NCAR ASP Atmospheric Boundary Layer Colloquium Experience
Michelle is a PhD student working with Drs. Petra Klein and Elizabeth Smith. She earned prior degrees at UW-Milwaukee and Metropolitan State University-Denver. She focuses on boundary layer properities in the urban-coastal interface as part of the DOE-AWAKEN project under the OU-NSSL collaboratic CUBIC project.
Abstract
NCAR, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, is a National Science Foundation-funded center meant to provide scientists worldwide with tools for success. The center hosts professional development workshops, supercomputing resources, and acts as a collaboration space for scientists. One program NCAR hosts is the Advanced Study Program, which is a program with the goal of preparing NCAR for the future by fostering the professional development of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, putting a focus on emerging areas of science, and facilitating interactions between entities like NCAR, universities, and the broader community. One of the programs ASP hosts is a two-week summer school-like colloquium series. The colloquium consists of research talks given by experts within the field of focus, professional development workshops, and a small-scale research project utilizing a model. Each year, the focus of the colloquium is different, bringing together graduate students from around the world working on projects in a similar area of focus. Last summer, the ASP colloquium series was focused on the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) and integrating complexity across disciplines. Presentations were given on a number of research areas within ABL, including wind energy, arctic boundary layers, and turbulence. Additionally, workshop time for learning the basics of three different models, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, Community Earth System Model (CESM), and Chemistry Land-surface Atmospheric Soil Slab (CLASS) model was given. In this presentation, I will share some of my experiences attending the colloquium. Details about the research topics, professional development activities, and mini-research project I conducted will be shared. This presentation may be informative for students interested in applying to this or similar programs in the future. The 2024 ASP Colloquium–focused on air pollution and urbanization–is currently accepting applications until the end of March.
Presentation
Michelle R. Spencer
Ph.D. Student
I started my PhD journey here at OU as a graduate research assistant in January 2022. My work includes investigating boundary layer interactions around Houston, TX and how the sea-breeze and air pollution may affect convection initiation surrounding the city. I focus on ground-based boundary layer profiler observations. Prior to OU, I received my M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where I focused on a modeling study investigating forecast uncertainty in high-shear low-CAPE environments in the southeastern United States relating to sea-surface temperature sensitivities. I earned my B.S. in Meteorology from the Metropolitan State University of Denver in December 2019.