Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences

April 29, 2013

Family Earth Day Event 2013

Clinical Professor Roberta Johnson organized the first annual University at Albany Family Earth Day event on April 21, 2013 hosted by DAES, in collaboration with the University at Albany Environmental Sustainability Program, the Atmospheric Science Research Center, the National Weather Service, and the National Earth Science Teachers Association. The event engaged 30 volunteers - undergraduates, graduates, and faculty in offering a suite of fun Earth Day activities for the public. The event was attended by 77 people from the community, and included a presentation by Nick Johnston of CBS6 about Earth Day and dynamic weather events.

Video:� http://player.delvenetworks.com/preview/?m=1daea7b49c69403398f40d88644e567b

April 26, 2013

Distinguished Professor Lance Bosart Symposium

A two-day symposium was held April 19-20, 2013 to mark the 70^th birthday of Distinguished Professor Lance Bosart in a celebration with colleagues, collaborators, family and friends including past and present students and postdoctoral researchers. About 90 people attended each of the symposium days, and about 120 attended the banquet in Lance�s honor.

The symposium included presentations that dealt with research and education central to Lance�s impressive and successful career. Talks were included on a range of topics including the dynamics of midlatitude weather systems, mesoscale weather, severe convection, extratropical transition, tropical cyclones, climate, the weather-climate interface, forecasting, NWP and education to name but a few!

March 4, 2013

PhD student Chris Colose was awarded a �ThinkSwiss � Brainstorm the future� travel grant from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER) and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs to participate in the NCCR Climate Summer School 2013 in Grindelwald in September 2013".

January 25, 2013

PhD Student Larry Gloeckler receives 2013 Outstanding Poster Award and $150 prize on behalf of the Energy Committee and the Renewable Energy Subcommittee of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), at the Fourth Conference on Weather, Climate and the New Energy Economy.�

November 26, 2012

Contact: Media Relations Office (518) 956-8150

Atmospheric Science Student Turns Painful Past into Exciting Future

Hurricane Sandy�s devastation has left many communities reeling, a shock that UAlbany atmospheric science doctoral student Rosimar Rios-Berrios understands first-hand. In 1998, at the tender age of nine, the Puerto Rican native wrote in her journal, �I am so scared. A tropical cyclone is approaching our island. It is a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained wind speed of 115 miles per hour.� The storm hit her hometown of Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, leaving her family without electricity or hot water for more than a month. While her family�s house was spared, many of her neighbors lost their homes.

Despite this traumatic experience, Rios-Berrios grew to love weather and decided to pursue an education in atmospheric science. Recently she leveraged opportunities from another hurricane to advance her career path.

Recently as Hurricane Sandy barreled down the U.S. coast, Rios-Berrios was attending a science workshop in Tampa, Fla, She had heard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration�s (NOAA) Aircraft Operations Center (AOC), also in Tampa, was flying research missions around the hurricane. She visited the Center to discover a seat opened on a surveillance mission and quickly seized the opportunity.

�I told them I was an atmospheric science student at the University at Albany working with Professor Ryan Torn. That�s when they knew I was serious about the mission,� she said. �UAlbany has a very strong atmospheric science program and everyone in the research field knows about it so I knew it would be a boost to my career.�

Torn, her adviser in the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, works with the Hurricane Forecasting Improvement Project. As it turned out, he was also flying into Sandy on a separate aircraft the same day. Working with Torn strengthened her connection to NOAA, and helped her gain access to the flight. She boarded the Gulfstream-IV (G-IV) plane tasked with measuring the storm�s development and recording data through instruments dropped around the storm (dropsondes).

According to Rios-Berrios, once the dropsonde hits the water, you get a vertical profile of the atmosphere. The scientists then collect the data, check it for quality control, and communicate it to weather forecasters at the National Hurricane Center. The flying laboratory provides data that improves the accuracy of numerical models, thus improving weather forecasts.

�It is amazing that this system was forecast over a week before it hit. This shows you how much forecasting techniques have improved,� she said.

Watching the storm from above the clouds, Rios-Berrios hoped it would not intensify as the data predicted, however even from 45,000 feet up, she could see the whitecaps of fierce ocean waves, a harbinger of the approaching storm surge.

The UAlbany student points out the critical link between the science conducted and communicating that science to the general public so they can prepare. That communication is essential to creating public awareness, not fear or hysteria, about an approaching storm.

She sees her long-term career goal as one in which she can translate the science of weather for the public to help people protect their lives and property. This would include research, teaching and mentoring.

