UntamedSkies.com
"An insurmountable object, emotion, or thought
is nothing more than our reluctance to take up
the challenge of trying to understand it."
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Fieldwork
One of the most rewarding aspects of studying meteorology is the opportunity to participate in field projects. Unlike the more traditional sciences such as chemistry, physics, and biology, most experiments are impossible to conduct in a controlled laboratory. Our laboratory is not a place we can simply walk into. We live in it. Step outside and look up - that is our laboratory. Thus, most of our simulations are performed in computers. But when we can confront the most violent storms on earth in person - it is at once an exhilarating and a humbling experience. We confront forces of nature that know no political or human boundaries. They are unstoppable. They are unrelenting. And yet, we continue to try our best to understand them because that is the quest of a scientist. That's just what we do.
Field projects and activities:
- Served as a Mobile Mesonet operator and navigator under Drs. Paul Markowski and Yvette Richardson of Penn State for both phases of the VORTEX2 project. With a suite of instruments mounted on the top of our vehicles, we were tasked to perform cross-sections and sample atmospheric variables along and around the path of tornadoes within supercell thunderstorms on the Great Plains. I was interviewed and featured in a CNN headline, describing the mission of the project. For more information, please visit the VORTEX2 website.
- Participated in the first deployment of the NO-XP dual-polarization mobile Doppler radar into a hurricane with the intercept of the landfall of Hurricane Ike (2008) in the Houston metro area. We spent a full night on a deserted airport tarmac getting pounded by hurricane-force winds, an extremely humbling experience like none other. The Oklahoma Daily wrote a news article about our experience.
- Was involved with storm spotting throughout the Great Plains during the three years I lived in Oklahoma (2007-2010). Take a look at the detailed accounts of some of my storm chasing experiences in 2008 and 2009. Videos from my chase partner Nick Engerer can be found here.
- Observed the devastation of Typhoon Morakot (2009) in Taiwan, which caused severe flooding on a massive scale. Some areas received nearly 4 meters of rain in a matter of days! I conducted several live phone interviews with The Weather Channel during the event (Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3).
