Biography and Contacts

Last updated: 17 Sep 01

Listed below are those involved with the Earth System Science Education. Information about their education backgrounds and research interests can be found, as well as, how to contact them.

Dr. John T. Snow
College of Geosciences
The University of Oklahoma 
Sarkeys Energy Center, Room 710 
100 East Boyd Street Norman, Oklahoma 73019-1008, U.S.A. 
E-mail: jsnow@ou.edu
Phone: (405) 325-3101
http://geosciences.ou.edu

Appointments at the University of Oklahoma:
College of Geosciences, Dean, Appointed: 1994 
Oklahoma Weather Center Programs, Director, Appointed: 1994 
College of Geosciences, School of Meteorology, Professor, Appointed: 1994 

Education
B.S.E.E. Rose Polytechnic Institute 1968, M.S.E.E. Rose Polytechnic Institute 1969, Ph.D. Purdue University 1977 

Expertise and Research Interests (COS)
Dynamics of geophysical columnar vortices ranging in scale from small dust devils to fire whirls, with a primary focus on tornadoes; application of laser-doppler velocimetry to laboratory measurements in experimental fluid mechanics; earth science education at all levels, K-12, undergraduate and graduate; meteorological measurements and instrumentation, especially surface-based instruments for weather observations; post-event analyses of tornadoes and tornado-producing thunderstorms (debris transport); experimental fluid mechanics as applied to atmospheric problems. 

A Brief Biosketch: http://geosciences.ou.edu/~jsnow/personal/index.html

Matthew D. Biddle

Department of Geography
The University of Oklahoma
Sarkey's Energy Center, Room 410
100 East Boyd Street 
Norman, Oklahoma 73019-1008, U.S.A. 
E-mail: mbiddle@ou.edu 
Phone: (405) 325-6018
http://rossby.ou.edu/~mbiddle/modrisk.html

Previous OU Appointments: 
GTA for Physical Geography 1999-2001
GRA with Science and Public Policy Program 1998

Education: 
BA (Geography) - University of Toledo - 1986
MA (Geography) - University of Oklahoma - 1994
Ph.D. Student (Geography) - University of Oklahoma - 1998+

Research Interests:
I have an employment background in environmental regulation (Superfund) and emergency response with research interests in natural hazards, environmental risk, climatology, and medical geography focused primarily in the Midwest and Great Plains of the USA. My emphasis at this time is on severe weather warning systems and human ecology of weather risk with secondary interests in climatology and societal attitudes toward weather risk and control (such as cloud seeding). My MA Thesis was titled "Tornado Hazards, Coping Styles and Warning Systems Under the Modernized National Weather Service." Immediately following the 1999 Central Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak, I conducted field surveys of more than 300 persons regarding their actions during the storm, mode and lead time of warnings, available shelter, and impact of future risk attitudes. This information is currently being processed for formal publication. I am active as an Emergency Management Volunteer in Central Oklahoma and have been a Mobile Mesonet tornado intercept driver since 1995 for VORTEX-STEPS-IHOP-etc., with the National Severe Storms Laboratory and CIMMS/OU. I am single and have lived in Oklahoma most of the last 15 years. I am an avid Detroit Red Wings fan and originally from Toledo, Ohio.

Dr. Linda Wallace
Department of Botany and Microbiology
University of Oklahoma 
George Lynn Cross Hall
770 Van Vleet Oval
Norman, Oklahoma 73019-0245, U.S.A.
E-mail: lwallace@ou.edu
Phone: (405) 325-6685
http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/faculty/wallace.html

Education
 

Expertise and Research Interests

Dr. Susan Postawko
School of Meteorology
The University of Oklahoma 
Sarkeys Energy Center, Room 1310 
100 East Boyd Street 
Norman, Oklahoma 73019-1008, U.S.A. 
E-mail: spostawk@ou.edu
Phone: (405) 325-4494

Assistant Professor of Meteorology 

Education
B.S., 1977, University of Missouri (St. Louis); Ph.D., 1983, University of Michigan. Assistant Professor of Meteorology

Expertise and Research Interests
Dr. Postawko's interests include radiative transfer in planetary atmospheres; atmosphere-surface interactions; volatile history of the planets; early and present climates of Earth and Mars; and climate evolution of the terrestrial planets. Current projects include modeling the effects on martian climate history of sulfur dioxide released by volcanoes, and the fate of water vapor released by Martian volcanoes. Dr. Postawko is co-coordinator of the Schools of the Pacific Rainfall Climatology Experiment (SPaRCE), a research/education project to study climate change in the Pacific, and teach students in various Pacific island nations about climate and the implications of global change. Dr. Postawko was named Outstanding Professor in the College of Geosciences by the University of Oklahoma Student Association in 1994 and 1996. In addition to being a faculty member in the School of Meteorology, she also serves as the Assistant Director of the NASA/Oklahoma Space Grant Consortium.