Background:
Neil, a full professor of atmospheric science in the Department of Geoscience at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS), received a Ph.D. and M.S. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He completed a B.S. in meteorology from the State University of New York at Oswego. Before joining the faculty at HWS in 2004, he taught for two years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was a research scientist at the Illinois State Water Survey for nine years where he worked on a variety of research projects ranging from mesoscale modeling to collecting field measurements with aircraft, sounding, and radar systems.
Neil has maintained an active research program involving undergraduate students with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for projects that are collaborative with several research scientists and National Weather Service Forecast Offices around the United States. He was an editor for the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology (JAMC), a publication of the American Meteorological Society, from 2010-2011 and prior to that had been an associate editor of JAMC since 2004. He has also been a long-time member of several scholarly associations including Sigma Xi, American Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union, and the Council on Undergraduate Research.
Summer Research Program:
Each summer several research internships are available for undergraduate students to conduct mesoscale and climatological research projects using a variety of meteorological data sets. Accepted students conduct research investigations in close collaboration with Dr. Neil Laird, Dr. Nicholas Metz, and other visiting scientists during an 8-week summer program at Hobart & William Smith Colleges. Projects typically use a combination of operational data sets (radar, satellite, surface), specialized meteorological field project data sets, historical reanalysis data sets, and computer model simulations. Students will develop or enhance skills related to working with meteorological software and large databases, statistical analysis techniques, and scientific writing and presentation. In most cases, students will have opportunities for funded travel to present their research results at regional or national scientific meetings, such as the AMS Annual Student Conference. Several summer research interns have also been lead author or co-author on scientific journal publications through continued work on the research following the summer program.
Information about past summer research students and related publications are provided below. Nearly all students have presented their research at regional and/or national scientific conferences. For more details about this coming years summer research program at Hobart & William Smith Colleges contact Professor Laird (laird@hws.edu, (315) 781-3603).
2016
Participants:
Carrie Lang - Geneseo College- Junior
Erin Jones - Millersville University - First-Year
Julia Moreland - Plymouth State University - First-Year
Michael Sessa - Valparaiso University - Sophomore
Macy Howarth - William Smith College - Senior
Molly Neureuter - William Smith College - Sophomore
Peyton Capute - William Smith College - Sophomore
Luke Ruddy - Hobart College - Sophomore
Jeremiah Piersante - Hobart College - Sophomore
2015
Participants:
Zachary Bruick - Valparaiso University - Sophomore
Jessica McDonald - St. Cloud State University - Sophomore
Kelley Murphy - State University of New York at Oneonta - Junior
Caitlin Crossett - William Smith College - Senior
Emily Ott - William Smith College - Sophomore
Dylan Doeblin - Hobart College - First-Year
Stephen VanHoesen - Hobart College - First-Year
2014
Participants:
Michael Brackett - North Carolina State University - Sophomore
Lauriana Gaudet - Lyndon State College - First-Year
Coltin Gasmick - University of Northern Colorado - Junior
Chad Hecht - Hobart College - Senior
Macy Howarth - William Smith College - Sophomore
Elliott Morrill - Hobart College - Junior
Shay Callahan - William Smith College - First-Year
2013
Participants:
Brian Crow - University of Missouri - Senior
Chad Hecht - Hobart College - Junior
Katherine Coughlin - William Smith College - First-Year
Macy Howarth - William Smith College - First-Year
Caitlin Crossett- William Smith College - Sophomore
2012
Participants:
Brian Crow - University of Missouri - Junior
Carlee Loeser - Salsibury University - Sophomore
Christine Bloecker - University at Albany - Sophomore
Chad Hecht - Hobart College - Sophomore
Augusta Williams - William Smith College - Junior
Pamela Eck - William Smith College - First-Year
2011
Participants:
Summer without research interns
2010 Participants:
Jennifer Hanger - University of Georgia - Junior
Alicia Bentley - University at Albany - Junior
Augusta Williams - William Smith College - First-Year
Samantha Santeiu - Iowa State University - Sophomore
Brian Pevear - Plymouth State University - Senior
Mitch McCue - Plymouth State University - M.S. Graduate
2009 Participants:
David Zelinsky - Purdue University - Senior
Sara Ganetis - University at Albany - Sophomore
Jessica Popp - William Smith College - Sophomore
Andrew Stieneke - North Carolina State University - Junior
Benjamin Albright - Penn State University - Junior
Lindsey Higgins - Buffalo State College - Junior
2008
Participants:
Melissa Payer - Plymouth State University - Senior
Marikate Ellis - Cornell University - Senior
David Zelinsky - Purdue University - Junior
Richard Maliawco - Lyndon State College - Junior
Jamie Tucciarone - William Smith College - Junior
Richard Mable - Hobart College - Sophomore
2007
Participants:
Jared Desrochers - Hobart College - Senior
Gena Renninger - Penn State University - Junior
Colin Zarzycki - Cornell University - Junior
2006
Participants:
Ryan Sobash - Penn State University - Senior
Natasha Hodas - Cornell University - Junior
Melissa Payer - Plymouth State University - Sophomore
Jared Desrochers - Hobart College - Junior
Jason Cordeira - Plymouth State University - Senior
Ryan Sobash - Penn State University - Junior
Helen Carr - William Smith College - Sophomore
Summer Research Publications - all include undergraduate interns* as authors:
- *Howarth, M., and N. F. Laird, 2016 (in preparation): Decadal trends of North American wind chill temperatures.J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol.
