Professor Tina Chow Receives NSF CAREER Award

Assistant Professor Tina Katopodes Chow of CEE's Environmental Engineering Program is the recipient of a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The CAREER program offers NSF's most prestigious awards for junior faculty members. CAREER awardees are selected on the basis of creative career-development plans that effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their institution. The intent of the program is to provide stable support at a sufficient level and duration to enable awardees to develop careers as outstanding teacher-scholars.

The CAREER award will support Professor Chow's research project entitled: "A universal framework for large-eddy simulation of atmospheric boundary layer flow over complex terrain." The atmospheric boundary layer is the thin layer of the atmosphere near the earth's surface and directly influences human life through weather and air quality. New knowledge of complex flows gained with Chow's new numerical framework will improve models used to predict weather, air pollution, contaminant dispersion, and regional climate. Furthermore, insights into atmospheric circulations and intense gravity waves that can occur in mountainous areas will have important implications for aviation safety. An integrated education and outreach program is planned to excite K-12 students and the general public about atmospheric boundary layer phenomena through an interactive modeling website which will be designed together with the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Congratulations, Professor Chow!