Although my work at NCAR is centered around understanding climate change, I am a weather geek at heart. I have always loved anything that takes me outdoors and into the weather. Cycling, hiking, yoga, music, and of course, family are where I spend most of my time outside of science.

When I was a kid, I would stare up at the clear blue sky and take pictures. My father, a photographer, would ask me why I was taking a picture with nothing in it. My response was that the picture was NOT of nothing, it was a picture amazing blue sky! For as long as I can remember, I wanted to know “why”…Why was the sky blue? Why were the clouds moving in that direction? Why did we just get 2 feet of snow?! I grew up on in Maryland and went to Penn State after high school with the intent on becoming a weather forecaster…which I did for a little while before I realized I didn’t want to stop asking “why”! The best way to feed my curiosity (and support myself) was to go back to school and enter the research field. After finishing my Masters in Meteorology, I moved to Colorado and began working at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. A dream job for me then, and a dream job for me now!