Research Staff

Marybeth Arcodia

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2021 – University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science – Miami, FL
• Postdoctoral fellow with Elizabeth Barnes
• Research involves using explainable artificial intelligence techniques to better understand the Earth’s climate predictability

Noelle Bryan

• Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – 2017 – Louisiana State University – Baton Rouge, LA
• Postdoctoral fellow with Sonia Kreidenweis and Paul DeMott
• Research focuses on how bioaerosols survive atmospheric transport and what impacts they may have on atmospheric processes and plant, animal, and human health

Micael Cecchini

• Ph.D. in Meteorology – 2017 – National Institute for Space Research (INPE) – Brazil
• Postdoctoral fellow with Christine Chiu
• Research focuses on understanding the physics of cloud formation and development, and the effects of atmospheric pollution on clouds

• Ph.D. in Earth System Science – 2022 – Stanford University – Stanford, CA
• Postdoctoral fellow with Elizabeth Barnes
• Research focuses on AI methods for improved climate predictions using climate models and observations

Chia-Pang Kuo

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences – 2018 – Texas A&M University – College Station, TX
• Postdoctoral fellow with Chris Kummerow
• Research focuses on Optimal Estimation based microwave and hyper-spectral remote sensing

Zack Labe

• Ph.D. in Earth System Science – 2020 – University of California, Irvine – Irvine, CA
• Postdoctoral fellow with Elizabeth Barnes
• Research focuses on explainable AI methods for evaluating signal-to-noise problems in large-scale climate variability

Antonios Mamalakis

• Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering – 2020 – University of California, Irvine – Irvine, CA
• Postdoctoral fellow with Elizabeth Barnes and Imme Ebert-Uphoff
• Research focuses on the application of eXplainable Artificial Intelligence to climate science

Claudia Mignani

• Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences – 2021 – University of Basel, Switzerland
• Postdoctoral fellow with Sonia Kreidenweis and Paul DeMott
• Research focuses on interactions between aerosol particles, ice formation in clouds and precipitation

Chelsea Nam

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2021 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Postdoctoral fellow with Michael Bell
• Studies tropical cyclones using radar observations and numerical simulations

• Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering — 2021 — University of Colorado Boulder
• Postdoctoral fellow with Sonia Kreidenweis and Paul DeMott
• Research focuses on microorganism identification, functionality profile assessment, and microbial source tracking in atmospheric, aquatic and terrestrial environments, as potential ice nucleation particles in polar regions

Bowen Pan

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences – 2019 – Texas A&M University – College Station, TX
• Postdoctoral fellow with Sue van den Heever
• Research focuses on numerical simulation of the aerosol and cloud interaction, impacts of Saharan dust to regional climate

Da Pan

• Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering – 2021 – Princeton University – Princeton, NJ
• Postdoctoral fellow with Jeff Collett
• Research focuses on developing advanced instruments and measurement methods for greenhouse gases, air pollutants, and reactive nitrogen to facilitate effective mitigation

Ben Swanson

• Ph.D. in Chemistry – 2019 – University of Denver – Denver, CO
• Postdoctoral fellow with Paul DeMott
• Working on an Atmospheric Research Systems proposal to correlate ice nuclei parameters among several different marine and terrestrial sampling campaigns. Also works part time developing atmospheric instrumentation at Handix Scientific.

Elina Valkonen

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences – 2021 – University of Colorado Boulder
• Postdoctoral fellow with Elizabeth Barnes
• Research focuses on utilizing AI-based metrics to evaluate climate model processes

Hungjui Yu

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences – 2018 – National Taiwan University – Taipei, Taiwan
• Postdoctoral fellow with Kristen Rasmussen
• Using observations and model simulations to understand the global and regional convective activities and the cloud feature variation under current and future climate

Wes Berg — Senior Research Scientist

• Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering through a program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences – 1993 – University of Colorado Boulder
• Researcher with Chris Kummerow
• The study of large-scale hydrologic processes with a focus on long-term climate applications and the development of climate data records using satellite observations

Emily (Qi-jing) Bian — Research Scientist II

• Ph.D. in Environmental Science – 2011 – Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – Pokfulam, Hong Kong
• Postdoctoral fellow with Sonia Kreidenweis and Jeff Collett
• Research focuses on source apportionment of air pollutants using statistical approaches

Becky Bolinger — Research Scientist II / Assistant State Climatologist

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2014 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Researcher and Assistant State Climatologist to Colorado State Climatologist Russ Schumacher
• Climate variability, seasonal climate prediction, drought monitoring, the climate and hydrologic cycle of Colorado, climate communication and services for Colorado

