Conference presentations

• Ten fellows presented the findings from their NOAA Experiential Research and Training Opportunity (NERTO) at the NOAA Seminar Series:
  • Melissa Crouch offsite link of the City College of New York presented Urban study of excessive rainfall rates offsite link.
  • Stephanie Hurtado-Gonzalez offsite link of San Diego State University presented Spatiotemporal variability of heat stress in the Imperial Valley using remote sensing and weather station data offsite link.
  • Thomas Ely offsite link of the City College of New York presented Merged LEO-GEO tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (tropNO2) product for air quality applications offsite link.
  • Carlos Ordaz offsite link of City University of New York presented Implications of tropospheric mass flux reduction for the frequency and intensity of convective precipitation offsite link.
  • Akarshna Iyer offsite link of Hampton University presented Characterizing hub-height wind speed dependence on atmospheric processes in an offshore wind environment offsite link.
  • Carolina Perez offsite link of the City College of New York presented Phytoplankton monitoring and mapping using NOAA OAR/AOML satellite data products for urban waters ecosystems offsite link. 
  • Isabel Lopez offsite link of the University of Texas at El Paso presented Societal data insights: Data integration for inland flooding offsite link.
  • Danielle Lafarga offsite link of San Diego State University presented Historical data reconstruction for the California Coastal Currents using 3d empirical orthogonal functions and multivariate regression offsite link. 
  • E’lysha Guerrero offsite link of San Diego State University presented Identifying local and synoptic-scale meteorological and land cover conditions favorable for the occurrence of large fires in California offsite link.
  • Charlotte Rhoads offsite link of the City College of New York presented Remote sensing of extreme weather events on colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in Long Island Sound offsite link.
• CESSRST II fellows, faculty, distinguished research scientists, and researchers shared 28 oral and poster presentations at the American Geophysical Union Conference in Washington, D.C. The Center Director and Distinguished Research Scientist (Fred Moshary, Ph.D., and Mitch Goldberg, Ph.D., respectively) also met with Steve Thur, Ph.D., Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and Acting NOAA Chief scientist, and other NOAA collaborators and subject matter experts during the meeting to discuss CESSRST II research and training.

Other accomplishments

• Dave Turner, Ph.D., and Amanda Back, Ph.D., from the NOAA Global Systems Laboratory, visited CESSRST II. They connected with fellows and faculty to identify new potential partnerships between CESSRST II and NOAA. Additionally, they gave seminars on Data assimilation in NOAA's rapid refresh systems and nature of satellite retrievals offsite link.
• CESSRST II hosted Jack Kaye, Ph.D., NASA’s Associate Director for Research of Earth Science Division, who presented a seminar on Integration of vantage points, programs, and approaches for space-based Earth remote sensing offsite link.
• The Center participated in the EPP/MSI Cooperative Science Center fall climate change seminar series and hosted an event on December 5, 2024, with a presentation by Gary Morris from NOAA Research titled, An overview of the tropospheric ozone pollution project — Using balloon sondes to understand the influences on air quality offsite link.

For more highlights and publications, view the CESSRST-II website (Publications offsite link and Newsletters offsite link)

View the September 2024 feature story

CESSRST II fellow, Alessandra Zuniga presents at NOAA Seminar Series

Alessandra Zuniga offsite link, a CESSRST II Fellow, presented the results offsite link from her NOAA Experiential Research and Training Opportunity (NERTO) at the NOAA Seminar Series. Her NERTO project, “Micro-climate Monitoring, Crop Impacts, and Preparedness for Southern CA Viticulture” was guided by her NOAA mentor, Alexander Tardy, of the National Weather Service.

CESSRST II scientist joins NOAA panel to discuss the impact of NOAA research

Prathap Ramamurthy, Ph.D. offsite link, a CESSRST II researcher, joined other panelists in showcasing his research findings offsite link, including social science implications, during a NOAA seminar that highlighted outcomes in the 2023 NOAA Science Report.

CESSRST II participates in lidar and radar deployment and workshop

CESSRST II deployed portable weather and wind radars at the City College of New York and Hampton University in June of 2024 in a collaboration with the Army Research Lab. After deployment, CESSRST II students and scientists and Army Research Lab staff engaged in week-long observations to monitor weather and environment parameters. In addition, students participated in a hands-on workshop with sample data to learn about remote sensing and use of the Doppler lidar instrument.

Other CESSRST-II highlights

1. Eleven graduate fellows participated in NERTOs this summer across four NOAA line offices, including two at the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service; five at NOAA Research; two at the National Weather Service; and two at NOAA Fisheries.
2. Four students were hired at NOAA.
3. Maria Novoa Garcia graduated with a master’s degree in electrical engineering and hopes to work for the National Weather Service.

