Chih-Chi Hu, Allie Mazurek, Marqi Rocque receive ASCENT awards

Chih-Chi Hu, Allie Mazurek and Marqi Rocque have been selected for ASCENT (Assisting Students, Cultivating Excellence, Nurturing Talent) scholarships to fund international research opportunities. ASCENT is a department program established to enrich the graduate experience.

Hu, advised by Professor Peter Jan van Leeuwen, will use the scholarship to collaborate with scientists at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts in the United Kingdom to build and test the research group’s newly developed non-Gaussian observation error model into the ECMWF system.

“We hope to improve the all-sky satellite radiances assimilation,” Hu said. He will spend two months in the U.K.

Mazurek, advised by Professor Russ Schumacher, will collaborate with scientists at the University of Pretoria and the South African Weather Service on a project related to understanding and forecasting severe convective storms in South Africa.

“I hope to improve short-range predictions of severe hazards, such as tornadoes, in the region, which will help inform my work on forecasting hazardous weather in the U.S.,” Mazurek said.

Rocque, advised by Associate Professor Kristen Rasmussen, will work with Professor Rachel Albrecht and her team at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, studying the microphysical and electrical characteristics of severe storms in South America.

“I will learn more about lightning-observing platforms and better understand how the land surface and terrain impact cloud and precipitation processes in the region,” Rocque said. “I hope to witness some of the extreme storms I study in person!”

ASCENT grants are funded by donations to the department. Contributions can be made here.