�If I can do it, other students can too,� said Rios-Berrios. �Hopefully, my experience will inspire others who are dreaming about working in this exciting field.�

Photos and info:� http://www.albany.edu/news/31365.php

October 19, 2012

Distinguished Professor Lance Bosart was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Weather Association (NWA) Annual Awards Luncheon, October 10, 2012.

For more information:� http://www.nwas.org/

October 15, 2012

Two UAlbany Forecasters Earn Trophies in the National Forecasting Competition

Katie Towey, an Atmospheric Science junior, and Assistant Professor Brian Tang, were each awarded trophies for their forecasting for Pensacola, Florida in the first two weeks of the National Weather Forecasting Competition. Approximately 1,700 forecasters from academic institutions all around the country take part in this contest, forecasting high and low temperatures, precipitation, and wind over a two week period. Katie Towey placed in second among all forecasters, and Brian Tang placed in fifth, but first in the faculty/staff division. In addition, UAlbany is in first place after the first city of forecasting, out of 63 colleges and institutions.� The next forecast city is Billings, Montana. For more information, visit http://www.wxchallenge.com

September 20, 2012

Contact: Media Relations Office (518) 956-8150

University at Albany Presents its NYSUNY 2020 Plan to Governor, Legislative Leaders

ALBANY, N.Y. (September 20, 2012) -- University at Albany President George M. Philip, together with international business and regional economic development leaders, today advanced a comprehensive proposal with Governor Andrew Cuomo and leaders of the State Legislature to build a state-of-the-art research and development (R&D) facility for emerging technologies and entrepreneurial leadership. This hub of innovation will provide the technology transfer and commercialization resources necessary to drive economic growth, create jobs, and enhance New York�s competitiveness in key industries.

Philip was joined at the presentation by Susan Phillips, UAlbany Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs: Michael Tucker, President of the Center for Economic Growth and a representative of the Capital Region�s REDC; Richard B. Pyle, UAlbany alumus and a senior officer with Vaisala, Inc., one of UAlbany's corporate partner; and Tamra Minor, UAlbany's Chief Diversity Officer.

The proposal, is the University�s application in response to Governor Cuomo�s NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant, an initiative designed to make the State University of New York a leading catalyst for job growth in New York State, while strengthening the academic and research programs at SUNY�s four University Centers: Stony Brook, Buffalo, Albany, and Binghamton. The initial phase of the program focuses on a $35 million capital construction challenge grant that will be awarded to each Center upon approval of a detailed, long-term economic development and academic enrichment plan.

The UAlbany plan is expected to generate more than $1.8 billion in economic impact throughout the Capital Region, which is 50 times the investment of the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant.

At the center of UAlbany�s plan is the construction of a $165 million Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship Complex (E-TEC). The R&D complex will serve as an Innovation Eco center designed to harness Albany's capacity in emerging technologies by accelerating cooperative R&D, technology transfer, business development and workforce training.

"E-TEC will bolster UAlbany�s ability to translate academic research into commercialization," said Philip. "This plan provides a tremendous opportunity for the Empire State to become a national leader in converting its research capacity into a sustainable economic impact."

E-TEC will be constructed on the east side of the uptown campus and house a critical mass of entrepreneurial resources including:

The Office of Entrepreneurial and Commercialization Services�a hub of business development and entrepreneurship;
UAlbany�s Small Business Development Center � which will provide on-site expertise on forming new companies; and
The University�s Technology Transfer Office designed to accelerate new patents, licenses, and start-ups.

In addition, UAlbany's School of Business will also provide innovative entrepreneurial training to students in support of E-TEC and is occupants.

"E-TEC will provide a 'front door' for industry to global-leading R&D clusters - a virtual cross-sector �sandbox� fostering collaboration among innovators, investors, and customers," said Philip.

E-TEC will also fuel research at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering by strengthening collaborations particularly in the areas of biotechnology, instrumentation, environmental sensors, and solar energy research.

The UAlbany plan also commits to the addition of more than 187 faculty researchers adding $117 million in cumulative research expenditures, 735 permanent positions, and 1,587 construction jobs. By investing in new faculty, UAlbany expects to grow enrollment by 1,350 new students over the next five years.

The University's enrollment growth plan also ensures affordability through $5.2 million in enacted TAP eligibility aid, as well as $2.5 million in increased student aid.

"NYSUNY 2020 goes far to create greater access for students as well as provide UAlbany students with stronger support and richer pathways to achieving lifelong success,� said Philip. "We stand ready and eager to implement our NYSUNY 2020 plan so that we can hire more faculty, increase our research funding, graduate more students, drive our regional economy, and fulfill our mission as one of the four flagship University Centers in the SUNY System."

