Biography
Alethia Kielbasa joined NCICS in February 2025 as a Climate Data Analyst. Her work at NCICS includes collaborations with the 14th Weather Squadron, providing near-future climate projections, which can be used in military operation decision making. She is also updating the Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature dataset, a NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI long-term climate data record that is used in weather forecasting, ecological studies, oceanography, and climate monitoring and assessment.
Alethia has a Bachelor’s in Education from Florida Gulf Coast University, a Bachelor’s in Geoscience from Florida International University, and a Master’s in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. While working towards her degree at Florida International University, Alethia was accepted into the Research Experience for Undergraduates at the University of Oklahoma where she used toy energy balance models to examine the potential impacts of geoengineering strategies, such as cloud seeding. Once at the University of Oklahoma, Alethia’s graduate work looked at the variability of sea surface temperatures in the intra-Americas sea. Her several years of K_12 education experience were garnered through classroom teaching and outreach. She was the co-chairperson for the University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology Outreach organization while completing her master’s work and continues leveraging her teaching and climate science research experience as a member of the Outreach group here at NCICS.