Chris Karstens, Research Scientist (NSSL/CIMMS)
| Background: | Ph.D. Meteorology, Iowa State University (2012) -Graduate GIS Certificate (2012) M.S. Meteorology, Iowa State University (2009) B.S. Meteorology, Iowa State University (2007) |
| Experience: | Chris grew up in Atlantic, Iowa, known as the “Coca-Cola Capital of Iowa” for its large bottling and distribution plant. He earned all three of his degrees from Iowa State University in Ames, as well as contributed to field studies as a member of the TWISTEX project, before joining CIMMS/NSSL in September 2012. During his three years in Oklahoma, he has been a part of the FACETs and Warn-on-Forecast projects. |
| What He Does: | Chris works very closely on the FACETs project with NSSL. He helps develop new technologies and capabilities for the future warning paradigm, and collaborates with forecasters to test these techniques in the Hazardous Weather Testbed. When not testing or analyzing data, he writes papers for publication and acquires funding for research. In addition, Chris supports numerous other projects at the Lab. He is involved with radar pre-processing and real-time forecast post-processing for Warn-on-Forecast. He assists with the HWT Experimental Forecast Program. He helped support forecasting efforts in last year’s Plains Elevated Convection At Night field project. Chris also enjoys mentoring REU/Hollings/Capstone students every year. Beyond these activities, Chris is a Steering Committee Member and Voting Member for the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Wind Estimation in Tornadoes Standards. He is also the Subcommittee Chair for using treefall pattern analysis to estimate low-level wind speeds in tornadoes. |
| Trivia: | Chris is an avid weight lifter and spends his mornings at the gym. He and his wife, Cydney, are expecting their first child in February. |