*Hecht, C. and N. F. Laird, 2016 (in preparation): Influence of synoptic cold fronts on the atmospheric conditions within the Gorge at Watkins Glen, New York. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol.
*Jones, E. A., C. E. Lang and N. F. Laird, 2016 (in preparation): Contributions of lake-effect to annual snowfall in the vicinity of Lakes Michigan, Erie, and Ontario. J. Hydrometeorology
- *Lang, C. E., D. Doeblin, J. McDonald, E. A. Jones, and N. F. Laird, 2016 (in review): The influence of lake-to-lake connections on Lake Ontario lake-effect snowfall. Mon. Wea. Rev..
- *Howarth, M., and N. F. Laird, 2016 (in review): Seasonal climatology of North American wind chill temperatures. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol.
- *Williams, A. and N. F. Laird, 2016 (in review): Weather and Eared Grebe migration in the vicinity of the Great Salt Lake, Utah. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol.
- Laird, N. F., N. Metz, *L. Gaudet, *C. Grasmick, *L. Higgins, *C. Loeser, and *D. Zelinsky, 2016: Climatology of cold-season Lake-effect cloud bands for the North American Great Lakes, Int. J. Climatol., doi:10.1002/joc.4838
- Laird, N. F., *A. M. Bentley, *S. A. Ganetis, *A. Stieneke, and *S. A. Tushaus, 2016: Climatology of lake-effect precipitation events over Lake Tahoe and Pyramid Lake. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 55, 297-312.
- *Payer, M., N. F. Laird, *R. Maliawco, and E. Hoffman, 2011: Surface Fronts, Troughs, and Baroclinic Zones in the Great Lakes Region. Wea. Forecasting, 26, 555-563.
- Laird, N. F., *R. Sobash, and *N. Hodas, 2010: Climatological conditions of lake-effect precipitation events associated with the New York State Finger Lakes. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 49, 1052-1062.
- Laird, N. F., *R. Sobash, and *N. Hodas, 2009: The frequency and characteristics of lake-effect precipitation events associated with the New York State Finger Lakes. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 48, 873-886.
- Laird, N. F., *J. Desrochers, and *M. Payer, 2009: Climatology of lake-effect precipitation events over Lake Champlain. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 48, 232-250.
- *Cordeira, J. M. and N. F. Laird, 2008: The influence of ice cover on two lake-effect snow events over Lake Erie. Mon. Wea. Rev., 136, 2747-2763.
- *Payer, M., *J. Desrochers, and N. F. Laird, 2007: A lake-effect snowband over Lake Champlain. Mon. Wea. Rev., 135, 3895-3900.
Courses:
FSEM 116 - Science & Communication of Weather: Few topics capture the attention and fascination of people like severe and hazardous weather. The awesome power of severe weather and the devastation and destruction it causes have made lasting impressions throughout history. The last sixty years has seen a marked increase in understanding, observation, and prediction of severe and hazardous weather systems. One of the largest improvements in an area of particular interest to the public has been the communication of weather information, forecasts, and warnings. During this seminar we will dissect observations of changing weather conditions – early methods of forecasting – and progress to present forms of communication used to rapidly disseminate weather forecasts and warnings. We will review several historical severe weather events (specifically tornado and hurricane events) and what factors led to loss of life or saving lives. Our discussions will also consider how weather forecasts have improved over many decades and what constitutes a good weather forecast (e.g. forecast skill, public awareness, and societal response). Lastly, students will have an opportunity to connect with the environment of the Finger Lakes region by learning about and observing our local weather. This course is part of a Learning Community.
