I am an aerospace engineer and computer scientist who served for 11 years as a civilian research scientist supporting multiple national defense projects focused on measuring environmental underwater acoustics characteristics and modeling acoustic signal propagation.  Roles included data analyst, software developer, portable data acquisition system project specialist, and automated information systems security officer.  After leaving this position, near the beginning of the ‘internet bubble’, I worked for a private-sector startup company managing a group of database developers.  This group supported a product that provided search capabilities for medical journals and texts before Yahoo and Google emerged and supplanted the company’s technology.

In 1998 I joined NOAA’s Forecast System Laboratory as a research associate and in 2007 I transitioned to a Physical Scientist in the Global Systems Division.   My primary focus was the Ground-Based GPS Meteorology (gpsmet) project aimed at demonstrating that total column precipitable water vapor (TPW) could be estimated at high temporal resolution and under all weather conditions with accuracies comparable to radiosondes and surface microwave radiometers.  From 2002 until 2016 I was the primary developer and operator of the gpsmet data acquisition and processing system.  I ensured gpsmet’s TPW estimates were available in near real-time so they could be assimilated into both research and Operational weather models and be compared to radiosonde, satellite, and multiple weather model’s TPW estimates.  As the ‘last man standing’ I worked with NOAA/NWS Office of Observations to transition the project from research to NWS Operations by identifying and working with a private sector company to establish its capacity to provide similar observations before I dismantled GSL’s gpsmet system.

I am currently a senior staff member within the Global Systems Laboratory’s Information Technology and Services Division.  In 2020 I transitioned to IT Specialist and have a variety of responsibilities including internal software development, computer system administration and troubleshooting, environmental data management, and most recently helping to manage the Lab’s journey into the ‘Cloud’ as the ‘Cloud Tzar’.  I serve on multiple NOAA committees as GSL’s representative contributing to the development of policies and procedures needed for this journey into the Cloud.

Education