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2022 SaSa Graduate Student Mentors
Emily Faber
Emily is an Atmospheric Physics Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is finishing her 3rd year and works in the Laboratory for Atmospheric Studies and Particle Light Interaction under the guidance of Dr. Adriana Rocha Lima. She is interested in improving the physical parameterization of climate models through a better understanding of physical processes that drive the climate. Her thesis work sits in the space between physical measurements and climate modeling and seeks to improve the physical parameterization of surface wind speed and aerosolized dust, which is part of the general goal of improving aerosol physics parameterization in global climate models.
She also enjoys advocating for women and underrepresented students in STEM and in her free time, you’ll find her exploring everything Maryland and D.C. have to offer or learning new roller-skating tricks.
Alicia Hoffman
Alicia is a 3rd year Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin – Madison in the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences department working with Dr. Tracey Holloway. In her research, she uses the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to understand how nighttime N2O5 chemistry impacts daytime ozone concentration and particle composition. Both ozone and PM2.5 are important aspects of air quality to study because of their impacts on human health and the environment.
Prior to attending UW Madison, she worked with Dr. Don Blake at University of California – Irvine studying landfill emissions for her Master of Science (M.S). She earned her Bachelor of Science (B.S) in Chemistry and Anthropology from Beloit College.
Kylie Hoffman
Kylie Hoffman is a fourth-year graduate student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She earned her undergraduate degree in Meteorology in 2017 and is currently working towards her Ph.D. in Atmospheric Physics. Kylie’s current research interests include working with active and passive remote sensing observations to analyze the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL).
Her thesis topic is investigating the influence of converging air masses on PBL dynamics and thermodynamics in the Southern Great Plains region to improve the prediction of thunderstorms.
David Moore
David is currently a first-year Ph.D. student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), with a concentration in tropical cyclogenesis on terrestrial and aqua-covered exoplanets. In Spring 2021, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Atmospheric Science at the University at Albany, SUNY.
Fun Fact: Before he joined SaSa, he was previously a NASA Student Airborne Research Program (SARP) student during Summer 2020 (Go AeroSOULS!).
Maurice Roots
Maurice is pursuing a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Physics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. His research focuses on using observational datasets to study air pollution in coastal regions. He works with remote sensing instruments, like LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and Spectrometers, as well as in-situ instruments, like Sondes and Air Samplers, to better understand how concentrations of pollutants like ozone and nitrogen dioxide change in location and time.
He also uses Python for data analysis and tool development.
