Group

Kollias is currently a SUNY Empire Innovation Professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University – SUNY and has a joint appointment with the Environmental Science and Technologies Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He is also Adjunct Professor at the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at McGill University, Canada and Global faculty at the University of Cologne Germany. Kollias was a prestigious Canada Research Chair and Professor at McGill University, Montreal Canada from 2007 to 2016.

Kollias has spent twenty-five years at the cutting edge of atmospheric experimentation. Kollias is internationally recognized as one of the leading thinkers in the use of radars for the study of atmospheric phenomena. He has authored and co-authored over 230 peer-reviewed scientific articles, and he is the recipient of a Humboldt Research Fellowship from Germany in 2013 and of the AGU Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award in 2020.

Scientists

Dr. Mariko Oue is a Research Assistant Professor of SoMAS, Stony Brook University. Her interest is cloud and precipitation microphysics and dynamics from radar/lidar observations. She analyzes radar polarimetric observables, Doppler spectra, and dual wavelength ratio, and multi-radar wind retrievals. She also uses a radar simulator to better understand radar observations and model representations.

Dr Alessandro Battaglia is an Associate Professor at Politecnico di Torino and the University of Leicester. He is a world-renowned expert in active and passive microwave remote sensing. Battaglia has developed several sophisticated multisensor algorithms for the study of clouds and precipitation from space. He is involved in several spaceborne missions including EarthCARE, WIVERN and INCUS.

Dr. Fan Yang got his PhD degree in Atmospheric Sciences Program at Michigan Technological University. After that, he joined the Cloud Processes Group at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He has conducted research on several topics, including cloud droplet activation, drizzle initiation, stochastic ice nucleation in mixed-phase stratiform clouds, laboratory work on contact ice nucleation, entrainment in warm clouds, and aerosol-cloud-turbulence interactions in a convective cloud chamber. His research interests include ice nucleation, precipitation processes, aerosol-cloud interactions, remote sensing, and cloud modeling.

Dr. Katia Lamer is a Scientist in the Department of Environmental and Climate Sciences at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Director of Operations of its Center for Multiscale Applied Sensing. She has broad interests in both Earth Sciences and sustainability. Katia obtained her B.Sc. and M.Sc. from McGill university. Her early research focused on dynamical properties in boundary layer clouds. She then obtained her Ph.D. degree from PennState University under the supervision of Dr. Eugene Clothiaux, where she focused on interfacing ground-based remote sensing observations and general circulation models to evaluate their representation of mixed-phase clouds. Since she joined Brookhaven National Lab in 2019 Dr. Lamer has been applying her knowledge of remote sensing and atmospheric science to urban challenges. She led the development of BNL’s mobile observatory and continues to develop innovative ways to collect observations of atmospheric boundary layer properties in cites for a broad range of applications ranging from climate resilience, environmental justice, and national security.

Edward Luke‘s research interests focus on the development of novel techniques for observing the microphysics and dynamics of clouds and precipitation using millimeter wavelength radars, particularly their Doppler spectra, with an emphasis on improving our detailed observational capabilities of cloud-precipitation mixtures toward an improved understanding of precipitation formation processes in both warm and cold clouds. Approaches of particular interest include machine learning, GPU computing, and co-visualization of diverse datasets.

In 2009, Bernat received a MSc degree in Computer Science with a specialization in Software Engineering. Following his graduation, he began working at the J.S. Marshall Radar Observatory at McGill University. Since 2017, he has been a member of the Radar Science Group, serving as a research assistant and software developer. He currently holds the position of Technical Manager for the ESA-side EarthCARE CPR L2a processors, where he oversees algorithm development and quality control. He is also the Director of EarthFocus Inc., a company dedicated to multidisciplinary Earth observation solutions. Its focus spans remote sensing technologies, data analysis, scientific research, algorithm development, visualization platform development, and art-based multimedia.

I received my B.S. degree at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology and my Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences at the University of Utah. My research emphasizes on diagnosing cloud processes with a synergy of active and passive remote sensing observations. I have worked on several topics, including aerosol-cloud interactions within the warm convective clouds, assessing the information contained in differing observing systems, cloud and precipitation Bayesian retrievals, uncertainties associated with the natural variability of ice particle habits. I am also interested in cloud lifecycle and model fusion with observations so as to improve the cloud representations in numerical models.

I received my Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from Yonsei University, South Korea, in August 2023. After completing a one-year postdoctoral position at the same institution, I have now joined the Radar Science group as a Postdoctoral Researcher at McGill University. My research focuses on forward modeling, scattering processes, and cloud microphysics. Currently, I am conducting research using data from the EarthCARE satellite.

My research interests focus on the application of remote sensing instruments on cloud physics studies. Particularly, I develop algorithms using ground-based instruments, like cloud radar and lidar, to retrieve cloud microphysical and dynamical properties and to investigate the interactions among different cloud processes. I also participate in the project of developing and utilizing high-range-resolution remote sensing instruments for cloud physics studies.

Dr. Nithin Allwayin is a postdoctoral associate at SoMAS, Stony Brook University. His research interests focus on cloud microphysics, turbulence, and convective storm dynamics. Currently, he works on the Multiscale Adaptive Agile Sampling (MAAS) cyberinfrastructure that implements smart and agile scanning strategies for a system of connected radars for observations of fast evolving atmospheric phenomenon like deep convective storms. Previously, he has worked using in-situ holographic data to investigate the sub-grid scale heterogeneities and entrainment in low clouds. He is interested in the intersection of observation and physics driven models and AI techniques to understand fundamental cloud processes.

Dr. Katherine McKeown received her B.S. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science from Stony Brook University. From there, she went to UNC Charlotte and obtained her M.S. degree in Earth Science working with Dr. Casey Davenport. She recently finished her Ph.D. in Meteorology and Atmospheric Science from Penn State University, where she worked under Dr. Kelly Lombardo and Dr. Matt Kumjian. She has conducted research on several topics, including radar observations of severe weather, tornado dissipation, radar observations of supercells interacting with complex terrain, and most recently, characteristics and causes of coastal convection initiation. She primarily uses observations and numerical simulations to carry out her research. Her primary research interests include high resolution radar, thermodynamic and remote sensing observations of deep convection and any associated severe weather.

Students

Jialin Yan obtained her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Atmospheric Sciences from Lanzhou university. She joined the radar science group and started to pursue her Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences in 2022. She has interests in microphysics and dynamics of clouds and remote sensing.

Oluwafemi Omitusa received his B.Tech. in Physics from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria, and his M.S. in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. He is interested in applying remote sensing and machine learning techniques to research boundary layer processes in urban environments. Since joining the Radar Science group in August 2023, Femi has been involved in research on remote sensing, convective storms, and boundary layer processes.

Faidon Mavroudis is a PhD candidate in Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at the State University of New York at Stony Brook (SoMAS) and a researcher affiliated with the Department of Physics, Sector of Environmental Physics and Meteorology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). His work focuses on atmospheric and environmental physics, including aerosol and dust processes, climate data analysis, and interactions between climate and the built environment. He holds an MSc in Applied Physics (Environmental Physics and Meteorology) and a BSc in Physics from NKUA. Alongside his research, he contributes to climate education and science communication through initiatives such as climateacademy.gr and the Outreach Team of the NKUA Physics Department.

Stamatia is an undergraduate atmospheric science major at Stony Brook University. She joined the Radar Science group in 2024.

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Scientists

Students

Alumni