NASA Fellowships Awarded to 3 Graduate Students!

Three students from Meteorology awarded Earth System Science Fellowships: ERIK CROSMAN, BRANDON KERNS, and LI XU

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has awarded prestigious Earth System Science Fellowships to four University of Utah graduate students. They are ERIK CROSMAN, BRANDON KERNS, and LI XU– all of whom are in meteorology – plus ELIAS DEEB in geography. Each fellowship may be renewed for three years and is worth a total of $72,000. NASA says the purpose of the fellowships is “to train a pool of highly qualified scientists in support of NASA's mission to use the vantage point of space to understand and protect our home planet.” During the fellowship period, Crosman will use data from the Terra satellite and other sources to study how the Great Salt Lake’s surface temperature affects variations in weather and climate. Kerns will study satellite data to analyze weather disturbances that precede tropical cyclones. Xu’s study will utilize data from two satellites to determine how winter snowfall on the Tibetan Plateau affects summer rainfall and monsoons in Asia, and atmospheric circulation throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Deeb plans to use satellite radar data to improve measurements of the amount of water in snow pack. (Dated: 6/9/2006)