Cluadette Ojo (undergraduate student, SEAS Minor Candidtate)

Claudette is currently working with Dr. John Anderson analyzing HALOE water vapor data in the stratosphere and upper troposphere. Claudette is also finishing up the requirements for the SEAS minor and has been awarded with a Virginia Space Grant Consortium research award.

Melissa Yesalusky   (M.S. student and CREST scholar)

Melissa is presently working with Dr. Bill Smith studying sub-visible cirrus clouds to discover how they affect the heat coming in and exiting our planet.  Melissa's immediate goal is to acquire her doctorate in atmospheric science and then continue her research on clouds throughout her career. Melissa is also actively involved as a docent for 6'th grade field trips at the NOAA Science on a Sphere display at the Nauticus museum in Norfolk, VA. Melissa has recieved a Virginia Space Grant Consortium research award.

Chris Spells (Ph.D. Student and CREST scholar)

Chris is presently working with Dr. John Anderson and Dr. Bill Smith on the effects of the saharan aerosol Layer on tropical storm development. Chris will be participating this spring in the AEROSE IV mission on the NOAA research vessel Ron Brown, in collaboratu with Howard University and the NOAA National Center for Atmospheric Science. Chris is also actively involved as a docent for 6'th grade field trips at the NOAA Science on a Sphere display at the Nauticus museum in Norfolk, VA. In addition, Chris has recieved a Virginia Space Grant Consortium research award. In the past, Chris was a teaching assistant in the SEA 101, Introduction to Weather and Climate Class. Upon recieving his Ph.D., Chris would like to work with a government agency such as NOAA or NASA, where he can continue his studies of Saharan dust and its impact on climate and hurricane development.

Kevin Leavor (Ph.D. student and CMMAP Scholar)

Robert Lee (Ph.D. student and CMMAP Scholar)

Robert is presently working on research related to lidar measurements of atmospheric aerosol properties. He is a member of the American Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union, National Society of Black Physicists, and the National Technical Association.

Robert retired as a senior research scientist from the Atmospheric Sciences Directorate, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA. At NASA, Mr. Lee was an internationally known NASA scientist in the use of absolute radiometry in calibrating remote climate spacecraft sensors, and in long-term climate studies designed to measure and model variations in the Earth's energy budget due to variations in the sun’s brightness. He served on science teams for major spacecraft science missions, such as the NASA Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE), the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES), and the Belgium Solar Constant (Solcon) investigations. He is the author or co-author of  more than 200 technical papers and journal articles in the areas of atmospheric remote sensing and of sensor calibrations.

In 1966, he received a B.S. in Physics from Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA. In 1972, he received a M.S. in Engineering Physics from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.

He has served as a calibration consultant for the NASA-French Calipso [formally PICASSO]-CENA Spacecraft mission, designed to operate LIDAR, light radar, He served as a member of international NASA’s Technology Subcommittee of the NASA Earth System Science and Applications Advisory Committee (ESSAAC) which advises the NASA Agency on the infusion of new technologies into its new technical missions. He has served on the National Polar Operational Earth Satellite System (NPOESS) Total Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS) Operational Algorithm Team (OAT).

Charles Hill (Ph.D. Candidate and CREST scholar)

Charles is working with Dr. M.P. McCormick on coding a unique inversion algorithm that is based on the nominal SAGE III retrieval algorithm from the Algorithm Theoretic Basis Document with an eye on further characterizing the correlated etaloning noise and on retrieving Bromine Monoxide.

Sydney Paul (M.S. Student and CREST scholar)

Sydney is working with Dr. M.P. McCormick and Dr. Hovakim Nazaryan on CALIPSO satellite data analysis. In the past, Sydney was a teaching assistant in the SEA 101, Introduction to Weather and Climate Class. In addition, Sydney is actively involved as a docent for 6'th grade field trips at the NOAA Science on a Sphere display at the Nauticus museum in Norfolk, VA.