Angel Adames - AGEP Summer Research Experience Undergraduate (2009)

Research at NCSU:
Investigating the drizzle cases from the VOCALS project utilizing transitional periods, diurnal cycles and detection of reflectivity and radial velocity values

Personal Interests: sleeping, music, chocolate, meteorology and physics, good laughs and eating skydiving, swimming with sharks, dancing with wolves, cliff diving, fire breathing, spelunking, race car driving, threatening and hazardous things that can kill me but has not done so, j/k

Current Hometown: San Sebastian, PR

Attending: University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus, B.S. Theoretical Physics in progress

Favorite Movies: Scarface, The Godfather, Independence Day, Rambo, Die Hard, Mission Impossible, Armageddon, The day after Tomorrow, The Perfect Storm, Godzilla, Kung Pow!, Airplane!, Strange Wilderness, Ace Ventura, Jay and Silent Bob, Harold and Kumar, The Lion King, Shrek

Favorite Quote: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger", "A falta de pan galletas (in absence of bread there's crackers)"

John Boyer - Undergraduate Research Assistant (2008)

Research:
Processing archived radar data for winter storms in Pacific Northwest, will participate in data processing and analysis for VOCALS 2008. Also maintains a weather blog with Kevin Smith.

Personal Interests: John adds to his weather studies by actively participating in the AMS, as well as forecasting for the Technician, WolfBytes, and WKNC-FM. He also co-hosts a public affairs show on WKNC, Failure to Refrain. Other interests include nature, travel, football, and radio and television history.

Hometown: Roanoke, VA

Favorite Quote: "Nothing ever happens in contradiction to nature, only in contradiction to what we know of it." - Dana Scully (The X-Files)

Favorite Website:

Jake Crouch - Graduate Research Assistant ( 2007-2009)

Current Affiliation: Physical Scientist, Climate Monitoring Branch, NOAA National Climate Data Center, Asheville, NC

Research at NCSU:
Comparing radar observations to model output for winter storms in the US Pacific Northwest.

Personal Interests:
Being outdoors, hiking, Scrubs, music, pleasure reading, seeing movies on the big-screen, winter-time precipitation, mountains and mountain weather.

Hometown: Beckley, West Virginia

Undergraduate Career:
University of North Carolina - Asheville
B.S. Atmospheric Sciences - Weather Forecasting

Jake's Comments :
Growing up in West Virginia I fell in love with the mountains and the weather associated with them. Orograpic snowfall events in the region were often under-forecast, and my curiosity of why this happened spawned my interest in the weather. Getting my undergraduate degree in Asheville, my affinity for the mountains and their weather grew. Having the opportunity to work at the National Climatic Data Center for two years gave me a unique expereince as an undergraduate to see how a career in a weather related field will be and encouraged me to pursue a graduate degree. Now that I live in Raleigh and research orographic precipitation, I look for every reason to make a trip back to the mountains.

I am excited about living in the different climate of the Triangle area, although the summer heat and humidity will take some getting used to.

Favorite Websites :

• BBC News: Americas
  
• Rotten Tomatoes
  
• Google
  
• National Snow Analyses
  
• NCDC
  
• NWS

Chris Holder - Graduate Research Assistant (2005-2007)

Current Affiliation: Research Associate, ICF International, Durham, NC

Research at NCSU:
Teleconnections between synoptic equatorial waves and tropical convective structures.

Selected Publications:
Christopher Holder, Ryan Boyles, Peter Robinson, Sethu Raman and Greg Fishel. 2006: Calculating A Daily Normal Temperature Range That Reflects Daily Temperature Variability. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: Vol. 87, No. 6, pp. 769–774. [URL]

Christopher Holder, Ryan Boyles, Ameenulla Syed, Dev Niyogi and Sethu Raman. 2006: Comparison of Collocated Automated (NCECONet) and Manual (COOP) Climate Observations in North Carolina. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology: Vol. 23, No. 5, pp. 671–682. [URL]

Personal Interests:
drum corps, John Williams soundtracks, jogging and weight lifting, politics, Star Trek, arranging music

Hometown: Broadway, NC

Chris's Comments :
Hello! I grew up in Broadway, NC and graduated from Lee County High School (Sanford, NC) in 2001 as salutatorian. I was in the high school marching band as a snare drummer and as drum major. I also took piano lessons for seven years and played piano at a church for two years. Obviously, music is an important part in my life. I’m an avid drum corps fan (Go Cadets!), and I collect John Williams movie soundtracks.

