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Research Staff

Postdocs  • Research Scientists  • Research Associates  • IT Staff

Postdoctoral Fellows

Marybeth Arcodia

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
Ban

Jihee Ban

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Environmental Science – 2024 – Hankuk University of Foreign Studies – Yogin, South Korea
  • Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow with Jeff Collett
  • Research focuses on aircraft-based aerosol composition measurements using High Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS)
Kevin Barry

Kevin Barry

  • Ph.D. In Atmospheric Science – 2024 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Sonia Kreidenweis
  • Focusing on ice nucleating particles and microbial community structure from permafrost and the Arctic Ocean
Jennie Bukowski

Jennie Bukowski

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2021 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Sue van den Heever
  • Research focuses on high-resolution mesoscale modeling and ensemble modeling of convective cloud systems, storm dynamics, and aerosol-cloud-environment interactions; also interested in precipitation extremes, dryland meteorology, mineral dust, and statistical applications
Jingxuan Cui

Mu-Ting Chien

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Climate Science – 2024 – University of Washington, Seattle, WA
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Elizabeth Barnes
  • Tropical rainfall variability and climate change; Using AI weather/climate models to examine tropical cyclones and blocking on paleo-timescale
Mu-Ting Chien

Jingxuan Cui

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2023 – Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology – Nanjing, China
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Eric Maloney
  • Understanding the oceanic equatorial waves in models and the associated climate impacts
Chenrui Diao

Chenrui Diao

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences – 2022 – Texas A&M University – College Station, TX
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Elizabeth Barnes and Jim Hurrell
  • Using climate models and observations to study climate variability at decadal to multi-decadal time scales and anthropogenic impacts on the climate system
Martin Fernandez

Martin Fernandez

  • Ph.D. in Physics – 2023 – University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Elizabeth Barnes
  • Using AI/ML methods to improve predictions on a broad range of timescales, from weather forecasting to climate predictions
Meghan Helmberger

Meghan Helmberger

  • Ph.D. in Geography and Arctic Climate – 2023 – University of Colorado Boulder – Boulder, CO
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Jim Hurrell
  • Research focuses on atmosphere – sea ice – ocean interactions and sea ice predictability
Ching-Shu Hung

Ching-Shu Hung

  • Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Science – 2022 – University of Tokyo – Tokyo, Japan
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Christine Chiu and Peter Jan van Leeuwen
  • Understanding cloud processes and their interactions with aerosol, precipitation, and radiation across various scales and cloud regimes
Seongjun Kim

Seongjun Kim

  • Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering – 2021 – Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) – Ulsan, South Korea
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Jeff Collett
  • Research focuses on the measurement and analysis of atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to identify their main sources and secondary formation from passive/active air samplers, canisters, sensors, and PTR-MS
I-Ting Ku

I-Ting Ku

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2024 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Jeff Collett
  • Research focuses on the measurement and analysis of atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particularly those emitted from wildfires and oil and natural gas operations
Chia-Pang Kuo

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
Jesse Loveridge

Jesse Loveridge

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences – 2023 – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Christine Chiu
  • Developing cloud remote sensing algorithms that use 3D radiative transfer and a fusion of passive and sensors for application to NASA’s A-train and ESA’s EarthCARE satellite missions
Claudia Mignani

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
Ariel Morrison

Ariel Morrison

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences – 2019 – University of Colorado Boulder – Boulder, CO
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Elizabeth Barnes and Jim Hurrell
  • Observed and projected polar climate change with a focus on Arctic clouds, permafrost, and sea ice
Bryam Orihuela-Pinto

Bryam Orihuela-Pinto

  • Ph.D. in Climate Science – 2022 – University of New South Wales – Sydney, Australia
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Pat Keys
  • Research focuses on using AI and satellite imagery to explore how climate change impacts sustainable development
Bowen Pan

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
Bowen Pan

Taehyun Park

  • Ph.D. in Environmental Science – 2021 – Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) – Yongin, South Korea
  • Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow with Jeff Collett
  • Research focuses on aerosols and gaseous precursors measurements in the atmosphere using various real-time analytical methods.
Sai Prasanth

Sai Prasanth

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences and Complex Systems – 2018 – Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Sue van den Heever
  • Research: Characterizing the spatial structure and non-stationary evolution of convection in tropical convective storms. I work on the NASA Earth Ventures Mission “INCUS (Investigation of Convective Updrafts)” towards: 1. Characterization of the vertical structure of precipitation within convective storms 2. Quantifying the nonstationarity in convection 3. Algorithm development for precipitation profiling space radars and radiometers 4. Development of automatic, non-heuristic machine learning algorithms for storm now/forecasting.
Ryan Patnaude

Ryan Patnaude

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2023 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Sonia Kreidenweis and Paul DeMott
  • Research focuses on quantifying and characterizing airborne ice nucleating particles in arctic mixed-phase clouds
Simon Pfreundschuh

Simon Pfreundschuh

  • Ph.D. in Microwave Remote Sensing – 2022 – Chalmers University of Technology – Gothenburg, Sweden
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Christian Kummerow
  • Research focuses on using methods from the field of AI to improve global, satellite-based rain measurements and contributes to a global precipitation monitoring system that allows communities worldwide to monitor and manage water resources, precipitation-related natural hazards, and how these will change due to global warming
Rick Schulte

