People
Faculty, Staff and Students.
People
The group is very diverse. Members of the group originally come from following countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Germany, India, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Korea, USA, and Venezuela. Their background is in Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Meteorology, Petroleum Engineering, and Physics
Current Graduate Students
Salma Bibi - PhD
Arash Kashfi Yeganeh - PhD
Saeed Tavakhsh - PhD
Mehtabidah Ali - PhD
Farah Jeba - PhD
Irfan Karim - PhD
Jahirul Alam - PhD
Fnu Anshika - PhD
Olanrewaju O. Soneye-Arogundade - PhD
Current Undergraduate Students
Chelsea Huynh
Shane Fisher
From left to right: Jahirul Alam, Tanzina Akther, Madeline Statkewicz, Anshika, Bernhard Rappenglueck, Olanrewaju Soneye-Arogundade, Morshad Ahmed, Cinthya Saravia Heyman, Mateen Ahmad, Irfan Karim, Alexa Olivi, Farah Jeba
From left to right: Jahirul Alam, Irfan Karim, Farah Jeba, Chelsea Huynh, Arash Kashfu Yeganeh, Anshika, Olanrewaju Soneye-Arogundade, Saeed Tavakhsh, Salma Bibi, Bernhard Rappenglueck, Mehtabidah Ali, Shane Fisher
Graduated Students
Ryan Perna - MS 2007 - Now with Texas Commission on Air Quality (TCEQ), Houston
An Insight into the Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere during TEXAQS-II: Understanding
the Effect of the Upper-level Meteorology on Houston's Surface Ozone Levels
Bridget McEvoy-Day - MS 2008 - Now with Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Houston
Characteristics of the Nocturnal Boundary Layer in Houston, Texas during TEXAQS-II
Marc Taylor - MS 2010 - Now with TRC Solutions, Houston/TX
Vertical Concentrations of Ozone in a Pre- and Post-Frontal Environment over Houston, Texas, From July 2004 to May 2009
Kelly Soich - PhD 2012 - Now Director of Programs, Chief Payload Specialist, Waypoint 2 Space, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston/TX
Forecast Vertical Velocity and Temperature, Horizontal Wind Direction and Wind Velocity Error Coupling within Upper Troposphere MM5 and WRF Forecasting
Michele Kocen - MS 2013 - Now with ARES Corp., Houston/TX
Observations of Sea-Breeze Fronts along the Houston Gulf Coast
Teresa Spohn - MS 2013 - Now with the Irish Meteorological Service (Met Éireann), Dublin, Ireland
Potential Sources of Peak Ozone Concentrations in the Arabian Gulf Region
Cari-Sue Wilmot - MS 2013
A Model Comparison of Basic and Surface Energy Variables in the Development of the PBL in a Southeast Texas Coastal Region
Patrick Blood - MS 2014 - Meteorologist with NOAA, Honolulu, HI
The optimization of southeast Texas extreme rainfall prediction utilizing the Weather Research and Forecast - Environmental Modeling System (WRF-EMS)
Gustavo Cuchiara - PhD 2015 – Research Scientist 1 at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Simulating the evening transition in the PBL and evaluating its contribution to the next day prediction ozone peak concentration
Luis Ackermann - MS 2016 - now Research Scientist at Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne, Australia
Vanessa Caicedo - PhD 2017 - now Post-Doctoral Research Associate, UMBC Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Investigating the temporal, seasonal, and spatial evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer using aerosol backscatter retrieval methods
Jarrett Davidson - MS 2018
Analysis of the extreme rainfall events during Hurricane Harvey and Tropical Storm Allison
Alyssa Holler – BS 2019 – Now Air Quality Scientist, AECOM, Austin, Texas
Olabosipo O. Osibanjo - PhD 2021 – Now with FM Global Insurance, Boston, MA, USA
Boundary Layer Properties and Implications on Air Quality in Mexico City
Madeline Statkewicz – PhD 2023 – Now Project Scientist with the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC)
The Impact of Changing Precipitation Patterns on Flooding Occurrences in a Rapidly Growing Urban Area
Mateen Ahmad 2024 – Now Assistant Professor of Mathematics, University of Lahore, Pakistan
Machine Learning Approaches for Ozone Forecast, Planetary Boundary Layer Height Retrieval and WRF model Bias-Correction
Morshad Ahmed 2024 – Now Senior Technical Project Manager, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Austin, Texas
Sources and Photochemical Behavior of Atmospheric Pollutants (Nitrophenols, Mercury, and Non-Methane Hydrocarbons) in the Houston, Texas, Area
Alexa Olivi – BS 2024 – Now Air Quality Consultant with MHT Consulting, Houston, Texas
Tanzina Akther 2025
O3 Precursors Sources and Box Modeling of O3 in Mexico-City under Altered Emission Conditions
Former PostDocs
Dr. Michael Leuchner (2006-2008) - now Faculty at RWTH, Aix-la-Chapelle, Germany
Dr. Violeta Coarfa (2007-2008) - now Teaching Faculty at Lone Star College and Houston Community College, Houston, TX
Dr. Julia Golovko (2008-2013) - now DESC Engineer, Schlumberger, Houston/TX
Dr. Fong Ngan (2009) - now Research Scientist at NOAA-ARL
Dr. Beata Czader (2009-2012) - now Air Quality Scientist, TCEQ, Austin/TX
Gustavo Cuchiara - PhD 2015 – Research Scientist 1 at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Visiting Research Scholar
Miguel Lugo Angel Salazar (2024) PhD student Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile
Dr. In-Yong Eom (2009) - now Faculty at Catholic University of Daegu, Gyeongsan, South Korea
Student Awards
