Me in front of a high-precipitation supercell thunderstorm near Dumas, TX, on May 18, 2010.

I am a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This title means that my focus is on teaching, specifically undergraduate teaching, not that I spend my days scurrying around in a white lab coat. I regularly teach courses in Introductory Meteorology, Synoptic Meteorology, Weather Forecasting, Mesoscale Meteorology, and Atmospheric Convection. For information on these courses, please click the “Teaching” link above.

My research interests lie in the areas of severe convective storms (i.e., thunderstorms), lake-effect snow, synoptic meteorology, and weather forecasting. I have been fortunate to participate in several field projects, including the International H2O Project (IHOP; 2002), the Radar Observations of Tornadoes and Thunderstorms Experiment (ROTATE; 2004-2005; 2012), the Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment (VORTEX2; 2009-2010), the Long-Lake-Axis Parallel (LLAP) lake-effect snow study (2010-2011), and the Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems (OWLeS; 2013-2014) project. I aim to involve undergraduate students in field work whenever possible; six undergraduates and one graduate student participated in the data collection phase of OWLeS while five undergraduate and two graduate students have analyzed these data. For more information on my research interests, please click the “Research” tab above.

A sculpted supercell updraft near Black Hawk, SD, on June 1, 2015.

I also teach a field course on storm observation and forecasting in our department. A major component of this course is a required field trip, during which I lead two groups of students to both forecast and observe severe convective storms and any associated hazards (one trip is typically the last two weeks of May, while the other typically occurs during the first two weeks of June). I also chase storms a bit more informally when the weather cooperates (usually a handful of times a year here in Illinois and surrounding areas). I’m working on compiling an extensive chase log going back to 2009 (so please be patient – fortunately I have a near-photographic memory for chasing). Click on the “Storm Chasing” tab to learn more and to review past chases.

A tornado-warned supercell thunderstorm passes over Maitland, MO, on June 11, 2015.

I will also be compiling a variety of professional development resources for use by our students, including general scientific writing tips and how to write an effective cover letter. This is still very much a work in progress, but please check the link above for more information.