Welcome to our new students!

We celebrated the start of the semester last week with a picnic and introductions to our new community members, including eleven new graduate students. When asked why they chose Colorado State University, students shared a variety of motivations. Most of them mentioned the opportunity to work with one of the foremost experts in their field of interest, specifying their faculty advisors. Hassel and Muehr are enthusiastic to work on the INCUS project in University Distinguished Professor van den Heever’s group. Others mentioned being excited to dig into tropical cyclones, radar and fire weather.

“CSU appealed to me as a place where atmospheric scientists are born,” said Carr.

Students are also enthusiastic to enjoy the benefits of Fort Collins. Benedict looks forward to fun outdoor activities, and Tobin looks forward to skiing. Lyons is happy to be back in Colorado. Miyazoto “wanted to know the west for a while.”

Our new #RamGrads got to enjoy some Colorado weather on the day of the picnic. At the beginning of the picnic, a rainbow appeared, and new community members posed with the rainbow showing off their new ram spirit.

Photo of the 2025 incoming class and new community members, from left to right: Jinhui Ju, Jack Tobin, Peng-Xiang Lai, Ming-Han Chung, Brendan Eckerman, Emma Benedict, Megan Marra, Deztynee Bryan, Mayumi “Yumi” de Andrade Miyazato, Justin Hassel, Andrew Muehr and Miles Harmala