NYSUNY 2020 Final Narrative:

THE UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY

NYSUNY 2020 CHALLENGE GRANT PROPOSAL

The Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship Complex

INTRODUCTION

In response to Governor Andrew Cuomo and SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher�s NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant initiative, the University at Albany is pleased to advance a proposal that leverages $35 million in capital funding to build a state‐of‐the‐art R&D complex for emerging technologies and entrepreneurial leadership. This hub of innovation will bring together researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors, providing the technology transfer and commercialization resources to drive economic growth, create jobs, and enhance New York�s competitiveness in key industries.

Guided by UAlbany�s strategic goals, this proposal is powerfully aligned both with Governor Cuomo�s New York Open for Business economic development agenda and SUNY�s system wide strategic plan, The Power of SUNY. As part of the campus‐wide NYSUNY 2020 initiative, the plan will create and retain more than 2500 jobs, attract new companies to New York State, advance innovative research and technologies, and generate more than $1.8 billion in economic impact throughout the Capital Region.

Corporate CEOs consistently report better performance and profitability when companies form partnerships with institutions of higher education and tap into their intellectual capital and research infrastructure. New York State and SUNY can capitalize on an urgent need to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem for business and industry to leverage university research�and for university researchers to become more entrepreneurial. This NYSUNY 2020 proposal will create those pathways by:

1. Building the Emerging Technologies and Entrepreneurship Complex (E‐TEC) to harness UAlbany�s capacity in emerging technologies by accelerating cooperative R&D, technology transfer, business development and workforce training� which will be amplified by the presence of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and the new Office of Entrepreneurial and Commercialization Services.� E‐TEC will also draw on and expand the School of Business�s educational and programmatic resources.

2. Providing business and industry with a �front‐door� to four co‐located, global‐leading research clusters: Climate and Environmental Science, Biomedical Sciences and Biotechnology, Forensic Science and Cyber Security, and Advanced Data Analytics�all of which are seeing exponential growth in industry demand for new tools and technologies. E‐TEC will provide advanced research facilities and cultivate the strategic partnerships needed to meet that demand in an environment that cultivates industry collaboration, accelerates commercialization, and fuels future research at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering.

3. Attracting private sector companies to locate in or near E‐TEC as research and business partners.� The response from the private sector to this proposal has been extremely positive. To date, seven companies have expressed interest in co‐locating in E‐TEC: four companies from the environmental sciences and clean energy research space: Vaisala, AWS Truepower, Meso Inc. and Direct Gain, and
three private sector startups in the biomedical sciences: SIRGA, NeuraCell and MBMR Biolabs Inc.

THE EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMPLEX

Located on the UAlbany campus, the 225,000 square foot Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship Complex (E‐TEC) will create a breakthrough research and development facility for business, industry, and government, increasing access to the University�s nationally recognized academic and research programs, and business development and technology transfer expertise. Integrated facilities will build

industry partnerships to increase federal and private research funding, fostering a culture of entrepreneurship and driving commercialization informed by industry needs.

E‐TEC�s interdisciplinary, cross‐sector �sandbox� will create new opportunities for highly innovative collaboration among a diverse group of researchers, entrepreneurs‐in‐residence, startup companies, and a wide range of private and public sector stakeholders in this unique consortium of innovators, investors, and customers.

The new Office of Entrepreneurial and Commercialization Services will serve as the hub of business development and learning in the complex. UAlbany�s Small Business Development Center will relocate to E‐TEC to assist University researchers with on‐site tools, resources and expertise for forming new companies and attracting loans and venture capital. The University Technology Transfer Office will also be co‐located with the transformative research clusters in E‐TEC, creating novel opportunities to accelerate university‐industry commercialization to generate new patents, inventions, licenses, and start‐up companies.

UAlbany�s School of Business has already pioneered externally sponsored student entrepreneurship competitions, and co‐created professional science management training programs. These innovative approaches to knowledge‐based business development, entrepreneurial training and technology commercialization will contribute to an innovative learning environment that will lead more new businesses to spin out from University research partnerships. E‐TEC will also train the highly skilled workforce required to expand existing business and to support start‐ups locally in these high technology sectors.