Rick Schulte

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2022 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Sue van den Heever
  • Research focuses on the remote sensing of clouds, precipitation, and convective mass flux from INCUS and CloudSat
Itinderjot Singh

Itinderjot Singh

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences – 2022 – University of Illinois – Urbana, IL
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Sue van den Heever
  • Running high-resolution numerical simulations of deep convection to assist in retrieval algorithm development for the INCUS satellites
Laura Thapa

Laura Thapa

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences – 2024 – University of California, Los Angeles – Los Angeles, CA
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Elizabeth Barnes
  • Research involves using machine learning and explainable artificial intelligence to understand sea level predictability
Senne Van Loon

Senne Van Loon

  • Ph.D. in Physics – 2020 – University of Antwerp – Antwerp, Belgium
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Maria Rugenstein
  • Understanding energy balances in the climate system using machine learning methods
Hungjui Yu

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
Ruichen Zhou

Ruichen Zhou

  • Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Science – 2021 – Nagoya University – Nagoya, Japan
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Sonia Kreidenweis and Russell Perkins
  • Research focuses on characterization of ice nucleating particles to improve understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions.
Yihao Zhou

Yihao Zhou

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2022 – Nanjing University – Nanjing, China
  • Postdoctoral fellow with Eric Maloney
  • Research focuses on formation mechanisms of East Pacific easterly waves and the effects of climate change

Research Scientists

Becky Bolinger

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

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

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

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

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

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

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
Leah Grant

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
Tom Hill

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
Phil Klotzbach

Phil Klotzbach — Senior Research Scientist

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2007 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
  • Researcher with Michael Bell
  • Research focuses on causes of Atlantic hurricane variability from inter-annual to climate change timescales
Peter Marinescu

Peter Marinescu – Research Scientist II

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2020 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
  • Researcher with Sue van den Heever
  • Research focuses on the feedbacks and interactions between microphysical and dynamical processes within convective clouds using both models and observations
Marina Nieto-Caballero

Marina Nieto-Caballero — Research Scientist I

  • Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering — 2021 — University of Colorado Boulder
  • Researcher 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
Da Pan

Da Pan — Research Scientist I

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

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
Emily Riley

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
  • 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
Levi Silvers

Levi Silvers — Research Scientist I

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2011 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
  • Researcher with Michael Bell
  • Research focuses on Clouds, large-scale circulations, and the flow of energy through the Earth system. Recently these interests have driven research that includes the interplay between tropical cyclones and the large-scale climate as well as idealized numerical model experiments (e.g. CFMIP and RCEMIP).
Amy Sullivan

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

Lantao Sun — Research Scientist III

  • Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2010 – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – Urbana, IL
  • Researcher with Jim 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

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

Research Associates

Mark Branson

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
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Kristie Davis — Research Associate I

  • B.S in Ecosystem Science and Sustainability – 2024 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
  • Research associate with Colorado Climate Center
  • Data analyst and station technician, CoAgMET – Colorado Mesonet
Don Dazlich

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
Timothy Devadoss

Timothy Devadoss — Research Associate

  • M.S. in Engineering – 2023 – West Texas A&M – Canyon, TX
  • Research associate with Jessie Creamean
  • Research Technician for the Department of Energy INP (ice-nucleating particle) instrument mentors Thomas Hill and Jessie Creamean
Peter Goble

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

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

Carson Hume — Research Associate II

  • 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
Drew Juergensen

Drew Juergensen — Research Associate I

  • B.S. in Ecosystem Science and Sustainability – 2023 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
  • Research associate with Sonia Kreidenweis
  • Ice Spectrometer Technician for Russell Perkins and Jessie Creamean
Noah Newman

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

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

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
Lane Simmons

Lane Simmons — Research Associate III

  • B.S. in Agriculture Business – 1995 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
  • Research associate with Colorado Climate Center
  • Manager, CoAgMET – Colorado Mesonet
Julian Turner

Julian Turner — Research Associate IV

  • M.A. in Computer Information Systems – 2019 – Colorado State University
  • Research associate with Colorado Climate Center
  • Web developer and database administrator for the CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow) Network

Maria Vazquez — Research Associate I

  • B.S In Environmental Chemistry – 2024 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
  • Researcher with Jesse Creamean
  • Ice Spectrometer Technician/Researcher for Jesse Creamean and Thomas Hill

IT Staff

Kelley Branson

Kelley Branson — Senior Research Associate

  • B.S. in Computer Science – 1985 – University of California-Riverside – Riverside, CA
  • Research Associate/Computer Administrator with Dave Randall
  • Director of IT for the College of Engineering (Engineering Technology Services – ETS)
Mostafa Elkady

Mostafa ElKady — Research Associate IV

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

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
Rick Taft

Rick Taft — Senior Research Associate

  • M.S. in Mathematics – 1987 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
  • Former research associate with Wayne Schubert, Dick Johnson, Bill Gray, and Michael Montgomery
  • ATS computer support specialist and ATS website maintainer