Paula Brown — Research Scientist II

• Ph.D. in Geography and Statistics – 2007 – University of Otago-Dunedin, New Zealand
• Researcher with Chris Kummerow
• Understanding changes in atmospheric moisture and its role in global moisture budgets

Jessie Creamean — Research Scientist III

• Ph.D. in Chemistry – 2012 – University of California, San Diego – La Jolla, CA
• Researcher with Sonia Kreidenweis and Paul DeMott
• Research focuses on polar and high alpine aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions with specific focus on marine and terrestrial ice nucleation

Jen DeHart — Research Scientist I

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences – 2017 – University of Washington
• Researcher with Michael Bell
• Research focuses on tropical cyclone structure and precipitation using radar measurements

Charlotte DeMott — Senior Research Scientist

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 1996 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Researcher with Eric Maloney
• Understanding processes responsible for the existence of tropical weather variability on 30-60 day timescales, and how those processes are represented (or not) in general circulation models

Paul DeMott — Senior Research Scientist

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 1990 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Researcher with Sonia Kreidenweis
• Understanding how the physical, chemical, and biological makeup of certain aerosols of natural and anthropogenic origin influence the formation of ice crystals (precursors of precipitation) in clouds

Brenda Dolan — Research Scientist III

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2009 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Researcher with Steven Rutledge and Michael Bell
• Using remote sensing, primarily polarimetric radar at multiple wavelengths, to understand cloud processes and microphysics under a variety of regimes, including tropical and mid-latitude locations, winter and severe storms, and oceanic to complex terrain locations

Daniela Faggiani Dias — Research Scientist I

• Ph.D. in Climate Sciences – 2020 – Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego – San Diego, CA
• Researcher with James Hurrell
• Research focuses on statistical and dynamical modeling studies to understand and identify climatic events that can be reliably predicted on seasonal to decadal timescales

Bonne Ford — Research Scientist II

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2014 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Researcher with Jeff Pierce
• Using chemical transport models and satellite observations to understand air quality

Leah Grant — Research Scientist II

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2018 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Researcher with Sue van den Heever
• Dynamical and microphysical processes in convection using numerical models and observations

Ross Heikes — Research Scientist III

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2002 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Researcher with David Randall
• Data formatting, global cloud-resolving models

Aaron Hill — Research Scientist I

• Ph.D. in Geosciences – 2019 – Texas Tech University – Lubbock, TX
• Researcher with Russ Schumacher
• Research focuses on machine learning techniques to probabilistically forecast convection hazards, including extreme rainfall, severe wind, hail and tornadoes

Tom Hill — Research Scientist III

• Ph.D. in Molecular Microbial Ecology – 1995 – University of East London – United Kingdom
• Researcher with Sonia Kreidenweis
• Gaining a deeper understanding of the sources, numbers and identities of ice nucleating particles—especially, biological ice nuclei released by terrestrial and marine ecotypes

Philip Klotzbach — Research Scientist III

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2007 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Researcher with Bill Gray
• Atlantic hurricanes, from intra-annual to multi-decadel variablilty timescales

Russell Perkins — Research Scientist II

• Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry – 2017 – University of Colorado Boulder
• Researcher with Paul DeMott and Sonia Kreidenweis
• Research focuses on understanding how materials found in sea spray aerosol affect aerosol phase transitions and ice nucleation

Ilana Pollack — Research Scientist III

• Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry – 2004 – University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, PA
• Researcher with Emily Fischer
• Ilana’s research focuses on in-situ measurements of atmospheric trace gases using hands-on, high-tech instrumentation and techniques. Current and prior research areas include: tropospheric oxidant cycling processes and mechanisms, trends in precursor emissions and secondary pollutant production, wildfire smoke composition and chemistry, and the transport and transformation of reduced versus oxidized nitrogen species.

Emily Riley Dellaripa — Research Scientist II

• Ph.D. in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography – 2013 – University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science – Miami, FL
• Researcher with Eric Maloney and Sue van den Heever
• Research in convective mesoscale organization in the tropics with a particular focus on the Madden-Julian Oscillation in order to improve the representation of deep convection in climate models

Amy Sullivan — Research Scientist III

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Chemistry – 2006 – Georgia Institute of Technology – Atlanta, GA
• Researcher with Jeff Collett
• Examining the composition of organic aerosols, with a particular focus on biomass burning and secondary organic aerosols

Lantao Sun — Research Scientist III

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2010 – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – Urbana, IL
• Researcher with James Hurrell
• Research focuses on climate variability and change, geoengineering, climate impact of Arctic sea ice loss, stratosphere-troposphere coupling and subseasonal-to-decadal prediction

