Research Staff

• Postdocs • Research Scientists • Research Associates • IT Staff

Postdoctoral Fellows

Becca Baiman

Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences – 2025 – University of Colorado Boulder – Boulder, CO
Postdoctoral fellow with Elizabeth Barnes
Research uses deep learning and human-Earth system modeling frameworks to investigate the impacts of climate change and various proposed climate intervention strategies

Jihee Ban

Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Environmental Science – 2024 – Hankuk University of Foreign Studies – Yogin, South Korea
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

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

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

Margot Clyne

Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences – 2024 – University of Colorado Boulder – Boulder, CO
Postdoctoral fellow with Jim Hurrell and Jeff Pierce
Climate model representation of stratospheric aerosols and their effects on climate, including in proposed climate intervention approaches, with insights from observational and modeling studies of volcanic eruptions

Kimberley Corwin

Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2024 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
Postdoctoral fellow with Emily Fischer
Research focuses on integrating ground, aircraft, and satellite observations to understand wildfire smoke’s impact on atmospheric chemistry and composition, nitrogen deposition, and radiative transfer, with implications for solar energy and agricultural production

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

Matthew Davis

Ph.D. in Chemistry — 2024 — University of Toronto — Toronto, Canada
Postdoctoral fellow with Emily Fischer
Research focuses on measuring reactive nitrogen compounds in the atmosphere

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

Nick Falk

Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science — 2025 — Colorado State University — Fort Collins, CO
Postdoctoral fellow with Sue van den Heever
Simulations, theory, and observations relating to convective storms and convective cold pools

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

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

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

Lauren Magliozzi

Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering – 2024 – University of Colorado Boulder – Boulder, Colorado
Postdoctoral fellow with Emily Fischer and Jill Barron
Research focuses on analyzing long-term monitoring data and satellite observations to quantify wildfire smoke impacts on mountain watershed chemistry and ecosystem responses

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

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

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

Juliet Pilewskie

Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences — 2023 — University of Wisconsin — Madison, WI
Postdoctoral fellow with Sue van den Heever
Research focuses on using remote sensing observations to study convective cloud processes and their impact on Earth’s Energy Budget and hydrological cycle

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

Tristan Rendfrey

Ph.D. in Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering — 2024 — University of Michigan — Ann Arbor, Michigan
Postdoctoral fellow with Maria Rugenstein
Research focuses on processes involving Earth’s radiation budget, particularly atmospheric controls of planetary albedo

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

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

Juhyun Lee

Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering – 2023 – Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) – Ulsan, South Korea
Postdoctoral follow with Michael Bell
Research focus on the deep learning-based tropical cyclone prediction and characterization utilizing remote sensing data and numerical model

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

Alice Wells

Ph.D. in Environmental Intelligence – 2024 – University of Exeter – Exeter, United Kingdom
Postdoctoral fellow with Jim Hurrell and Brooke Anderson
Research focuses on exploring the human health impacts of differing climate intervention applications, specifically Stratospheric Aerosol Injection

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

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

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

Haihui Zhu

Ph.D. in Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering – 2025 – Washington University in St. Louis – St. Louis, MO
Postdoctoral fellow with Jeff Pierce
Surface particulate matter estimation combining chemical transport modeling, satellite retrievals, and ground- and aircraft-based observations

Research Scientists

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

Jennie Bukowski

Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2021 – Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
Researcher 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

Wiebke Deierling — Research Scientist III

Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science – 2006 – University of Alabama Huntsville – Huntsville, AL
Researcher with Kristen Rasmussen
Research interests include atmospheric electricity, radar meteorology, convection and precipitation

Jessie Creamean — Research Scientist III

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

Jen DeHart — Research Scientist II

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

Ching-Shu Hung — Research Scientist I

Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Science – 2022 – University of Tokyo – Tokyo, Japan
Research scientist 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

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 — Emeritus 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

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

Chia-Pang Kuo — Research Scientist I

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

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 – 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

Ariel Morrison — Research Scientist I

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

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 — 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 — 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 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

Simon Pfreundschuh — Research Scientist I

Ph.D. in Microwave Remote Sensing – 2022 – Chalmers University of Technology – Gothenburg, Sweden
Researcher with Christian Kummerow
Uses AI methods to improve satellite-based rain measurements helping communities to manage water resources and precipitation-related natural hazards

Levi Silvers — Research Scientist II

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 — 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 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 — 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 — 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

Evelynn Buxton — Research Associate I

B.S. in Biological Sciences — 2024 — Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO
Research Associate with Jessie Creamean
Technician for the Department of Energy INP (ice-nucleating particle) instrument

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 — 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

Martin Fernandez

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

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

Young-Ji Han — Research Associate

Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering – 2003 – Clarkson University
Visiting Research Associate with Jeff Collett
Research focuses on physico-chemical properties and oxidative potential of aerosol, the measurement of mecury (Hg) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone (O3) formation mechanisms, air-water exchange processes, and receptor modeling techniques such as Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF)

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 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 mentor Jessie Creamean

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 — 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

Rick Schulte

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

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 — Senior Research Associate

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 Jessie Creamean
Technician for the Department of Energy INP (ice-nucleating particle) instrument mentor Jessie Creamean

IT Staff

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 — Research Associate IV

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

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 — 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 with the ATS IT Team