobracki, S. Doherty (2019). “Above-cloud aerosol radiative effects based on ORACLES 2016 and ORACLES 2017 aircraft experiments,” Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6505–6528, doi:10.5194/amt-12-6505-2019.
K. Pistone, J. Redemann, S. Doherty, P. Zuidema, S. Burton, B. Cairns, S. Cochrane, R. Ferrare, C. Flynn, S. Freitag, S. G. Howell, M. Kacenelenbogen, S. LeBlanc, X. Liu, K.S. Schmidt, A.J. Sedlacek III, M. Segal-Rozenhaimer, Y. Shinozuka, S. Stamnes, B. van Diedenhoven, G. Van Harten, and F. Xu (2019). “Intercomparison of biomass burning aerosol optical properties from in-situ and remote-sensing instruments in ORACLES-2016,” Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 9181-9208, doi:10.5194/acp-19-9181-2019.
K. Pistone, I. Eisenman, V. Ramanathan (2019). “Radiative Heating of an Ice-free Arctic Ocean,” Geophysical Research Letters, 46. doi:10.1029/2019GL082914.
A.M. Sayer, N.C. Hsu, J. Lee, W.V. Kim, S. Burton, M.A. Fenn, R.A. Ferrare, M. Kacenelenbogen, S. LeBlanc, K. Pistone, J. Redemann, M. Segal-Rozenhaimer, Y. Shinozuka, and S.-C. Tsay (2019). “Two decades observing smoke above clouds in the south-eastern Atlantic Ocean: Deep Blue algorithm updates and validation with ORACLES field campaign data,” Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 12, 3595-3627, doi:10.5194/amt-12-3595-2019.
E.M. Wilcox, R.M. Thomas, P.S. Praveen, K. Pistone, F. Bender, and V. Ramanathan (2016). "Black carbon solar absorption suppresses turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(42):11794-11799, doi:10.1073/pnas.1525746113.
K. Pistone, P.S. Praveen, R.M. Thomas, V. Ramanathan, E.M. Wilcox, F. A.-M. Bender (2016), “Observed correlations between aerosol and cloud properties in an Indian Ocean trade cumulus regime,” Atmos Chem. Phys., 16, 5203-5227, doi:10.5194/acp-16-5203-2016.
K. Pistone, I. Eisenman, and V. Ramanathan (2014), “Observational determination of albedo decrease caused by vanishing Arctic sea ice,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(9):3322-3326, doi:10.1073/pnas.1318201111
D. Clare, K. Pistone, and V. Ramanathan. (2010), “Getting Rid of Black Carbon- A Neglected but Effective Near-Term Climate Mitigation Avenue,” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Summer/Fall 2010, pp. 99-106.
Principal Investigator: "Impacts of atmospheric water vapor on radiative and dynamic aerosol effects in stratocumulus regimes," NASA ACCDAM (Atmospheric Composition Campaign Data Analysis and Modeling), ROSES 2020, 2021-2024.
Co-Investigator: “Airborne asSessment of Hyperspectral Aerosol optical depth and water-leaving Reflectance Product Performance for PACE (AirSHARP3),” NASA ROSES 2023 PACE Mission Validation, PI L. Guild, 2023-2026.
Co-Investigator: “Transitioning an Existing Near Real-Time MODIS Cloud and Above-Cloud Absorbing Aerosol Retrieval Algorithm into a New MODIS/VIIRS Continuity Product,” NASA ROSES 2020 TASNPP (Terra, Aqua, Suomi-NPP), PI K. Meyer, 2021-2024.
NASA Ames Honor Award recipient, Contractor Employee, 2022: “For exceptional commitment to teamwork and equity by creating a welcoming, inclusive environment on field campaigns, while maintaining scientific rigor and mentoring the next generation.”
NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellowship, NASA Ames Research Center (administered by USRA), proposal “In situ and remotely-sensed radiative effects of absorbing aerosol on Arctic clouds.” October 2015-October 2017.
Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship, Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. January-April 2015.
Fulbright U.S. Student Program grantee, Chile (Environmental Sciences), March-November 2014.
National Science Foundation GK12 Fellow (Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education), June 2012-July 2013.
Director's Fellowship, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Sept 2008 – June 2009.
Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma of California New Initiate Scholarship Award, June 2008.
Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, Sigma of California (UCSD), initiated 2007.
Invited Talk: Hampton University Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences seminar series, October 2022: “Observations of biomass burning aerosol over the southeast Atlantic Ocean and the meteorological context: Results from ORACLES”
Talk: American Meteorological Society, Collective Madison Meeting, August 2022: K. Pistone et al., “Variation and evolution of atmospheric structure over the SEA BB season as seen from aircraft and reanalysis”
Talk: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, December 2021: K. Pistone et al., “Variations in Radiative Heating of Humid Biomass Burning Aerosols in the Southeast Atlantic from Airborne Observations and Reanalysis”
Poster: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, December 2021: K. Pistone et al, “Assimilating Lessons Learned – From URGE to NASA's Student Airborne Science Activation (SaSa) Project”
Featured poster: IGAC (International Global Atmospheric Chemistry) online conference, September 2021: K. Pistone et al, “Biomass burning smoke and coincident water vapor over the southeast Atlantic stratocumulus region: results from observations and models” Featured poster in the Southern Hemisphere working group.
