Teaching  & Students

Formal Course Taught

500 and above courses are for graduates; 100-499 courses for undergraduates; ATMO 170A is an introductory freshman course for a large number of students.

ATMO 441A/541A: Dynamic Meteorology I  (also online)

AMTO 595C: Climate Observations and Modeling

ATMO 579: Boundary Layer Meteorology

ATMO 441B/541B: Dynamic Meteorology II

ATMO 170A: Introduction to Weather and Climate; 

ATMO 350: Atmospheric Measurements

ATMO 410: Statistical Methods in Atmospheric Science

ATMO 430: Computational Methods in Atmospheric Science

ATMO 596: Progress in Atmospheric Sciences

M.S. and Ph.D. Dissertation (as Advisor or Co-Advisor)

Ph.D.:

Bill Scheftic, Jorge Arevalo, Josh Welty, Jack Reeves Eyre, Nick Dawson, Furrukh Bashir, Kerrie Geil, Zhao Yang, Susan M Stillman, Mike Brunke, Patrick Broxton, Koichi Sakaguchi, Mark Decker, Alaa Mohmad Ali, Aihui Wang, Er Lu, Zhuo Wang                        

M.S.:

Lauren Cutler, Jorge Arevalo, Madeleine Holland, Samuel Potteiger, Jeremy Sousa, Jack Reeves Eyre, Furrukh Bashir, Gabriel Moreno, Kyle Davis, Will Lytle, Suzy Stillman, Brad Christoffersen, Kerrie Geil, Jason Ninneman, Koichi Sakaguchi, Steve Stegall, Jesse Miller, Mark Decker, Kelly Wink, Mike Brunke, John Makevich, Praveen Rao

M.S. and Ph.D. Dissertation (as Committee Member)

Ph.D.:

Yuan Heng Wang, Gregory Johnson, Liling Chang, Hossein Dadashazar, Wengfu Tang, Jingjing Tian, Qiuyue Shao, Jinyu Wang, Zhen Wang, John Alejandro, Ewan Crosbie, Mike Stovern, Diana Stovern, Brad Christoffersen, Zulia M. S. Mejia, Kim Wood, Anna Wonaschuetz, Rafael Rosolem, David Choi, Angel Otarol, Ana Mosor, Robb Randall, Edgar Uribe, Feiqin Xie, Markus Frey, L. Gustavo Goncalves, Nadia Vinogradov, Chawn Harlow, Dave Adams, Wolfgang Buermann,  Fengbiao Ni

M.S.:

John Perkins, Joel Atwood, Malori Redman, Dean Pryles, Ethan Smith, William R. Strickler, Maria Cecilia Rodrigues do Prado, Bobby Chrisman, Gouri Prabhakr, Diana Stovern, Andrew Penny, David Kofron, Tina Stall, Jennifer Lee, Beena Chandy, Wendy Thomas, Rebecca Matichuk, Kenneth Kehoe, Nathan Parker, Natalie Murray, Wei Xue, Shawn Rossi     

Undergraduate Interns (as Mentor)

Annalisa Minke, Sam Dahl, Richard Marcelain, Samuel Potteiger, Jay Patel, Sereena Ginar, Sarah Merrigan, Rey David Reyes, Karen Rivas, Kira Kiviat, Dimitri Ververelli, Chris Edwards, Erika Knutson, Andy T. Folkening, Todd Murphey

Previous Research Members

Josh Welty, Ross Dixon, Yingjun Wang, Yuanhao Fang, Luis Gustavo de Goncalves, Anton Beljaars, Susan Stillman, Pieter Hazenberg, Patrick Broxton, Koichi Sakaguchi, David Zeng, Rafael Rosolem, Paul Shao, Zhuo Wang, Cindy Wang, Mike Barlage, Shuwen Zhang, Er Lu, Mingyu Zhou, Yongjiu Dai, Qiang Zhang, Qingcun Zeng 

Q&A for Prospective Graduate Students

You are assumed to have read my web site.

Q1: Which degree programs should I apply for?

Answer (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 and hydrology. You only need to choose one.

Q2: What are your previous group members' career paths?

A: 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 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, physics, and statistics courses); any computer programing experience; and willingness to learn and explore new frontiers.

Q4: 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, satellite remote sensing, machine learning), 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. 

Q5: 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 Python, Matlab, or R. If you have any prior programming experience, you will be fine, as group members will help you become familiar with specific programs.

Q6: 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.  

Q7: What activities and meetings does the group participate in?

A: My group meets weekly when a few members, by rotation, 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. 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. 

Q8: 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).

Q9: 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 regular updates on their research progresses.