Research Philosophy

Through our research we seek to better understand convective cloud systems and their feedback with larger scales. Cloud–radiation feedback is a prime example of this: while the structure and distribution of clouds are greatly shaped by climate, these clouds play a profound role in determining both albedo and local greenhouse radiative trapping, in turn shaping the climate. The lessons from our research have implications over a number of areas of atmospheric science, including severe and hazardous weather, climate variability and change, and the prediction of weather and climate. Our primary research topics include:

Our primary research tools include numerical modeling, theoretical analysis, and observations. Experiments using high-resolution numerical models (WRF, MPAS, ICON, CM1) are an especially vital tool in our research, as are the high-performance supercomputing facilities we run them on.

Education Philosophy

Our ultimate goal is to advance the collective knowledge of how the atmosphere behaves and will behave in the future. Education grounds and informs our research activity, while the results of our research feed back upon education in atmospheric science. We also actively seek out ways to engage with students through science classes at local Oklahoma high schools in order to promote their understanding of weather and climate and their excitement for science in general. Longstanding disparities exist in the access to education opportunities, both in Oklahoma and across the U.S., which perpetuates the marginalization of certain groups from STEM fields like atmospheric science. Our outreach activity provides us an opportunity to address these disparities and help open doors that have long been shut to such groups.

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