UAlbany Experts Available to Speak on Earth Day Topics

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 21, 2021) – Tomorrow marks the annual tradition known as “Earth Day,” a global movement to demonstrate the importance of environmental protection. This year’s celebration could not be timelier with increasingly extreme weather events such as wildfires and hurricanes continuing to make headlines in the midst of a pandemic.

The University at Albany is home to largest concentration of atmospheric, climate and environmental researchers in New York State, several of which are available to discuss Earth Day topics with media:

• Kristen Corbosiero studies hurricane formation, as well as structure and intensity change. She is specifically interested in understanding the physical processes responsible for the formation of hurricane rainbands and secondary eyewalls, and how tropical cyclones respond to, and evolve in, vertical wind shear. Corbosiero was featured live on MSNBCas an expert during Hurricane Irma and has been quoted in a number of national print media outlets, including the New York Times.

• Ross Lazear has taught courses in weather analysis, forecasting and severe and hazardous weather at UAlbany for more than a decade. He also provides forecasts for the University during major weather events, and has experience observing and forecasting tornadic thunderstorms and hurricanes across the United States. He was featured in a Q&A profile by the Albany Times Union.

• Andrea Lopez Lang focuses her research on the dynamics of weather systems and troposphere-stratosphere coupling. She was recently awarded $460,281 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program to examine the factors that cause North American winter extreme weather events. Lang is regularly quoted by national media outlets including the Washington Post and Mashable.

• Brian Tang specializes in various aspects of tropical cyclones, including their formation and intensification. He’s currently leading a $2.145 million Office of Naval Research (ONR) research project to help forecasters better understand and predict the rapid intensification of hurricanes. Tang has been quoted in numerous national media outlets including the Daily Beast, Mashable and Scientific American.

• Mathias Vuille has dedicated his career – which spans three decades – to studying climate change impacts in the tropical mountain environments, such as the Andes, that depend on glacial melting as a water resource. He’s currently leading a $5 million National Science Foundation research project to better understand of how and why Earth’s climate has varied naturally over the past 1,000 years. Vuille is regularly featured in local and national media, including this recent WAMC Radio interview on the pandemic’s environmental impact.

About UAlbany’s Weather-Climate Enterprise:

With close to 120 faculty, researchers and staff, UAlbany hosts the largest concentration of atmospheric, climate and environmental scientists in New York State, and one of the largest in the nation. Led by its Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, UAlbany is also home to the NYS Center of Excellence Weather-Climate Business Analytics, the xCITE R&D laboratory, and the New York State Mesonet – the most advanced mesoscale weather observation system in the nation.

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