Speakers

DR. ANTHONY ARGUEZ
Anthony Arguez is a research climatologist at NOAA's  National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI, www.ncei.noaa.gov) in Asheville, North Carolina. He received his Ph.D. in Meteorology from Florida State University in 2005. His primary research interests are statistical climatology and time series analysis, as well as climate variability and change. Dr. Arguez is responsible for the computation of NOAA's 1981-2010 Climate Normals. He also leads a project on alternative normals, an attempt to compute climate normal products that are more representative of current climate conditions than the traditional 30-year normals. Dr. Arguez also serves as NCEI's user engagement lead for the energy industry. (2009-08)

DR. JESSE BELL
Dr. Bell is a Research Associate at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites.  Located at NCEI, he works primarily with the soil observations of the U.S. Climate Reference Network. His main responsibility is to improve soil data quality and produce drought-monitoring products.  Dr. Bell received a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma and his areas of expertise are biology, ecohydrology, ecosystem ecology, and biogeochemistry.  

MR. ROCKY BILOTTA
Mr. Rocky Bilotta is a Geographer for ERT, Inc. Located at NOAA’s NCEI, he works primarily for the U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN). His main responsibilities include station locating, site surveying, site license agreements, site host communication and GIS analysis and services. Mr. Bilotta received his Master of Science in Geography from East Tennessee State University (2008). His master’s thesis focused on the temporal and spatial relationship between venture capital investors in the U.S. biotechnology industry.

DR. OTIS BROWN
NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites – North Carolina and his specialties are satellite oceanography, development of quantitative methods for the processing and use of satellite remotely-sensed observations to study Earth System processes with a focus on ocean color and infrared observations, and the development and application of new approaches to study climate variability and stakeholder engagement. Over time, his research interests have shifted to areas of observable climate change impact including the development of basin scale climatologies for SST and color fields, use of longer-term space-based observations to quantify the impacts of climatic variability, and the engagement of stakeholders. He collaborated with Professor Mary Doyle at the University of Miami to found the Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy as a sustainable approach to the training of the next generation of Earth System managers and researchers.

Dr. Brown served as Dean of the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science for 14 years, while being at the University for more than 40 years.  He received the University of Miami Presidents Medal in honor of his outstanding leadership and distinguished accomplishments in his field of expertise as well as for his contributions to society. Dr. Brown is a tenured Professor of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography at the University of Miami (on leave) and a Research Professor at NC State University. Dr. Brown holds a Ph.D. degree in Physics, with a specialty in underwater optics, from the University of Miami; a Master of Science degree in Theoretical Physics from the University of Miami; and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from North Carolina State University.

ALLAN CURTIS
Mr. Allan Curtis is an Assistant Climatologist for the Midwestern Regional Climate Center (MRCC), located in Champaign, IL.  His primary responsibilities include working directly with the private and public sectors by providing climate data and responding to questions regarding the weather and climate system, public outreach, and aiding the MRCC in various research and development projects.  Regular clients have included utilities, engineering, law/legal, agriculture, law enforcement, international defense, and regional dairies.  MRCC projects and outreach have included NWS Frost/Freeze Guidance, ACIS Web Services product development, and the Naturally Illinois Expo.  Prior to joining the MRCC Allan spent 2 years as an intern at the High Plains Regional Climate Center in Lincoln, NE.  He received both his B.S. and M.S degrees in Meteorology/Climatology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

MS. JENNY DISSEN
Ms. Dissen is the Director of Climate Literacy and Outreach at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites North Carolina.  She leads a program of informal and more formal outreach activities across public and private sector to advance climate science and improve understanding of interests and needs on climate impacts on sub-decadal time scales, adaptation strategies, and options for building resilience to climate change.  As CICS-NC is also part of NC State University Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development, she provides catalytic support to advance the uptake of climate data and information on the climate adaptation timescale.

Prior to joining CICS-NC, Ms. Dissen served as the Regional Coordinator in Southeast Asia for the William J. Clinton Foundation in their Clinton Climate Initiative.  She also served as an experienced manager at Accenture for nearly ten years in the Resources Industry Group, and was a member of the High Performance Asset Management Team for their North American Utilities Practice.  Ms. Dissen earned her M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering in Environmental Systems Analysis and B.S. in Environmental Engineering, both from North Carolina State University.

MR. JIM FOX
Jim is the Director for UNC Asheville’s NEMAC. In that position, he serves as the team leader and principal investigator for several major collaborations that deal with utilizing large environmental databases, spatial visualizations, and other high end technologies to create products for decision making in complex situations. Jim is also Director of RENCI at UNC Asheville, an active partnership with many collaborators, including the Land-of-Sky Regional Council of Governments and the National Centers for Environmental Information located in Asheville.  The center uses 3D visualizations, web tools, and decision support tools to address climate change related issues that include flood mitigation, water resources, and future land use planning.

Jim holds undergraduate degrees in Geology/Geophysics and Communications and a Masters Degree in Information Technology for Informal Education. He spent 25 years working in the oil exploration business, a job which took him all over the world. Mr. Fox has produced animations and visualizations for National Parks and Earth Science Museums nationwide, including the major museums in Denver and Houston.  He returned home to Asheville in 2002 to pursue his passion of utilizing community collaborations and computer technologies to aid in complex decision making. Over the years, he has designed and taught many workshops with a foundation in hands-on learning through application of tools to real life problems.

STEPHEN DEL GRECO

MS. TAMARA HOUSTON
(NCEI) in Asheville, NC.  In this position, Ms. Houston engages with public, private, and academic users from a variety of climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, energy, health, insurance, and transportation in order to identify user needs and enhance their climate literacy.  She has also worked on a variety of applied research projects including the development of snow and freezing rain climatologies. 

Prior to joining NCEI, Ms. Houston served as the Service Climatologist at the Midwestern Regional Climate Center in Champaign, IL.  In this position, she answered and processed requests for climate data and information from public and private user communities.  Ms. Houston received her M.S. in Geography with an emphasis in Applied Climatology and B.S. in Meteorology, both from Northern Illinois University.

DR. JESSICA MATTHEWS
Dr. Matthews is a Research Associate at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites — North Carolina. Co-located at NCEI, she organizes end-to-end implementation of remote-sensing-based algorithms requiring the understanding of specific satellite data content and formats, computing system architecture, and underlying mechanics of physical models. In particular, she acts as a transition manager to produce a land surface albedo Climate Data Record as part of an international collaboration with Europe and Japan.

Dr. Matthews holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics (2010) from North Carolina State University. She has more than 10 years experience producing mathematical models and implementing computer programs for physical and biological applications. Her research specialties include nonlinear parameter optimization, sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty quantification techniques.

MR. JARED RENNIE
Mr. Rennie is a Research Associate at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites in Asheville, North Carolina. He supports maintenance and expansion of major in-situ datasets including the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) monthly and daily datasets. These products are essential to address climate data needs on a national and global scale. In addition to dataset development, Mr. Rennie is also actively engaged in performing research, using these important datasets, to meet the needs of stakeholders in the energy and agricultural fields. Mr. Rennie holds a Masters Degree in Applied Meteorology from Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire. His research specialties include large-scale datasets, applied climatology, and advanced meteorological statistics.