Yong Zhou — Research Scientist II

• Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Science – 2006 – University of New Hampshire – Durham, NH
• Researcher with Jeff Collett
• Focus on analytical techniques for studying volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere

Kelley Branson — Senior Research Associate

• B.S. in Computer Science – 1985 – University of California-Riverside – Riverside, CA
• Research associate with Dave Randall. Responsible for computer services for Eric Maloney and Scott Denning, and provides assistance to all professors who have CMMAP ties.
• Computer admin. for Professor Dave Randall and CMMAP

Mark Branson — Senior Research Associate

• M.S. in Atmospheric Science – 1991 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Research associate with Dave Randall
• Focus on general circulation modeling

Paul Ciesielski — Senior Research Associate

• M.S. in Atmospheric Science – 1980 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Research associate with Wayne Schubert (1983-Present) and Richard Johnson (1991-Present). Previous research associate with Elmar Reiter (1977-1980), Tom VonderHaar (1980-1982) and Duane Stevens (1980-1991)
• Analysis and modeling of tropical phenomena; monsoon studies, quality control of sounding data

Don Dazlich — Senior Research Associate

• M.S. in Meteorology – 1982 – University of Maryland – College Park, MD
• Research associate with Dave Randall
• Numerical modeling of cloud systems and climate

Mostafa Elkady — Research Associate IV

• M.S. in Civil Engineering – 1995 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Research associate with Dave Randall
• System administrator

Peter Goble — Climatologist and Water Availability Specialist

• M.S. in Atmospheric Science – 2016 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Research associate with Colorado Climate Center
• Concentration in collecting data and monitoring Colorado’s climate with an emphasis on drought preparedness and mitigation

Steve Hilberg — Research Associate II

• B.S. in Meteorology – 1974 – St. Louis University – St. Louis, MO
• Research associate with Colorado Climate Center
• CoCoRaHS Project Manager, CoCoRaHS data QA/QC

Carson Hume — Research Associate I

• B.S. in Chemistry and B.A. in Spanish – 2019 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Research associate with Sonia Kreidenweis
• Technician for the Department of Energy INP (ice-nucleating particle) instrument mentors Thomas Hill and Jessie Creamean

Noah Newman — Colorado Climate Center Education and Outreach Coordinator

• B.S. in Liberal Arts – 1997 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Coordinator with Colorado Climate Center
• Climate education and outreach

Henry Reges — CoCoRaHS National Coordinator/International Relations Envoy

• B.S. in Atmospheric Sciences – 1997 – University of North Carolina – Asheville, NC
• National coordinator for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow network (Colorado Climate Center)
• Supports more than 250 state and regional coordinators, network operations, member of WMO’s Expert Team on Climate Monitoring and Assessment

Steve Saleeby — Senior Research Associate

• M.S. in Atmospheric Science – 2000 – North Carolina State University – Raleigh, NC
• Research associate with Sue van den Heever (2010-present) and previously Bill Cotton (2000-12)
• Numerical modeling and development

Zach Schwalbe — Research Associate II

• B.S. in Watershed Science – 2007 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Research associate with Colorado Climate Center
• Responsibilities include the CoCoRaHS Help Desk and a focus on data analysis collected from climate stations around Colorado for presentations

Rick Taft — Senior Research Associate

• M.S. in Mathematics – 1987 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Research associate with Wayne Schubert and Dick Johnson, previously also with Bill Gray and Michael Montgomery during the 1990s
• Provider of computer, math and data support to members of the Schubert and Johnson research groups. Research interests in numerical programming and scientific visualization

Julian Turner — Research Associate IV

• B.A. in Environmental Studies – 1999 – University of Colorado Boulder
• Research associate with Colorado Climate Center
• Web developer and database administrator for the CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow) Network

Alistair Vierod — Research Associate I

• B.S. in Watershed Science – 2019 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Research Associate with Colorado Climate Center
• QA/QC for the CoAgMET network

Steve Heller — Computing Support Specialist

• B.S. in Accounting – 1990 – Le Moyne College – Syracuse, NY
• First- and second-tier hardware and software support of computers, workstations, and server sessions; mobile computing devices including notebook computers, tablet computers, and smart phones; and computer peripherals such as printers
• Expert assistance in the installation and configuration of third-party software
• Assist individual clients and the organization in evaluating and selecting the appropriate computer hardware and software resources to meet their specific computing needs

Ammon Redman — Research Associate IV

• M.S. in Business and Computer Information Systems – 2010 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Research associate with Sue van den Heever, Russ Schumacher, Elizabeth Barnes, Emily Fischer, Bill Cotton, Jeff Pierce, Scott Denning, Eric Maloney and for the department
• IT support