TRANSFORMATIVE R&D CLUSTERS

THE CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE R&D CLUSTER will capitalize on the University�s internationally recognized strength in atmospheric and environmental science to pursue advances in environmental and climate prediction, serving as the R&D arm of climate‐sensitive industries, including power and utility companies, renewable energy businesses, transportation‐related corporations, and insurance carriers. Key features will include:

� Creating the Advanced Environmental Prediction and Innovation Center (AEPIC) which will house the nation�s largest concentration of atmospheric, climate, and environmental science researchers, private industry partners, and the National Weather Service. AEPIC will leverage innovative tools, instrumentation and technologies to empower smarter, data‐driven decision‐making in the public and private sectors.

� Developing the New York Environmental and Climate Observation System (NY‐ECOSystem)�a comprehensive statewide network of automated stations that will make New York the only state capable of providing real‐time, local, highly accurate meteorological data in three dimensions. This network will bolster emergency preparedness for business and government, while enhancing grid productivity, reducing energy consumption, and advancing the implementation of renewable energy systems.

� Partnering with businesses and industry to advance research and technology development that supports sound planning and decision making, UAlbany researchers and partnering companies will have access to cutting‐edge facilities and world‐class colleagues with whom to take new ideas, discoveries, and intellectual property to market.

� Facilitating research collaborations with the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, particularly in the areas of solar photovoltaic implementation and the development of environmental sensors.

� Establishing the Institute for Climate Policy and Technology, a pioneering multi‐disciplinary, multiinstitutional think tank that will study the impacts of climate on key industries and exploring best practices for policymakers and business.

THE BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE AND BIOTECHNOLOGY R&D CLUSTER will capitalize on UAlbany�s internationally recognized strength in Life Sciences to pursue advances in areas of neurodegenerative diseases and neurodevelopment, infectious disease, and cancer, expanding existing partnerships and growing new relationships with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Key features will include:

� Building upon the transformational RNA Institute � the only resource of its kind in the world and the cornerstone of the University�s Life Sciences Initiative. Ranked #2 in the Governor�s Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) competition for the Capital Region, the RNA Institute leverages innovative tools, instrumentation and technologies for RNA science to create innovative solutions for difficult‐to‐treat diseases.

� Providing shared infrastructure in advanced research facilities with state of the art equipment, enabling researchers to form collaborations with both emerging biotech companies and larger established companies.

� Partnering with regional hospitals and healthcare networks to carry out clinical trials for noninvasive diagnostics for infectious diseases, cancers and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer�s and Parkinson�s (with the Stratton VA Medical Center), which could lead to the development of a service center for testing and new jobs for highly qualified biotech or medical technicians.

� Creating a pipeline of well‐trained, highly‐skilled workers to support the life science and biotech businesses, as well as attracting new partners to collaborate and co‐locate. Together with the Neural Stem Cell Institute, the Trudeau Institute, Wadsworth Center Laboratories, and community colleges, this R&D cluster will provide training of entrepreneurial, scientists and project managers to support the local biotech sector.

THE FORENSIC SCIENCES AND CYBER SECURITY R&D CLUSTER will capitalize on the University�s internationally recognized strength in development of novel chemical analytical methodologies for crime scene forensics, an expansion of the Northeast Regional Forensics DNA training academy in partnership with the National Institutes of Justice and the New York State Police, and the development of digital forensic tools to pursue advances in forensic sciences. Key features will include:

� Assembling a consortium of analytical chemists, DNA biologists and expert witnesses, material sciences physicists and computational experts into a world‐class team of forensics and cyber security scientists to expand the development of intellectual property for criminal investigation and forensic analysis.

� Creating the Forensic Technology Institute, a research and service center for local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that will develop new forensic methods, translate research discoveries to practical tools, and perform forensic evidence examination using the state‐of‐the‐art equipment and methodologies.

� Developing forensic and cyber security core facilities that meet the needs of both the scientific and the legal communities as well as cyber security and digital forensics analysis capabilities. Digital forensics is a fast growing field in which law enforcement and private companies will increasingly depend on academic support for developing procedures, tools, and standards.

� Partnering with businesses and industry to develop innovative analytical chemistry equipment technologies that could transform crime scene investigations locally, nationally, and even globally.

� Creating the forensic and cyber security workforce of the future through an expanded Forensic Chemistry undergraduate program� among only ten in the country accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Science�as well as a new digital forensics program.

THE ADVANCED DATA ANALYTICS R&D CLUSTER will build on the University�s strength in computer data analytics, multimedia, and natural language processing to pursue advances in making effective use of the increasing volume of information that is at the fingertips. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach in which technology is developed with a deep understanding of both the application domain and the ways in which humans think, researchers will focus on the development of analytic techniques and computational tools that will help New York‐based businesses compete in an increasingly datadriven economy. Key features will include:

� Creating the Advanced Analytics Research Center, an interdisciplinary team of cognitive and computational scientists to develop advanced data analytics and computational technologies for a range of applications, including anti‐terrorism, medical informatics, free trade, and cyber security.

