GROUP NEWS

Ethan Prunty, a first-year graduate student in the TCBL lab, was invited to participate in the NSF NCAR MMM CELCIUS Summer Visitor Cohort in Boulder, CO, from July 28 to Aug 1, 2025.  He presented his graduate research on TC reformation at the NSF NCAR, UCAR, & UCP Summer Student Research Poster Symposium and received great feedback. Through the support of the CELCIUS program, he established connections with several leading NCAR hurricane scientists and toured the NSF Research Aviation Facility (RAF), where he explored the Gulfstream V research jet.

Xiaomin Chen, Assistant Professor of the Department of Atmospheric and Earth Science, was honored with the 2025 University Distinguished Research, Creative Achievement, and Scholarly Performance Award. This award recognizes outstanding performance of a UAH faculty member for a body of research, creative achievement, and/or scholarly performance, spanning multiple years. 

Additionally, Chen was the recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Faculty Member Award for the College of Science in recognition of his excellence in the three critical areas of teaching, scholarly contributions, and service. Members of the TCBL Lab attended the award ceremony at the SSB on May 1, 2025. 

Zeb Leffler (left) presented his boundary layer observational study of Hurricanes Issac (2012) and Ida (2021) at UAH's Graduate Poster Session. 

Zeb Leffler provided tours of the Mobile Alabama X-Band (MAX) radar truck to attendees of the Rocket City Weather Fest on February 10th, 2024. He also assisted with a demonstration of a weather balloon launch at the event, which was recorded by a local news station.

Zeb proudly presented his research on the boundary layer structural evolution near the TC tornadoes in the outer rainbands of Hurricane Issac (2012) at the 104th AMS annual meeting. He had a great discussion with the audience and received encouraging feedback. Way to go, Zeb!

Congrats to Zebulon Leffler for joining the UAH TCBL research group from Fall 2023!

"I recently graduated with my Bachelor's degree in Atmospheric and Earth Science from UAH.  Over my undergraduate career, I have been heavily involved with tornado and quasi-linear convective system research and field operations across the Southeastern U.S. I am very excited to be pursuing my Master's degree at UAH and studying boundary layer processes leading to tornadogenesis in landfalling hurricanes under Dr. Chen."

—Zeb Leffler

NOAA's Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC) and the Unified Forecast System (UFS) delivered a five-day Unifying Innovations in Forecasting Capabilities Workshop (UIFCW) at Boulder, CO. During the workshop, Xiaomin Chen presented his recently developed modeling framework and its usage in developing boundary layer parameterizations for NOAA's next-generation hurricane forecast model, HAFS,

Dr. Xiaomin Chen served as a co-rapporteur of the subtopic "Internal Influences of TC Intensity Changes" in the WMO's 10th International Workshop on Tropical Cyclones (IWTC-10) report. The IWTC, organized every 4 years, is a unique gathering that brings together tropical cyclone researchers and operational specialists including social scientists from all regions affected by TCs. [Report] [Presentation][Recording]

Dr. Xiaomin Chen is the 2022 recipient of the MSU Northern Gulf Institute Research Award, an honor instituted in 2020 to recognize outstanding research accomplishments by NGI staff. The award is presented every two years. NGI is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cooperative institute which conducts research on interconnections among Gulf of Mexico ecosystems and then provides decision makers with scientific findings. [Link]