Like most meteorologists, I’ve wanted to be a weatherman since I was probably three or four years old. If there’s one thing that elementary school teachers remember about me, it’s that I wanted to be a meteorologist. I don’t have any specific events that drew me to it, but I remember events like Hurricanes Hugo and Fran, a tornado outbreak in kindergarten during lunchtime, and snow and ice storms in 7th and 11th grades that definitely left impressions on me. There was a period of time in high school where I thought of going into music education, but when it came time to apply for college, I applied for only one – NC State University.

When I graduated with my B.S. in meteorology in 2005, I decided to continue into graduate school to get my M.S. at NC State. I’m a bit uncertain about my career path, but I think it will be broader than just the science of meteorology. I have (probably quite amateurish) interests in politics and policy, environmental conservation and protection, and the communication of science to the public through writing and graphics.

Favorite Websites :
Drum Corps International
Drum Corps Planet Forums
CNN
WRAL
LiveJournal
National Weather Service

Lara Pagano - Undergraduate Research Assistant (2007-2008)

Current Affiliation: Graduate Student, North Carolina State University

Research: Investigating the accuracy of freezing level heights within winter storms in the Portland, Oregon region.

Personal Interests:
Besides starring at the radar, I enjoy outdoor water sports such as swimming, sailing, and kayaking. Other sports such as skiing, hiking and biking are high on the list. I am a big supporter of the Yankees, Canes and the Carolina Panthers.

Hometown: Charlotte, NC

Favorite Quote:
"Never look down on anybody unless you're helping him up." --Jesse Jackson

Jordan Payne - Graduate Research Assistant (2006-2007)

Current Affiliation: Weather Inc., Norman Oklahoma

Research at NCSU:
Comparing radar observations to model output for winter storms in the US Pacific Northwest.

Personal Interests:
Following NC State sports, basketball, football, rock concerts, social gatherings, movies, television, vacations

Hometown: Myrtle Beach, SC

Barrett Smith - Graduate Research Assistant (2007)

Current Affiliation: Meteorologist: National Weather Service Forecast Office,
Raleigh, NC

Research at NCSU:
Moisture flux and orographic precipitation over northern California associated with landfalling atmospheric rivers.

Personal Interests:
Music, people, rugby, football, traveling

Hometown: Asheboro, NC

Favorite Quote:
"The sound of weather is heaven's ragtime band" - Jimmy

Kevin Smith - Undergraduate Research Assistant (2008)

Current Research:
Collecting and organizing precipitation and storm data from a vertically-pointing radar and weather station in Stony Brook, NY, creating a storm events database integrating this data with field reports, weather computer model output, and other information, analyzing the vertical profile of storms, and monitoring data quality control.

Personal Interests: Weather forecasting, storm chasing, lake effect snow, severe convection, writing poetry, camping, hiking, abandoned railroads, The X-Files, youth ministry, traveling, Star Trek, M*A*S*H, Harry Potter, community service, reading.

Hometown: Syracuse, NY

Favorite Movies: A Few Good Men, Crimson Tide, My Cousin Vinny, Backdraft, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, It's A Wonderful Life, Patton, Groundhog Day, My Fair Lady, Apollo 13, Miracle on 34th Street, the Untouchables, The Hunt For Red October, 300, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

About Kevin: Kevin Smith is currently a freshman and Park Scholar at North Carolina State University majoring in Meteorology with a minor in Statistics. He also participates in various weather forecasting activities and is a spotter for the National Weather Service as well as several TV news stations in central New York. Following graduation, Kevin plans to pursue a masters degree in Meteorology, as well as forecast, continue research, and engage in storm chasing.

Favorite Website:

Catherine Spooner - Research Assistant (2005-2007)

Research at NCSU:

• Dual Doppler analyses
• Kwajalein rain gauge comparisons

Personal Interests:
hiking, reading, computers, computer games, cats

Hometown: Seattle, WA

David Stark - Undergraduate Research Assistant (2007-2009)

Current Affiliation: Graduate Student, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

Current Research:
Investigating winter storms in the southern Appalachians using a vertically pointing radar located at Poga Mountain, NC.

Personal Interests:
Forecasting, Storms, Baseball, Hockey, Roller Skating

Hometown: Cary, NC

Favorite Quote:
"There is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather" -John Ruskin

Favorite Websites:
The Weather Underground
WRAL
NWS Raleigh Office
Eastern US Weather Forum
Plymouth State Weather Center
New York Yankees
Yankees Blog
Carolina Hurricanes