� Creating �best‐of‐practice� teams that leverage UAlbany�s research strengths and enhance the commercialization potential of research, scaling joint ventures like UAlbany�s partnership with GE Global Research applying advanced computer vision techniques to develop new monitoring and surveillance technologies.

� Building on strengths in algorithms and software development to create novel computing approaches for large, frequently changing social media networks�a key platform for commercial development.

� Meeting the critical need for skilled graduates in this economically important field. McKinsey Global Institute estimates that by 2018, the nation will face a shortage of nearly 200,000 people with deep analytical skills as well as 1.5 million managers and analysts with the ability to use big data to make effective decisions. In cyber security, it is estimated that the U.S. currently has only 1,000 technical professionals, while there is a conservative need for 10,000 ‐ 30,000.

OVERALL NYSUNY 2020 IMPACT

JOB CREATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

The University�s overall NYSUNY 2020 initiative will create 735 new permanent jobs, along with 1,587 new construction jobs, significantly building the University�s academic and research enterprise and growing the greater Capital Region economy. Already, seven corporations and private spin‐off companies have expressed interest in co‐locating, collaborating and contracting with researchers at the R&D center, further adding to job growth projections.

PRIVATE AND FEDERAL RESEARCH FUNDING

Under UAlbany�s NYSUNY 2020 initiative, faculty and researcher hires across the University‐wide strategic initiatives will add $117 million in cumulative research expenditures to an already substantial portfolio. By year five, 187 new faculty researchers alone will generate more than $43 million annually in additional research expenditures. With a significant investment in new researchers and support staff, NYSUNY 2020 will be the cornerstone to one of the largest hubs for innovation and R&D in the nation.

EDUCATIONAL IMPACT

In addition to the job creation and research expenditure projections, UAlbany will enroll more than 1,350 new undergraduate and graduate students, increasing access and preparing more students to become members of a highly educated, globally competitive workforce. All students at the University will benefit from the increased number of faculty and staff, expanded course and research offerings, and a reduced student‐faculty ratio. The University�s enrollment growth plan also ensures affordability through $5.2 million in enacted TAP eligibility aid, as well as $2.5 million in increased student aid.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Overall, our NYSUNY 2020 initiative will generate over $1.8 billion in economic impact throughout the greater Capital Region � a return of over 50 times the investment of the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant.� The University�s economic impact was derived by using the widely accepted Regional Industrial Multiplier System (RIMS II) from the Federal Bureau of Economic Analysis.

August 31, 2012

Environmental Science Major Danielle Mallon Interns with NASA DEVELOP National Program Summer 2012

Danielle Mallon, an Environmental Science major in the department, interned with the NASA DEVELOP National Program this summer at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The students in the program use NASA Earth Observation Systems and satellites to research and study environmental issues and community concerns in order to benefit society. DEVELOP is called a dual capacity program because the students learn professionalism and the dynamics of a work environment, as well as get to do vigorous scientific research on different issues occurring on earth. The particular project she worked on was The Great Dismal Swamp Health and Air Quality. Her team assessed the smoke plumes from a wildfire that occurred in the swamp in 2011 and the associated air pollution, air quality and effects on human health.

For more information on the DEVELOP program visit: http://develop.larc.nasa.gov/

To watch a video summary of the Dismal Swamp Health and Air Quality project visit: http://www.earthzine.org/2012/08/13/peat-didnt-start-the-fire-the-effect-of-wildfire-emissions-on-public-health/

You can find video summaries of all the projects that took place nationally this summer here: http://www.earthzine.org/nasa-develop-summer-2012-virtual-poster-session/

August 2, 2012

UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY GRADUATE STUDENT WINS NASA INTERNSHIP

HAMPTON, Va. � Kyle Itterly, Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences Graduate Student, is spending 10 weeks at NASA�s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., as an intern in the Langley Aerospace Research Student Scholars (LARSS) program.

Itterly is working in the Science Directorate in the Climate Science Branch gaining hands-on experience while working side by side with NASA scientists, engineers and technicians who serve as mentors.

The LARSS program provides paid internship opportunities year round for rising undergraduate juniors and seniors as well as graduate students. Sessions are each spring, summer, and fall.

For more information about NASA�s educations programs, visit www.nasa.gov/education