About Me
Dr. Masanori Saito is a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Wyoming. Before joining his current institution, he was an Assistant Research Scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, at Texas A&M University, working with Dr. Ping Yang. Saito received a Bachelor of Science in 2012 and a Master of Science in 2014 from Tohoku University, Japan. After that, he got a Grant-in-Aid for the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship and continued his research under Dr. Hironobu Iwabuchi. He received a Ph.D. in Geophysics from Tohoku University in March 2017. He is a recipient of the 2020 Yamamoto Award from the Meteorological Society of Japan as an outstanding early career scientist in the fields of meteorology and atmospheric science.
My research philosophy is to explain natural phenomena using physics-based principles, starting with a rigorous treatment of the smallest-scale aspects of a physical process. Therefore, my research activities in atmospheric radiation and remote sensing begin with a solid understanding of the single scattering by an atmospheric particle, from which I build a further understanding of atmospheric radiative transfer and applications to cloud-aerosol remote sensing.
Professional Preparation & Appointments
2023/08 – Present: Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming.
2022/02 – 2023/08: Associate Director, Laboratory of Atmospheric and Oceanic Optics and Remote Sensing, College of Geosciences, Texas A&M University.
2019/05 – 2023/08: Assistant Research Scientist, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University.
2017/09 – 2019/04: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University.
2017/04 – 2017/08: Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Geophysics, Tohoku University.
2017/03: D.Sc. (Equivalent to Ph.D.), Department of Geophysics, Tohoku University (First place).
2014/03: M.S., Department of Geophysics, Tohoku University (First place).
2012/03: B.S., Department of Geophysics, Tohoku University
Honors and Awards
Yamamoto Award, Meteorological Society of Japan, 2020 [URL (in Japanese)].
Outstanding Research Staff Member Award, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, 2019.
Outstanding Poster Award, 17th Electromagnetic and Light Scattering Conference and 11th Conference on Laser-Light and Interactions with Particles, 2018.
Tohoku University Presidential Award, Tohoku University, 2017.
Best Student Poster Award, G-COE Symposium, 2012.
Grands and Fellowships
Jul. 2020 – Mar. 2021: CEReS Overseas Joint Research Program 2020, Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba University, "Advances in remote sensing of ice cloud properties with synergistic spaceborne and ground-based observations", Principal Investigator, ¥200,000/1-yr (JPY).
Apr. 2014 –Mar. 2017: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows Funding Agency, "Elucidation of the optical and microphysical properties of cirrus clouds using ground- and satellite-based observations", Principal Investigator, ¥10,000,000/3-yr (JPY).