Research Interests
My research interests include climatology, meteorology, physical geography, remote sensing and GIS. During the summer of 2003 I had the opportunity to utilize my suite of skills in collaboration with the US-EPA's Landscape Characterization Branch on a project designed to detect change in leaf area index (LAI) within the Albemarle-Pamlico Basin using remotely sensed MODIS imagery and field validation methods. My contributions to the project included the creation of a precipitation climatology, field validation of satellite data, GIS mapping and minor remote sensing work.
My current research involves the use of cloud-to-ground (CG) lighting data to track thunderstorms in the interior southeastern United States. By analyzing the flash patterns of CG strikes, I developed a dataset of over 1000 events over a 5-year period, which I then subjectively classified into several types. Currently I am investigating the spatial and temporal characteristics of these events. Future work will include characterization of the synoptic atmospheric compositions associated with event types previously defined. The ultimate goal of this research is to enhance thunderstorm predictability.
Education
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2001-present): M.A. in progress
• San Diego State University (2001): B.A with distinction in Physical Geography
• Riverside Community College (1998): A.A. with distinction in Geography
Keywords
Climatology, mesoscale climatology, synoptic climatology, meteorology, physical geography, remote sensing, GIS
TA Courses
Geography 11: Weather and Climate (current)
Geography 10: Geography of Environmental Systems (current)
Geography 119: Terrain Analysis
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