Question: Where are you from?
Answer: I am originally from Indiana, growing up in a town about 100 miles (160 km) east of Chicago. I currently live in Yorktown, Virginia.

Question: Can you share with us a bit about your background?
Answer: I have a love for weather that started from a young age, especially about the impacts of weather and the connections between weather in different places. I grew up in a place where we would get clouds and a lot of snow anytime the cold wind blew from a certain direction across Lake Michigan. I thought this was the coolest thing. I took that passion for weather and studied meteorology at Purdue University and later got a doctorate in atmospheric science from Georgia Tech. After graduating, I then had the opportunity to do research at NASA Langley Research Center about the connections between Arctic climate and weather in different parts of the world.

Question: What is your current job and what is your favorite part of the work you do?
Answer: I am a research scientist and data analyst for the NASA POWER project. The goal of this project is to help make NASA science data more accessible, so that the data can support neat and impactful applications in renewable energy, buildings, and agriculture. I am working to bring the next generation of current and future weather data products to users. My favorite part of the work I do is seeing all of the neat applications of the data our group provides. Some of these applications are very creative and unique.

Question: Can you share some examples of how the NASA POWER Project helps solve real-world problems related to clouds?
Answer: One of the main impacts of clouds is that they reduce the direct flow of solar energy to the surface of the Earth. The NASA POWER project has provided data on incoming solar energy flow to many projects interested in providing solar power. One neat example is how NASA POWER is Helping Scientific Expeditions Sail the Oceans. The solar and cloud data that NASA POWER provided helped plan missions that involved these unmanned drones.

Another project that benefited from NASA POWER solar and cloud data was a group interested in maintaining ‘solar gardens,’ which are groups of solar panels that provide power for small communities across the United States. The data provided by NASA POWER helped the group predict how much energy the panels would provide and monitor the performance of the panels. You can learn more about this project here: NASA POWER’s Dependable Data Ensures Dependable Energy for U.S. Utility Company.

Question: How can citizen scientists help advance our understanding of clouds?
Answer: Two important ways that citizen scientists can help advance our understanding of clouds are 1) making observations of clouds through GLOBE and 2) sharing your passion about science to your friends, family, and community.

All observations help provide the data that can be analyzed to find new insights about clouds and train our models and satellites to better represent clouds. Clouds are such an important part of Earth’s atmosphere and have important effects on weather and climate at most locations around the world. However scientists still have much to learn.

When you share about science with your community, you also help others see that science is accessible and local. The best science isn’t always done at a large research lab or university. Scientific discovery can be done anywhere motivated people are making observations and doing critical thinking and analysis. Earth observations are especially impactful, since all of us interact and participate in the Earth system every day. When bringing science to your community, you help others better understand the system of which they are a part. You also help others make choices that change how they interact with the Earth system.