2025 AMS OAR Labs Session - Panelists Bios

Session Abstract - Agenda - Panelists Bios

Keynote & Moderator:

John Cortinas, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), Silver Spring, MD.

John V. Cortinas, Jr., Ph.D., is the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science in NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. John began his career as a research meteorologist at the University of Oklahoma's Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, working with scientists at NOAA's National Severe Storm Laboratory on severe weather and hazardous winter weather research and applications, eventually becoming the Cooperative Institute's Assistant Director.

After 11 years of research focused on improving hazardous weather products and services, John became the director of NOAA Research's Cooperative Institute Program. In 2010, John was tapped to lead the Weather Program Office (formerly the Office of Weather and Air Quality). Most recently, he led the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory from 2019 - 2024, and oversaw an expansive science portfolio that focused on studying the weather, ocean, and ecosystems in the greater Atlantic Ocean region. John is a member of several scientific organizations that work to improve diversity within STEM, such as the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, Out to Innovate, Latinos@NOAA, and NOAA Pride. John is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the prestigious Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service. He is also a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society.

Matt Mahalik, Lead, Program Management Office, Global Systems Laboratory (OAR/GSL), Boulder, CO

Matt Mahalik is the lead of GSL's Program Management Office (PMO), where he leads the organization, coordination, and overall management of GSL's research portfolio in support of the Office of the Director. His office works with the entirety of GSL on developing research proposals, tracking performance, and transitioning new forecast tools and other research results to operational, commercial, and other applications. Prior to joining GSL in 2023, Matt's work has included developing radar-based severe-weather detection algorithms and advancing the understanding of supercell dynamics (at the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies and NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, OK), and improving the policy, planning, and facilitation of research transitions to operations and other uses (with the Weather Program Office in Silver Spring, MD). His background is in meteorology, with degrees from Penn State University and Texas Tech University.

Rob Howlett, Meteorological Software Developer, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), OAR/GSL

Rob joined GSL/CIRA as a software developer in the fall of 2022. He primarily focuses on front-end web development for two applications - Dynamic Ensemble-based Scenarios for IDSS (DESI) and IDSS Engine. Both tools are designed to interrogate and communicate weather information and will eventually transition into the NWS Connect ecosystem to support DSS activities. Prior to working at GSL, he spent eight years as an operational meteorologist, which included time with the Bermuda Weather Service and the National Weather Service office in Tucson, AZ. Outside of work, Rob is a warm weather enthusiast who refuses to live north of 33.5 degrees latitude, loves to play board games and rock out on the guitar.

Patrick Burke, Warn on Forecast Research Program Lead, National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), OAR, Norman, OK

Patrick is the Program Lead for the Warn-on-Forecast Project at the National Severe Storms Laboratory. He began his career as a student at NSSL before graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a Master's in Meteorology in 2002. For the next 18 years he was a forecaster in the National Weather Service, including five years as a Lead Forecaster at the Weather Prediction Center. Patrick always remained plugged into research, leading activities in NOAA's Hazardous Weather Testbed and Hydrometeorological Testbed, and in 2020 he returned to his roots at NSSL to join Warn-on-Forecast. As a program lead, Patrick helps steer research goals, performs outreach, and even dives into chat rooms to assist forecasters who are using the Warn-on-Forecast System during experimental runs. Patrick's motivation has always been to enable more confident, timely, and equitable warnings for severe weather and heavy rainfall. He believes his group's work with the National Weather Service to move Warn-on-Forecast toward an operational transition is the next big leap in that effort. Patrick's hobbies include running and playing guitar.

Dr. Andrea Ray, Scientist, Physical Sciences Laboratory (OAR/PSL), Boulder, CO

Dr. Andrea Ray is a scientist at the NOAA Research Physical Sciences Lab (PSL), a coordinator for the NWS/OAR Hydrometeorological Testbed, and the Chair of the cross-NOAA Testbed and Proving Ground Coordinating Committee (TBPGCC). For most of her career, her work has focussed on understanding user needs across time scales and transitioning research innovations into applications and use in a variety of contexts (R2X), as well as feeding back needs to research and X2R). Dr. Ray often serves as a connector or translator between the weather and climate research/info and the practitioners and researchers who use/could use it. She also works to assess the needs of a range of natural resource and other decisionmakers for weather, water and climate knowledge to better inform them about critical environmental vulnerabilities, and to cultivate community stakeholder relationships for NOAA science. Dr, Ray was involved for many years in the NOAA Regional Integrated Climate and Assessment (RISA) for the Interior West, and in 2020 she served as the acting Testbed Portfolio Manager for the NOAA Weather Program Office. She holds a Doctorate in Environment and Society Geography and a Certificate in Environmental Policy from the University of Colorado, a Masters in Oceanography from the University of Delaware, and a Bachelor's in Geophysical Sciences from the University of Chicago.

Annette Hollingshead, Transition Manager, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), OAR, Miami, FL.

In 2020, Annette Hollingshead joined OAR’s Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) to support AOML’s Hurricane Research, Physical Oceanography, and Ocean Chemistry & Ecosystem Divisions as the first dedicated Transition Manager at a NOAA laboratory. Prior to AOML, Annette served at the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) in Asheville, NC where she prototyped, developed, and implemented NCEI’s first center-wide Customer Relationship Management solution that demonstrated NCEI’s reach to every sector of the U.S. economy. Her earlier 10-year stint with NWS Climate Prediction Center as lead developer and team lead for several successful local climate tools included the Local Climate Analysis Tool (LCAT) that was awarded a Department of Commerce Silver Medal for Scientific and Engineering Achievement in 2014. Annette holds a Masters of Science Degree in Meteorology from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and a Bachelors of Science Degree in Computer Engineering from Nova Southeastern University.

Kevin Garrett, Modeling Program Director, Office of Science and Technology Integration (OSTI), NWS, Silver Spring, MD.

Kevin Garrett is the Modeling Program Director at the NWS Office of Science and Technology Integration. In this role, Mr. Garrett oversees management of the NWS Modeling Programs, including the Next Generation Global Prediction System (NGGPS), the Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program (HFIP), the National Air Quality Forecast Capability (NAQFC), Weeks 3-4, and COASTAL Act. The Modeling Programs create and support opportunities to advance NWS operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) capabilities, with a current emphasis on transitioning the NCEP production suite to the Unified Forecast System (UFS), and improving model guidance across space and time scales to meet the needs of NWS forecasters and other users and stakeholders. Toward that end, the NWS modeling program manages the UFS-R2O project to plan for and implement UFS-based models into the operations. Prior to joining the NWS, Mr. Garrett spent several years in the NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR), leading the Data Assimilation Science Team to advance the use and impact of satellite observations in global NWP systems.