PROF. SONIA LASHER-TRAPP
I grew up in rural Southern Indiana. As a child I enjoyed watching thunderstorms but was also frightened by the prospect of a tornado hitting our house, especially during the night. At my parents’ urging (they were tired of being awakened in the middle of the night by my warnings that we should all retreat to the basement), I decided to learn more about these atmospheric phenomena.
I attended St. Louis University for my undergraduate education in atmospheric science, and afterward attended the University of Oklahoma for my M.S. and Ph.D. in meteorology. While in graduate school I satisfied some of my curiosity about thunderstorms and tornadoes, but discovered a new interest as well: cloud physics. I was lucky to experience both field work and numerical modeling during my doctoral research, and continue to enjoy both approaches.
After receiving my Ph.D., I took a post-doctoral appointment in the Advanced Study Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO, where I worked with some of the top cloud physicists in the field, and I continued these collaborations in residence at NCAR . In January 2003, I took a faculty position at Purdue University, where I built the Cloud Microphysics Research group. In August 2014, it was time for a change, and I joined the faculty in the Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
I enjoy having a research group to discuss new ideas (and revisit old ones), and take great satisfaction in assisting students to become better scientists. I also have high hopes that we are producing results of great benefit to society, whether it be by leading to better precipitation forecasts, understanding regional and global climate change, or creating a future generation of atmospheric scientists capable of tacking the challenges that lie ahead.
Tobias Ross, Ph.D. STUDENT
Toby joined our group in Fall 2019. For his M.S., he analyzed field data from the CACTI field campaign, and performed idealized numerical modeling of select cases, to understand the possible influences of cloud condensation nuclei upon convective cold pools over land. He is now pursuing his Ph.D., extending his previous work to include the effects of ice-nucleating particles (INP) upon convective cold pools, again using CACTI data and high-resolution numerical simulations.
Fitria Sari, Ph.D. STUDENT
Fritria joined our group in Fall 2022 with a Fulbright Fellowship. She obtained her M.S. from Wageningen University, in the Netherlands. Her M.S. thesis focused on simulating a hail event in Surabaya, Indonesia, and determining the most important contributing factors to the frequent hail events in the area. For her Ph.D., she is currently working further on numerical simulations of hailstorms in Indonesia, investigating hailstorm dynamics and microphysics, to understand what makes them more frequent and vigorous in the last decade.
ILLINOIS ALUMNI
HOLLY MALLINSON, PH.D. 2023
Holly is currently employed as a postdoc at NASA-Goddard.
SOPHIE ORENDORF, M.S. 2022
Sophie is currently employed with the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, University of Michigan.
ENOCH JO, Ph.D. 2022
Enoch is currently employed as a postdoc at PNNL.
TOBY ROSS, M.S. 2022
Toby is currently continuing on with our research group to pursue a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science.
LUKE ALLEN, M.S. 2020
Luke is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Geospatial Analytics at North Carolina State University.
ANTONIO ELIZONDO, B.S. 2020
Antonio completed his M.S. in our department in 2023, working with Professor Sriver’s research group on Climate and Risk, and has now accepted a position with Aon in Chicago as a Catastrophe Insight Scientist.
MARLEY MAJETIC, B.S. 2020
Marley is currently a graduate student in the Department of Meteorology at Penn. State University.
EMMA SCOTT, M.S. 2019
Emma is employed as a Climate Data Analyst at the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies at North Carolina State University.
BRYAN ENGELSEN, M.S. 2018
Bryan is employed as an Air Quality Scientist at ERM environmental consulting in the Chicago area.
DANIEL MOSER, PH.D. 2017
Daniel is employed as a Software Engineer for L3 Harris Military Training in Arlington, TX.
SHAILENDRA KUMAR, POST-DOC FEB-DEC 2016
Shailendra is currently a research scientist at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, working in the group of Prof. Sachchida Nand Tripathi.
STEVEN NAEGELE, B.S. 2014
Steven is currently a graduate student in the Department of Meteorology at Penn. State University.
PURDUE ALUMNI
CECILLE VILLANUEVA, PH.D 2014
Cecille is currently employed by the National Weather Service in Puerto Rico.
ALEXANDRIA JOHNSON, PH.D 2014
Alex is currently a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University.
COLIN TULLY, B.S. 2013 (M.S. UNIV. OF LEEDS 2014)
Colin is currently a graduate student at the University of Zurich.
KATHLEEN QUARDOKUS, M.S. 2010, (PH.D WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIV. 2014)
Kathy is a tenured member of the faculty in the Department of Earth & Environment at Florida International University.
AMANDA SHEFFIELD, B.S. 2009, (M.S COLORADO STATE UNIV. 2011, PH.D. 2015)
Amanda is employed at the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) at UC-Boulder.
DAN ARTHUR, M.S. 2009
Dan is currently employed as an interdisciplinary scientist at the National Geophysical and Geological Data Preservation Program with the USGS.
JENNIFER BEWLEY, PH.D. 2009
Jen is currently employed by the Science and Technology Division of the Institute for Defense Analysis, Alexandria, VA.
COLLEEN (HENRY) REICHE, PH.D. 2008
Colleen is a Senior Director at the consulting firm of EY-Parthenon.
JUSTIN STACHNIK, B.S. 2005, M. S. 2007, (PH.D TEXAS A&M UNIV. 2013)
Justin is a tenured member of the faculty in the Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science, University of Kansas.
SARAH ANDERSON-BEREZNICKI, M.S. 2005, (PH.D PURDUE CIVIL ENGINEERING 2008)
Sarah is currently employed as an atmospheric engineer at Leidos IT.