Comings and Goings

Supervisor: Steve Ackerman

Lisha was a Project Assistant at SSEC, and will become a Research Intern effective September 1, 2012.

Education:
M.S. Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, UW-Madison, 2012
B.S. Mathematics, University of Puerto Rico-Cayey Campus, 2009

Interests:
Tropical Cyclones, Remote Sensing

Lisha will be working on:
1. cloud top detection
2. detection and characterization of volcanic ash clouds with space based-IR measurements and CALIOP observations

Student Hourly working with Marlene McCaffery. Katie's start date was August 27, 2012.

"I went to high school at Columbus High School in Columbus, WI. I am currently a Freshman here at the UW. My intended major is International Business and Marketing, and my interests reading, playing tennis, watching movies, and cooking."

Honorary Fellow working with Allen Huang. Start date: August 27, 2012.

Current research: WRF model simulation, assimilation and forecast using satellite data.

Ph.D. in Cartography and Geographical Information

Native speaker of Chinese; fluent in English. Familiar with computer languages and developing tools: C, Fortran, and Matlab.

Enjoys basketball, billiards and swimming.

Honorary Fellow working with Bormin Huang. Start date: September 4, 2012.

Dr. Xiaojie Li is a visiting scholar from Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.   She got her PhD in Optical Engineering at Tianjin university (China) in 2010. Her interests are environmental remote sensing, image processing, and high performance computing.

Honorary Fellow working with Steve Ackerman.

Will be here from August 27 through December 21, 2012.

Shaima is currently on Faculty Development leave from her position as an Associate Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University. During her Fall 2012 semester at CIMSS, she will carry out research in cloud observations from the Suomi NPP satellite, develop course materials for a new satellite meteorology class, and collaborate with UW scientists.

Her main research interests are in cloud and aerosol radiative effects and high spectral resolution remote sensing.

Her undergraduate degrees are in Physics and Math from the University of Denver and her Master's and Ph.D. are from UW-Madison in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

Barbara Arvani graduated with a Master Degree in Physics from the University of Modena in March 2012. Her Thesis focused on the simulation of atmospheric radiance in presence of volcanic plumes. In particular, she studied the effect of composition in terms of water, ash and SO2 by using MODIS data, and then compared to MODTRAN simulations.

She will join SSEC for two months, from September to October, working on implementation of IDEA International to provide aerosol forecasts for the Po Valley in Italy, under the supervision of Dr. Brad Pierce.

Richard was a Research Assistant with AOS. Effective September 1, 2012, he begins a Project Assistant appointment with SSEC.

"I did my undergrad at Duke University and then I just finished my masters here in the AOS department. I am currently working on tornado-genesis dynamics and vortex maintenance mechanisms using Prof. Gregory Tripoli's UW-NMS model as the main tool in studying detailed eddy structures. My interests are physics, mathematics and weather. I also have a life-long love for the guitar and a deep love for all music."

Effective September 1, 2012, Wenguang will collaborate with Jun Li, Elisabeth Weisz and Robert Knuteson on separating CO2 and temperatures in hyperspectral sounding retrieval.

"I come from National Satellite Meteorological Center of China. I got my master's degree in the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, majoring in Atmosphere Physics and Enviroment Science. I am interested in atmospheric parameters retrieval from the high-spectral resolution satellite measurements."

Becky is a Research Intern who will be starting on 10 September 2012 and working with Tom Achtor.

Andy is an Honorary Fellow who will be here through October 10, 2012, working with Paul Menzel.

"I graduated with MSc (2005) and PhD (2011) degrees from Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland. In my MSc thesis I was analyzing cloud cover variability over North Africa, while my PhD thesis focused on MODIS cloud fraction data evaluation with respect to a surface-based, visual observations.

"Currently I work at the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw, Poland). My main area of interest is clouds, especially investigation on satellite-derived cloud fraction - accuracy, reliability, discrepancies between different platforms and ground-based observations. Apart from research I am also involved in the promotion of science (I am the chief editor of Polish, national-wide magazine on astronautics and planetary exploration).

My one month visit at SSEC is dedicated to MODIS, VIIRS and AVHRR cloud cover studies during the period of overlap observation of those sensors. I can be reached at andy.kotarba@ssec.wisc.edu."

Dale is a student hourly who will be working with Will Robus. He starts 09 September 2012.

"I studied business management for my first two years at Kansas State University where I pitched for the Wildcat baseball team. After my arm retired, I decided to transfer to UW-Madison and continue my business management pursuit. I'm originally from Freedom, WI, and I enjoy fishing, watching/playing baseball, and reading business periodicals, such as Forbes. I am a morning worker in Shipping & Receiving on the first floor."

Grant is a student hourly working with Alex Shturmakov.

"I'm currently a senior studying mechanical engineering here at UW-Madison. I work with the IDDO team on 12th floor but plan to spend most of my time at our warehouse. I worked with them last summer and fall before I took a coop position with Biomet Inc. in Indiana for the spring and summer. While in Indiana I picked up mountain biking and rock climbing and plan to continue these hobbies here as I joined the Hoofers Mountaineering club."

Mariah is a student hourly working with Will Robus.

"I'm a senior at Madison studying Psychology and Languages and Cultures of Asia. In no way whatsoever is my major related to space sciences, however, I am personally very interested in climate change and environmentalism. My current plan is to go straight into graduate school for social work with a clinical focus while simultaneously working on my certification to become a yoga teacher. Long story short, I am greatly impacted and inspired by yoga as a form of therapy and hope to one day conduct it myself for people with various mood disorders. I now work in the shipping and receiving center for my last year in school, and so far am enjoying the new responsibilities I have been given at SSEC."

Eric is a student hourly working with Jarno Mielikainen.

Norm started on 09 September 2012 in an Academic Staff position. He will be working with Tom Achtor.

Siva is a student hourly working with Jarno Mielikainen.

Zhiwei (pronounced G-Way) is a Project Assistant working with Sam Batzli on the Western Coastal Atlas project.

Brian is a student hourly working with Denny Hackel.

Retired from SSEC on August 24, 2012.

Project Manager: Missing Baryon Explorer