View the CESSRST II website for more publications offsite link and highlights offsite link.

Student spotlight: CESSRST II Fellows publish in peer-reviewed journals

CESSRST-II Fellows, Alana Menendez offsite link (recent graduate) and Gerardo Trossi-Torres offsite link published their research in peer-reviewed academic journals.

• Alana Menendez published Driving factors of colored dissolved organic matter dynamics across a complex urbanized estuary offsite link in Journal of Science of The Total Environment.
• Gerardo Trossi-Torres published Assessing streamflow forecast accuracy for flash flood events in Puerto Rico offsite link in the Journal of Hydrology.

CESSRST II Director receives NASA Group Achievement Award

Fred Moshary, Ph.D. offsite link, Director of CESSRST II offsite link and professor of electrical Engineering at the City College of New York received the Group Achievement Award offsite link as part of the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). TOLNet is a network of Ground-Based Ozone Lidars that includes NASA, NOAA, Environment and Climate Change Canada, University of Alabama, Hampton University and City College.

CESSRST II students present at national scientific conferences

• Fellows, Harold Gamarro offsite link, Stephanie Marquez offsite link, and Jahnelle Howe offsite link presented their work at the American Geophysical Union Conference in San Francisco, California, in December.
• Fellows, Thomas Ely offsite link, Harold Gamarro offsite link, Kevin Herrera offsite link, and Carlos Ordaz offsite link presented offsite link at the American Meteorological Association in Baltimore, Maryland, in January 2024.

Other CESSRST-II highlights

1. CESSRST alumnus becomes NOAA federal employee: Chowdhury Nazmi, Ph.D., was recently hired as a physical scientist at the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service working as a product portfolio manager.
2. Four graduate students (Jake Longenecker offsite link, Alana Menendez offsite link, Zachary Paganini, offsite link and Juanita Jimenez offsite link) gave presentations about their NOAA Experiential Research and Training Opportunities (NERTO) experiences at the NOAA Seminar Series.
3. Post graduate updates: Alana Menendez offsite link began a postdoctoral position at University of Virginia and Stephany Garcia offsite link joined the Southwest Wetland Interpretive Association as a research associate.

View the CESSRST II website for more publications offsite link and highlights offsite link.

Student spotlight: CESSRST-II Fellows publish in peer-reviewed journals

CESSRST-II Cohort 1 Ph.D. Fellows, Keneshia Hibbert (CUNY) published a paper offsite link on sea surface temperature and vertical wind shear in Journal of Atmosphere and Danielle Lafarga (SDSU) published her research offsite link on sea surface temperature data reconstruction using three dimensional empirical orthogonal functions, a statistical method for studying spatial variability over time, in Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography.

CESSRST-II faculty appointed as lead author for the third decadal U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan

Maria Tzortziou, Ph.D., professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at the City College of New York (CCNY) was appointed to be the lead author for the third decadal U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan. The Third Decadal Plan Author Working Group will be responsible for developing an updated, revised, or new science plan for U.S. carbon cycle science, identifying challenges and priorities for the next decade (~2025-2035) and involving the broader community.

CESSRST-II faculty and students are recognized at the annual NOAA NESDIS/STAR award ceremony

On December 14, 2023, the NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) held its annual award ceremony. During this event, several CESSRST faculty and students were recognized for their work and contributions including. Alex Gilerson, Ph.D., who was recognized for his contributions to Ocean Color Satellite Sensor and Product Validation and CESSRST-II Ph.D. fellow Keneshia Hibbert who was recognized for her work and publication on ocean analysis, sea surface temperature, and vertical wind shear. Also recognized was the CCNY Atmospheric Emissions and Reactions Observed from Megacities to Marine Areas (AEROMMA) Team including Fred Moshary, Ph.D.; Yonghua Wu, Ph.D.; Harold Gamarro; Thomas Ely; Jorge Gonzalez, Ph.D.; and Prathap Ramamurthy, Ph.D., for their contributions to the NOAA AEROMMA campaign.

Other CESSRST-II highlights

1. Several CESSRST alumni joined NOAA including Veeshan Narinesingh, Ph.D., who is now working as a physical scientist at NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Engela Sthapit, Ph.D., who joined NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, as research scientist and Margarita Kulko, master’s at CCNY who is now working as a research scientist at IM Systems Group, Inc., in support of NOAA.
2. CESSRST Faculty, Maria Tzortziou, Ph.D., was also appointed to Ocean Research Advisory Panel. Read More offsite link.

For more highlights and publications, view the CESSRST-II Quarterly Newsletter offsite link (PDF version offsite link).