Jose Mojica (2006) - UH Summer Undergrad. Research Fellowship 2006
Bridget McEvoy-Day (2008) - Best Student Oral Presentation Award, 10th Conf. on Atmospheric Chemistry, Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society, New Orleans/LA, 20 - 24.01.2008
Giovanna Croxatto (2009) - Provost's Undergraduate Research Scholarship (PURS)
Giovanna Croxatto (2009) - Halliburton Excellence Award
Cari-Sue Wilmot (2010) - Rice-Houston Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professiorate (AGEP), Summer Research Stipend, Summer 2010
Cari-Sue Wilmot (2012) - Best oral presentation on Research Day of Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science
Gustavo Cuchiara (August 2012) - National Science Foundation (NSF) Award to participate in Short Course, "Air Quality at the Interface: Megacities and Agroecosystems", La Plata, Argentina August 8-16, 2012
John Martinez (2012) - Alliance/Merck Science Hispanic Scholars Program
Gustavo Cuchiara (2012-2015) - PhD Scholarship "Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior" ("Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel"; CAPES)/Brazil
Teresa Spohn (2013) - "Ozonesonde/radiosonde launches in summer 2013", Summer Research 2013 in Qatar, supported by Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), Doha/Qatar
Jaymason Shelton (2015) - Best poster in the category "Beginning Graduate Students" on Research Day of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science
Jaymason Shelton (2015) - University of Houston NSM Alumni Association Award
Jaymason Shelton (2016) - Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award / Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Science
Mina Song (2016) - Provost's Undergraduate Research Scholarship (PURS)
Vanessa Caicedo (2016) - Best oral presentation on Research Day of Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science - Atmospheric Scientist Students.
Marco Esteban Avendaño (2016) - Provost's Undergraduate Research Scholarship (SURF), Summer 2016.
Olabosipo Osibanjo (2016-17) - UH Presidential Fellowship.
Olabosipo Osibanjo (2017) - EAS Student Travel Award for Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society 2018
Olabosipo Osibanjo (2018) - EAS Student Travel Award for Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society 2019
Mateen Ahmad (2019-2024) - US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor Ph.D. scholarship
Irfan Karim (2021-2026) - US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor Ph.D. scholarship
Morshad Ahmed (2020) Outstanding Academic Achievement Scholarship in Atmospheric Science
Madeline Statkewicz (2021) William M. Lapenta NOAA Student Internship Program.
Madeline Statkewicz (2021) Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Award / Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Science
Madeline Statkewicz (2021) Sheriff-Lecture Best Presentation Award - Advanced PhD student
Madeline Statkewicz (2021) Outstanding Academic Achievement Scholarship in Atmospheric Science
Morshad Ahmed (2021) EAS Student Travel Award for AGU Fall Meeting 2021
Morshad Ahmed (2021) Outstanding Academic Achievement Award in Atmospheric Science
Tanzina Akther (2021) EAS Student Travel Award for AGU Fall Meeting 2021
Tanzina Akther (2021) Outstanding Academic Achievement Award in Atmospheric Science
Morshad Ahmed (2022) EAS Student Travel Award for iCACGP-IGAC2022 Conference 2022
Tanzina Akther (2022) EAS Student Travel Award for iCACGP-IGAC2022 Conference 2022 (partial)
Tanzina Akther (2022) ICAG-Project Student Travel Award for the 15th iCACGP Quadrennial Symposium/17th IGAC Science Conference and iCACGP/IGAC Early Career Short Course, 8-15 September 2022, Manchester, UK
Tanzina Akther (2022) Alumni Association Scholarship, College of Natural Science & Mathemat-ics (NSM)
Tanzina Akther (2023) Outstanding Academic Achievement Award in Atmospheric Science
Morshad Ahmed (2023) Outstanding Academic Achievement Scholarship in Atmospheric Science
FNU Anshika (2024) EAS Department Student Research Grant
Alexa Olivi (2024) UH Energy Scholars Program Stipend
Jahirul Alam (2024) EAS Student Travel Award for AMS Conference 2024
Irfan Karim (2024) EAS Student Travel Award for AMS Conference 2024
Tanzina Akther (2024) Outstanding Academic Achievement Award in Atmospheric Science
Jahir Alam (2024) Outstanding Academic Achievement Award in Atmospheric Science
Irfan Karim (2024) Outstanding Academic Achievement Award in Atmospheric Science
Olanrewaju Soneye-Arogundade (2024) Outstanding Academic Achievement Award in Atmospheric Science
Anshika (2024) 2nd best poster (graduate students) on Research Day of Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science
Irfan Karim (2024) 2nd best poster (graduate students) on Research Day of Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science
Alexa Olivi (2024) UH Energy Scholar
Anshika (2024 UH Chevron Energy Graduate Fellow
Olanrewaju Soneye-Arogundade (2024) NSM Alumni scholarship for Fall 2024 and Spring 2025
Jahirul Alam (2024) EAS Department Student Research Grant
Anshika (2025) Best oral presentation (graduate students) on Research Day of Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science
Anshika (2025) Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Award / Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Science
