CW3E Welcomes Deanna Nash

August 29, 2022

Dr. Deanna Nash joined CW3E as a postdoctoral scholar in August 2022. She received her BA in Geography and Environmental Studies (2014) from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. She spent two years interning at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) under the supervision of Dr. Duane Waliser, while obtaining her MA in Geography (2017) from California State University, Los Angeles with her advisor, Dr. Hengchun Ye. While at JPL, she assisted with the development of the Regional Climate Model Evaluation System (RCMES) while researching the impact of Atmospheric Rivers (ARs) on polar and extratropical hydroclimates. Deanna received her Ph.D. (2022) in Geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara under the supervision of Dr. Leila Carvalho. Her doctoral research was focused on dynamics of ARs that reached the complex topography of High Mountain Asia and their influences on precipitation, lightning, and landslides. Deanna was a NASA Earth and Space Science Graduate Fellow as well as a New Frontiers Initiative Graduate Fellow and spent most of her final year of her Ph.D. using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model to simulate and evaluate several extreme AR events in High Mountain Asia that resulted in devastating landslides.

At CW3E, Deanna will serve as a postdoctoral scholar under the supervision of Dr. Nina Oakley and will be working with an interdisciplinary team to address challenges around forecasting and communication of natural hazards in various communities across Southeast Alaska. She will be assessing atmospheric conditions of ARs that are associated with historical landslides, floods, and avalanches in Southeast Alaska and evaluating various forecast products to assess their value in forecasting for these hazards. She will also be evaluating climate projections to assess how the frequency and magnitude of ARs associated with these hazards may change in a warming climate. Results of these analyses will feed into the development of a warning system to reduce natural hazard-related impacts to life and property.