My career as a meteorologist and university professor has taken me from weather forecasting for Operation Desert Storm to testifying before the National Transportation Safety Board—even to evaluating forecasting instruments for NASA and reviewing flight simulation software for Microsoft.
My whirlwind globe-trotting adventure started with my first assignment in the United States Air Force as an airborne meteorologist with the Hurricane Hunters. (When I said whirlwind, I meant that literally!)
After that first assignment with the Hurricane Hunters, I served as an Air Force meteorologist for an additional 20 years. Highlights included leading forecasting units in Europe and North America, as well as shorter assignments that took me to the Mideast, East Asia, and Central America, where I helped establish new forecasting units in Panama and Honduras.
My subsequent teaching and research experience includes over twenty years as an instructor in meteorology, physics, mathematics, statistics and Earth system science. I have held associate professorships at Florida Institute of Technology and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide, as well visiting associate professorships at the University of British Columbia and Seattle Pacific University. I also serve on the advisory board of the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA), for which I have authored several problem-based learning modules.
In 1997 I was awarded the Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM) designation by the American Meteorological Society (Certificate #586). My consulting experience varies widely and has included expert testimony, forensic consulting, education, training and other matters involving the weather. My projects have included multiple aviation incidents such as the Air France 447 accident, as well as providing meteorological expertise for the development of Honeywell Avionics’ new airborne Doppler weather radar.
I earned a doctorate in science education from the Florida Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in meteorology from St. Louis University and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Saint Joseph’s University.
Please see my CV for my full list of publications, credentials, and past experience.
Specialties include:
- Meteorology
- Aviation meteorology
- Fog
- Microbursts
- Problem-based learning
- Statistical studies
- Expert testimony
- Weather forecasting
- Short courses