Research Staff

Kelsey Bilsback

• Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering – 2018 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Postdoctoral fellow with Associate Professor Jeff Pierce and Civil and Environmental Engineering Assistant Professor Ellison Carter
• Research focuses on the climate and health impacts of residential solid fuel combustion

Sam Childs

• Ph.D in Atmospheric Science – 2020 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Postdoctoral fellow with Associate Professor Russ Schumacher
• Research focuses on observational and high-resolution modeling of mesoscale features associated with the June 2020 Akron, Colorado macroburst event

Chia-Wei Hsu

• Ph.D. in Earth System Science – 2017 – University of California, Irvine – Irvine, CA
• Postdoctoral fellow with Senior Research Scientist Charlotte DeMott
• Research focuses on air-sea interaction and boundary layer budget in the atmosphere and ocean on intraseasonal to interannual timescales

Chia-Pang Kuo

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences – 2018 – Texas A&M University – College Station, TX
• Postdoctoral fellow with Professor 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 Associate Professor Elizabeth A. 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 Professors Elizabeth A. Barnes and Imme Ebert-Uphoff
• Research focuses on the application of eXplainable Artificial Intelligence to climate science

• Ph.D. in Applied Math and Atmospheric Science — 2020 — Columbia University — New York, NY
• Postdoctoral fellow with Professors Elizabeth Barnes and Eric Maloney
• Research focuses on predicting and understanding the tropical atmosphere using climate models and explainable machine learning methods

• Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering — 2021 — University of Colorado at Boulder
• Postdoctoral fellow with University Distinguished Professor Sonia Kreidenweis and Senior Research Scientist 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 Professor 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 Professor 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 Senior Research Scientist 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.

Wes Berg — Senior Research Scientist

• Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering through a program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences – 1993 – University of Colorado – Boulder, CO
• Researcher with Professor 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 Professor Sonia Kreidenweis and Professor 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 Professor 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 University Distinguished Professor Sonia Kreidenweis and Paul DeMott’s group
• 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
• Postdoctoral fellow with Associate Professor 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 Professor 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 Professor 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 Professor Steve Rutledge
• 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 Professor 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 Associate Professor Jeff Pierce
• Using chemical transport models and satellite observations to understand air quality

Leah Grant — Research Scientist I

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2018 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Researcher with Professor 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 Professor 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 Associate Professor 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 Professor 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 Emeritus Professor 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, CO
• Postdoctoral fellow with Paul DeMott and Professor 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 Assistant Professor 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 Professor Eric Maloney and Professor 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 Professor 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 Professor 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 Professor 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 Professor Dave Randall. Also responsible for computer services for Professor Eric Maloney, Professor 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 Professor 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 Professor Wayne Schubert (1983-Present) and Professor Richard Johnson (1991-Present). Previous Research Associate with Professor Emeritus Elmar Reiter (1977-1980), Professor Emeritus Tom VonderHaar (1980-1982) and Professor 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 Professor 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 Professor Dave Randall
• System administrator

Peter Goble — Research Associate II

• M.S. in Atmospheric Science – 2016 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Research Associate with Colorado State Climatologist Russ Schumacher
• 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 Director Russ Schumacher
• CoCoRaHS Project Manager, CoCoRaHS data QA/QC

Noah Newman — Colorado Climate Center Education and Outreach Coordinator

• B.S. in Liberal Arts – 1997 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Coordinator with Colorado State Climatologist Russ Schumacher
• 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 Professor Sue van den Heever (2010-present) and previously Professor 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 State Climatologist Russ Schumacher
• 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 Professor Wayne Schubert and Professor Dick Johnson, previously with Emeritus Professor Bill Gray and Professor Michael Montgomery, along with Professor Wayne Schubert and Professor Dick Johnson 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, CO
• Research Associate with Colorado State Climatologist Russ Schumacher
• 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 State Climatologist Russ Schumacher
• QA/QC for the CoAgMET network

Matthew Bishop — Research Associate III

• B.S. in Computer Science – 2002 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
• Research Associate with Assistant Professor Elizabeth Barnes, Professor Bill Cotton, Professor Scott Denning, Assistant Professor Emily Fischer, Professor Eric Maloney, Associate Professor Jeff Pierce, Associate Professor Russ Schumacher, and Professor Sue van den Heever
• Computer support with an emphasis on software configuration, debugging and maintaining old codes

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 Professor Sue van den Heever, Associate Professor Russ Schumacher, Assistant Professor Elizabeth Barnes, Assistant Professor Emily Fischer, Professor Bill Cotton, Associate Professor Jeff Pierce, Professor Scott Denning, Professor Eric Maloney and the Department of Atmospheric Science
• IT support