I am the Illinois Research Climatologist at the Illinois State Water Survey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I received my Ph.D. in regional climate modeling from Arizona State University in 2012.
My research interests lie in atmospheric sciences and land/ocean-atmosphere interactions at a range of spatial scales (regional to local) that are relevant to the management of human and natural systems. My aim is to create a new generation of high-resolution climate models capable of resolving relatively small-scale processes and impacts in a sufficiently physically based way that they can be used for future climate predictions with increased confidence. I perform targeted dynamical downscaling experiments with the overarching goal of creating “bridges” between global, regional and micro-scale modeling.
Research Interests:
Regional climate modeling: Land/ocean/lake-atmosphere interactions, lake breeze, UHI effect, land data assimilation, hydrometeorological extremes
Microscale modeling: Climate modeling at hyper-local scales (~m scales)
Climate adaptation and mitigation: Interactions between urban ecology and urban heat island in a changing climate