The NSF Unidata Program Center is pleased to welcome new members to the program's advisory committees. Committee members serve three-year terms, meeting twice each year to provide feedback on the effectiveness of the NSF Unidata Program and advise staff on issues facing the university community. Appointments reflect the range of large and small colleges and universities with undergraduate and graduate emphases where NSF Unidata systems are in use.
The following provides a brief introduction to the scientists joining NSF Unidata's committees. You can find additional information about the advisory committees, including contact information for committee members, on the Advisory Committees page.
Erik Nielsen, Users Committee
Dr. Erik Nielsen is an associate professor in the department of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University. His research focuses on extreme rainfall, numerical weather prediction, forecasting, and the social science of communicating extreme weather events. He is involved in high-impact learning activities with the department's undergraduate program, including serving as advisor to the student AMS chapter, leading study abroad trips, organizing a student-run weather balloon program, and teaching the senior capstone forecasting class. “My main focus is to teach the next generation of meteorologists and make them not just great scientists but also great communicators,” he says.
Dr. Nielsen uses NSF Unidata software including netCDF and MetPy in his own research, and has been heavily involved in undergraduate teaching using NSF Unidata's version of the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) package.
Users Committee Student Representative
Graduate student representatives bring a valuable student perspective to NSF Unidata committee discussions, and help NSF Unidata meet emerging challenges with an eye toward supporting young scientists entering the field.
Jorge Bravo, Users Committee
Jorge Bravo is currently a Ph.D. candidate and a member of the Integrated Spatial Modeling and Remote Sensing Technologies Laboratory (I-SMART), an interdisciplinary research group within the Davidson Laboratory at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. His research focuses on the application of meteorological models for weather forecasting, particularly within the New York Metropolitan Area. His broader interests include hydrologic and atmospheric modeling, remote sensing, and programming for applied atmospheric sciences.
Bravo has worked with a variety of NSF Unidata tools — including netCDF and netCDF-Java, IDV, AWIPS, and MetPy — over the past dozen years. “These tools have been essential in my work with meteorological data, modeling, and visualization,” he says.
“Because I’ve used NSF Unidata tools in both academic and operational settings, I understand the practical needs and challenges faced by users. I’ve seen the strengths of NSF Unidata’s offerings, and I believe there is still significant potential for growth and improvement,” says Bravo. “As a member of the Users Committee, I welcome the opportunity to share insights from my experience and contribute to shaping the future direction of NSF Unidata’s tools and resources.”
Returning Committee Members
Redina Finch, Strategic Advisory Committee
Dr. Redina Finch is extending her term of service on the Strategic Advisory Committee until 2028. She is a Professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Geographic Information Sciences at Western Illinois University (WIU). WIU is primarily a teaching university, where Dr. Finch strives to bring technology to undergraduate and graduate students. She runs a classroom Linux lab where students use IDV and MetPy on a regular basis. She also created a Meteorology Research Lab where students use the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), and Gibson Ridge 2 Analyst Program (GR2Analysist) for research projects. Students also use GR2Analyst to analyze data from the WIU dual-pol radar, which Dr. Finch was instrumental in procuring.
“As a returning member, I'm looking forward to working with the Unidata team on implementing some of the committee structure changes we've started,” says Finch. “I'm also looking forward to incorporating the results from the community survey.”
Aaron Kennedy, Strategic Advisory Committee
Dr. Aaron Kennedy is beginning a three-year term on the Strategic Advisory Committee. He is an Associate Professor, Associate Department Chair, and Co-Graduate Program Director in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of North Dakota. Throughout his student and professional career, Kennedy has used Unidata tools such as GEMPAK, IDV, and libraries like netCDF. In recent years, he has embraced new tools like MetPy and various other Python packages from other groups. Dr. Kennedy has served on the Users Committee since 2020.
A big proponent of open science, Dr. Kennedy has transitioned to making science open not only for software, but also hardware with his Open Snowflake Camera for Research and Education (OSCRE) instrument.
Todd Murphy, Strategic Advisory Committee
Dr. Todd Murphy is beginning a three-year term on the Strategic Advisory Committee. He is an Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Louisiana, Monroe. He also serves as the Program Director for the Math and Physical Sciences department. His recent research focuses on the study how tornadoes form from squall lines. He has served on the Users Committee since 2020.
“I’m excited that I continue to have a chance to contribute to the future of NSF Unidata through the perspectives of a small, teaching focused undergraduate program,” says Murphy.
Craig Ramseyer, Strategic Advisory Committee
Dr. Craig Ramseyer is beginning a three-year term on the Strategic Advisory Committee. Dr. Ramseyer is a Climate Scientist and Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Meteorology Program at Virginia Tech where he leverages NSF Unidata products for research and teaching. This includes developing an upper-division undergraduate course in atmospheric data science that educates students on Netcdf, Metpy, Siphon, and THREDDS. His hydroclimatic and machine learning research relies heavily on products produced at NSF Unidata. He has enjoyed his time on the Users Committee working with the fantastic NSF Unidata staff and is looking forward to future collaborations in his new endeavor on the Strategic Advisory Committee. He has served on the Users Committee since 2020.
Keah Schuenemann, Strategic Advisory Committee
Dr. Keah Schuenemann is beginning a three-year term on the Strategic Advisory Committee. Dr. Schuenemann is a Professor of Meteorology at the Metropolitan State University of Denver where she teaches Climate Change, Climatology, Dynamic Meteorology, Advanced Synoptic Meteorology, and Weather Discussion. MSU Denver is a Hispanic serving institution with a long-lived undergraduate program in meteorology. She has served on the Users Committee since 2020.
“I have fond memories of using GARP, GEMPAK, and VIS-5D back in the day at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but am grateful for the more modern IDV, which I use heavily with my students in synoptic lab,“ says Schuenemann. ”On the Unidata committee, I'd like to help the community understand the value that Unidata provides and help them retain talent.“
