Pictures taken by Anthony Cornelius

To improve our knowledge of extreme weather and climate events, research is essential to gain insight into the structure and evolution of all weather systems. Extreme weather events have been my passion since childhood. My ultimate goal is to use this passion at Western Kentucky University where I plan to teach and conduct research on meteorological and climatic events of all varieties, including synoptic and mesoscale systems. This type of research will bridge our knowledge and understanding of the environmental and societal impact from these types of events. I received my B.S. in Geography at Western Kentucky University in 2000, where I focused my initial research efforts on constructing tornado climatologies for Kentucky and examining indirect influences of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation on the geography of tornadoes across the state.  I received my M.S. degree at the University of Georgia in 2003. My thesis quantified the precipitation efficiency of mesoscale convective complexes (MCCs) and determined the synoptic and geographic influences of MCC rainfall throughout the warm season in the United States. I am currently finishing my  Ph.D. at the University of Georgia where I have continued research on MCCs.  My dissertation involves a climatological investigation of MCCs across subtropical South America, using remote sensing and GIS applications to quantify and analyze MCC rainfall across the region.