Current Lab Personnel

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Gary M. Lackmann (Associate Professor;  Ph.D.  SUNY Albany,  May 1995)
	At first glance, my hometown of Seattle Washington is a meteorological bore. And I don't mean an undular bore, which would actually be quite exciting to me. However, despite its reputation for extended periods of stratus and light rain, the meteorology of the Pacific Northwest is characterized by a rich influence of complex topography on active synoptic-scale weather systems. The weather extremes that captivated my interest as a child can result: 95-degree heat in the Seattle summer, rare but occasionally heavy winter snows, gusty winds during winter rainstorms, or thundery springtime occurrences of the Puget Sound Convergence Zone.      Even modest snow over the hilly terrain of Seattle, coupled with a lack of snow removal equipment, can bring the city to a standstill. The ability of nature to halt human activity is a continuing source of my fascination with weather. Indeed, the massive Pacific Northwest snows of January 1969 stand out as one of my earliest memories. Growing up, I would despair when a forecasted snowstorm failed to materialize; other times, I would celebrate the unexpected snowstorm, marveling at the ability of nature to defy human attempts to predict it. I struggled to understand why forecasts that had sounded so confident could go awry. My interest in this topic continues to this day, and a primary focus of our research in this laboratory is to improve the understanding and forecasting of various meteorological phenomena, including winter weather.      In August 1999 I joined the Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences at NCSU here in Raleigh. I teach graduate- and undergraduate-level synoptic-dynamic meteorology and numerical weather prediction. I am currently the primary advisor for five graduate students. For biographical details including where and with whom I have worked, and where I have studied, see my CV.
	For more information, see my Home Page. Email: gary@ncsu.edu

 

Tiffany Gardner (B.S.  Meteorology;  University of North Carolina at Charlotte,  May 2010)
	Tiffany Gardner was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. Weather has fascinated her from a young age, and starting at age three, she would sit by the window and fall asleep watching the thunderstorms roll in. She knew meteorology was the path she wanted to pursue when on a cruise ship about the age of 12, the boat was stuck in port for two days due to a hurricane, and while most of the other passengers were bummed, she couldn’t have been happier. She went to The University of North Carolina at Charlotte to earn a B.S. in Meteorology and is currently working toward her Masters degree at North Carolina State University. In her spare time, Tiffany enjoys spending time with family and friends, scrapbooking, and playing tennis.
	Email: tlgardner@ncsu.edu

 

Megan Gentry (B.S.  Meteorology;  North Carolina State University,  May 2005) (M.S. Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, August 2007)
	Megan worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the Forecasting Lab during the summer of 2004 as well as during the academic year, studying tropical cyclones. Specifically, Megan analyzed dropsonde and aircraft data from Hurricane Lili, and compared these data to output from numerical weather prediction models to establish the extent to which these models could properly represent the structure of the storm. More recently, Megan has begun her graduate study, and she continues to work on improving model representation of hurricanes using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. She defended her M.S. in June 2007, and has begun working towards her doctorate.
	Email: msgentry@unity.ncsu.edu

 

Briana Gordon
	Briana grew up on a small island (Manhattan) and her very first memory is of Hurricane Gloria making landfall in NYC during August of 1985. She was almost 4. Since then, she has been fascinated with the weather. As a teenager, her family moved to Rockland County, NY, where Briana graduated from Nyack High School in 1999. She went on to earn a B.S. in Meteorology from Cornell University and a M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Washington. After working for several years in New York at The Princeton Review as teacher, tutor, and senior editor of test prep books and R&D, Briana decided to return to her passion and pursue M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Atmospheric Science at NCSU. In her spare time, Briana likes to read, learn/speak foreign languages, play the piano, travel, try new recipes, and spend time with good friends.
	Email:

 

Whitney Rushing (B.S.  Environmental Science;  University of North Carolina at Wilmington,  May 2009) (B.A.  Geography;  University of North Carolina at Wilmington,  May 2009)
	Whitney was born and raised in the rural outskirts of Monroe, NC. One of her earliest memories involves witnessing her yard in complete disarray the morning after Hurricane Hugo had rattled her town. As if it were brought in on the winds of the storm, Whitney’s fascination with weather began that day and has continued to flourish since. Whitney graduated from UNC Wilmington in 2009 with a B.S. in Environmental Science and a B.A. in Geography. She then went on to pursue her passion for weather at NC State University where she is currently working on her master’s degree in Atmospheric Science. When she’s not forecasting or hitting the books, Whitney enjoys traveling (only to experience alternative climates, of course!), water sports, and eating good food.
	Email: tlgardner@ncsu.edu

 

 

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