GEO 141 – Science of Climate Change: Climate change is one of the great challenges of our society. Scientists warn that if we ignore the problem, by the end of this century the changes will be large enough to have significant consequences for global societies and ecosystems. But how certain are scientists that human activity is altering Earth's climate? What is known about past climate changes? How much more warming might we expect over the next century? What will be the impacts on hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and droughts? This course will explore the scientific evidence underlying each of these questions using lecture, discussion, and lab-equivalent classroom exercises. The course will also compare past natural fluctuations in climate to our current situation, introduce how scientists study climate, present the current thinking on future changes, and discuss what can be done to minimize the effects.
GEO 182 – Introduction to Meteorology: The influence of weather and climate affect our daily activities, our leisure hours, transportation, commerce, agriculture, and nearly every aspect of our lives. In this course many of the fundamental physical processes important to the climate system and responsible for the characteristics and development of weather systems will be introduced. We will examine the structure of the atmosphere, parameters that control climate, the jet stream, large-scale pressure systems, as well as an array of severe weather phenomena including hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms and blizzards. Upon completion of this course, we will have developed: (a) a foundation of basic scientific inquiry (b) a basic comprehension of the physical processes that govern weather and climate, and (c) an understanding of the elements of weather and climate that are most important to society.
GEO 255 – Global Climates: The climate of a particular region is defined by annual and seasonal temperature and precipitation variations. This course examines the physical characteristics, processes and controlling mechanisms of Earth's climate system and the patterns of its change across both space and time. Fundamentals of Earth's atmospheric composition, heat budget, circulation and moisture will be covered with a focus on global climate and regional climates.
GEO 262 – Polar Meteorology: Polar regions are important areas in understanding and monitoring changes in the Earth's atmospheric environment and have some unique weather systems, as well as climate characteristics. Perhaps surprisingly to many, the polar atmosphere is governed by the same physical principles that operate in middle latitude and tropical regions. This course will use the context of the Arctic and Antarctic to introduce and discuss the thermodynamic, radiative, and precipitation processes in the atmosphere. Additional topics that will be discussed include Polar lows, interactions between the atmosphere, cryosphere, and ocean, and stratospheric ozone. Related to many of these topics, we will use current, relevant data sets and collect our own measurements in a local winter environment to compare to observations from Polar regions..
GEO 265 - Weather Measurements & Computing: New atmospheric observation systems are being introduced frequently with the accelerated development of technology in today's world. This course will describe methods and instrumentation used to collect direct and remotely sensed observations of the atmosphere. Atmospheric remote sensing of clouds, precipitation, and air motion by weather radars and satellites will be examined through observation and data interpretation. The later portion of this course will explore scientific computing - important to working in most areas of science, especially meteorology. Students will be introduced to the basic concepts of programming and computation using Python and develop skills necessary for the reading, analyzing, and plotting of meteorological and climatic data.
GEO 299 – Geoscience Field Studies: The course is designed to introduce you to field-based scientific investigations in an intensive 2-week course. We will conduct several mapping and data collection projects that will provide you experience with field observations in areas of geology, meteorology, and climatology. Students completing the course receive one full course credit. The course is offered as credit/no credit and can be counted toward a Geoscience major or minor.
GEO 360 - Applied Climatology: Climatology is the study of the modern variations in climate and the parameters important for this variability. Understanding the modern climate is critically linked to all areas of Geoscience and provides an important bridge between the study of weather (Meteorology) and past climates (Paleoclimatology).This course examines the physical characteristics, processes and controlling mechanisms of Earth's climate system and the patterns of its change across both space and time. Fundamentals of Earth's atmosphere will be covered with a focus on global climate, and regional climates. Students will develop and strengthen analytical skills through building or enhancing a foundation in statistics; analyze and interpret climate data; and examine the relationship of climatic conditions to physical, biological, and human environments.
GEO 365 – Environmental Meteorology: The atmospheric boundary layer can be viewed as the most important layer of the atmosphere since it directly impacts humans, animals, plants and the Earth's surface. Additionally, it is within this portion of the atmosphere where pollutants are typically introduced to the air and directly influence air quality through their transport and dispersion. In this course, we will examine the relationships and controls on the transfer of properties (mass, energy, and moisture) between the Earth's surface and the overlying atmosphere, and within the atmospheric boundary layer itself. We will examine the sources, sinks, and transport of atmospheric pollutants under a variety of atmospheric conditions. To achieve these goals, we will use current, relevant data sets and conduct analyses to examine properties of the atmospheric boundary layer and pollutant transport.
Contact Info :
Neil
F. Laird
Hobart & William Smith Colleges
Department of Geoscience
300 Pulteney Street
Geneva, NY 14456
Email: laird@hws.edu
Phone: (315) 781-3603
Fax: (315) 781-3860