Poster: American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting, January 2021: K. Pistone et al. “Observed Correlations between Free-Tropospheric Water Vapor and the Biomass Burning Plume: The Impact of Atmospheric Mixing on the Humid Plume over the Southeast Atlantic Ocean”
Co-convener: AMS Annual Meeting, January 2021: “Results from New Observations and Modeling Studies of Smoke-Cloud-Radiation-Climate Interactions in the Southeast Atlantic”
Poster: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, December 2020: “Where There’s Smoke, There’s Humidity: Exploring the Water Vapor Associated with the Free-Tropospheric Biomass Burning Plume over the Southeast Atlantic Ocean”
Talk: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, December 2020: “What happens when you have smoke bits and water in the sky at the same time? We use flying things and computers to find out” (AGU Sharing Science Up-Goer Five Science Communication Challenge session).
Talk: ORACLES Science Team Meeting, May 2020 (virtual): “Exploring the elevated water vapor signal associated with biomass burning aerosol over the southeast Atlantic Ocean”
Workshop: Alan Alda Science Communication Experience, February 2020: 2.5-day science communication workshop interacting with scientists and engineers from multiple fields of scientific expertise at NASA Ames Research Center.
Talk: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, December 2019: K. Pistone, I. Eisenman, and V. Ramanathan, “Radiative impacts of Arctic sea ice melt: using observations to inform future climate effects.”
Talk: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, December 2019: “When there are different types of smoke in the sky it changes how the sun light goes through the sky” (AGU Sharing Science Up-Goer Five Science Communication Challenge session).
Talk: CERES Science Team Meeting, October 2019: “Radiative impacts of Arctic sea ice melt”
Poster: NAAMES Science Team Meeting, June 2019: K. Pistone, S. LeBlanc, R. Johnson, Y. Shinozuka, J. Redemann, “Spectral distinction of aerosol loading versus cloud from airborne sun photometry.”
Talk: ORACLES Science Team Meeting, May 2019: K. Pistone et al., “AEROSOL optical properties from 4STAR sky scans, 2016-2018.”
Talk: European Geophysical Union General Assembly, April 2019: K. Pistone et al., “Intercomparison of biomass burning aerosol properties from in-situ and remote-sensing instruments in ORACLES-2016.”
Poster: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, December 2018: K. Pistone et al., “Intercomparison of biomass burning aerosol properties from in situ and remote-sensing instruments in ORACLES-2016.”
Talk: Stockholm University Department of Meteorology, October 2018: “Results from ORACLES-2016: observations of biomass burning aerosol over the southeast Atlantic Ocean and the meteorological context.”
Talk: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Climate & Radiation Laboratory Seminar Series, April 2018: “Results from ORACLES-2016: observed biomass burning aerosol properties over the southeast Atlantic Ocean and the relationship to meteorology.”
American Geophysical Union Thriving Earth Exchange Community Science Fellow, (October 2023-present): project facilitator for pro-bono science towards goals for a community group in Denver, CO.
American Geophysical Union Local Science Partners, (2021-present): AGU program to facilitate relationship-building between science experts and local policymakers.
Sustainability Commissioner, Sunnyvale Sustainability Commission, (June 2021-present), volunteer advisory position to city council regarding sustainability issues in the city of Sunnyvale.
CLOUD GAZE Science Steering Committee (2021-2022), science advisory on development of a new community science platform as part of NASA’s GLOBE program.
Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, NASA ARC Science Directorate (April 2021-present).
Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer, Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, (March 2021-present).
Unlearning Racism in Geosciences (URGE), pod leader (2021), https://urgeoscience.org/pods/earth-scientists-near-hangar-one/
NASA Technical Review Committee for MUREP (Minority University Research and Education Project) Center for Advanced Measurements in Extreme Environments (CAMEE) project (June 2020-Dec 2022).
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Program Committee (June 2020-January 2024), Atmospheric Sciences section.
NASA GLOBE Subject Matter Expert on aerosols and clouds (videos and webinars for educators and students), 2020-present.
American Geophysical Union Voices for Science Program, Communications Track, (2020 cohort): AGU program training scientists to address the critical need for communicating the value and impact of Earth and space science to decision makers, journalists, and public audiences.
Letters to a Pre-Scientist, (Aug 2018-present): pen-pal program for science classrooms in low-income schools.
Skype a Scientist, (May 2017-present): virtual interaction with K-12 science students regarding atmospheric/climate science/scientific careers.
Talk: American Academy of Science and Technology, US Embassy to Chile and Universidad de Talca in Santa Cruz (November 2014): “Calidad del aire y cambio climático en Chile y el mundo (Air quality and climate change in Chile and the world),” talk for a general audience (in Spanish).
Student Airborne Science Activation (SaSa), Program Support Specialist. (2021-2022): worked on a team to develop a new summer research program for 25 early undergraduate students. Advised on JEDI, pedagogical, and airborne-science best-practices; organized a professional development speaker series, and contributed to post-program student professional development support.
Center for Applied Atmospheric Research and Education (CAARE) mentor, San José State University and NASA Ames Research Center, Summer 2019 (co-mentor) and 2020 (mentor): program to engage students at Minority-Serving Institutions in NASA research projects. Ongoing through Fall 2020.
Guest lecturer, Universidad de Chile, Departamento de Geofísica: Contaminación Atmosférica (GF3022: Austral Fall 2014), in Spanish.
Graduate Teaching Fellow (GK12), Scripps Institution of Oceanography and San Diego School for Creative and Performing Arts (Sept 2012-June 2013): AP Physics, Advanced Physics, Physics (Grades 9-12). Lesson plan available online at: http://earthref.org/SCC/lessons/2012/electromagneticradiation/.
Teaching Assistant, SIO, (April-June 2012): SIO 217C: Atmospheric and Climate Science III.
Languages spoken: English (native), Spanish (fluent), Portuguese (intermediate), German (basic-intermediate), Italian (basic)
Computational skills: Proficient with Windows and Linux operating systems, Matlab, LaTeX document creation. Familiar with Python, C and C++ languages.