GESTAR II Student Fellows give their Final Presentations

On October 22, 2024, this year’s GESTAR II undergraduate and graduate fellows gave virtual presentations on topics they researched with their mentor(s); they were joined by an international visiting student who is working with a GESTAR II scientist. The event was organized and moderated by Dominique Footes, Special Programs Administrator (SURA). 

Three different GESTAR II fellowships were represented: 2023-2024 Graduate Fellows, 2023-2024 Morgan State University Undergraduate Fellows, and 2024 Short-Term/Visiting Fellows, who are students at partner universities ASU, CSU, and PSU. This year’s visiting fellows worked with their mentors over ten weeks in Summer 2024; however, their research collaborations continued into Fall 2024. For more information on upcoming fellowship opportunities, visit the GESTAR II Student Opportunities.

GESTAR II 2023-2024 Graduate Fellows:

Chhaya Kulkarni (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) presented “Assessing Radiance Variance in OSSE Simulations for Improved Satellite Observations.” She worked with GESTAR II mentor Nikki Privé (610.1/MSU) and Dr. Vandana Janeja (UMBC). Ms. Kulkarni created a web tool that shows some of the Machine Learning results from her research; she submitted a “demonstration track” paper titled “Interactive Assessment Variances of High-Resolution Model Features in OSSE Simulations” that was accepted by ACM SIGSPATIAL 2024.

Yu-An Chen (Colorado State Univ.) presented “Application of Nonlinear Data Assimilation to Hurricane Dynamics and Predictability: Boundary Layer Turbulent Structure.” Mr. Chen worked with GESTAR II mentor Stephen Guimond (UMBC, now with Hampton Univ.) and Dr. Peter Jan van Leeuwen (CSU).

GESTAR II 2023-2024 Morgan State University Undergraduate Fellow:  

Ajan Coleman (Morgan State Univ.) gave a lightning talk titled “Plant Hyperspectral Spectroscopy Data Research”; his mentor was Dhruva Kathuria (618/MSU).

GESTAR II 2024 Short-Term/Visiting Fellows:  

Praveena Kulandhaivel (Arizona State Univ.) gave a lightning talk titled “Exploring High-Resolution PM2.5 Hindcast Modeling in Phoenix”; her mentor was Carl Malings (610.1/MSU).

Alexis Cole (Pennsylvania State Univ.) gave a lightning talk titled “Exploring the Relationship Between GNSS RO Penetration and Lower Tropospheric Moisture in the Arctic Using Multi-Observational Datasets”; her mentor was Manisha Ganeshan (613/MSU).

Madison Shogrin (Colorado State Univ.) gave a lightning talk titled “O3-sensitivity from space: diurnal variability in the HCHO:NO2 ratio and NO2 over the Colorado front range from TEMPO and TROPOMI”; her mentor was Lok Lamsal (614/UMBC) and her advisors were Dr. Emily Fischer (CSU) and Dr. Vivienne Payne (NASA JPL).

In addition to the GESTAR II fellows, international student Janhavi Singh (Banaras Hindu University, India) gave a short presentation titled “Estimation of Surface Concentration of Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Using Machine Learning Algorithms over Kolkata (INDIA)”; her mentors were Lok Lamsal (614/UMBC) and Dr. Sunita Verma (B.H.U.).

Congratulations to all of our fellows on their collaborative and informative presentations, and we thank all the mentors and advisors!