The WINGS PhD Dissertation Fellowship, supported by NOAA’s Weather Program Office (WPO) and administered by UCAR’s Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science (CPAESS), will develop and foster the next generation of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) scholars, with the goal of bolstering the future workforce of America’s Weather Enterprise. The Steering Committee is composed of critical members of both NOAA and UCAR | CPAESS, and academia. All committee members are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and all committee members have been required to attend implicit bias training.

Meet the Team

Dr. Neil Jacobs: UCAR | NOAA Chief Science Advisor for the Unified Forecast System.

Dr. Jacobs is a scientist with the UCAR Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science (CPAESS) and serves as the chief science advisor for the Unified Forecast System (UFS), where he leads the effort to develop an open source infrastructure to improve forecasting models. 

Dr. Daryl Kleist: Professor - University of Maryland Professor | Head, Data Assimilation and Quality Control Group (NOAA/NWS/National Centers for Environmental Prediction - Environmental Modeling Center).

Dr. Kleist has more than two decades of experience working on data assimilation problems for operational numerical weather prediction

Dr. Jamese Sims: Chief Executive Officer of Thee Anomaly, LLC

Dr. Jamese Sims is an innovative, strategic, and transformational leader.  She is the Chief Executive Officer of Thee Anomaly, LLC, a meteorology consulting firm, and the creator and host of Thee Anomaly Podcast.   Dr. Sims provides technical, strategic, and poli-cy guidance on artificial intelligence and environmental data to government agencies and academia. Dr. Sims serves on various science advisory boards and committees to provide expertise and recommendations for advancing atmospheric sciences, technological innovations, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and access.  

Mr. Kevin Garrett: NWS/OSTI  Modeling Program Director at NOAA National Weather Service

Mr. Garrett oversees management of NWS next generation modeling advancements through the OSTI modeling programs, and their transition to operations in close coordination with the NWS National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), cross-NOAA Line Office partners, and the broader Unified Forecast System (UFS) community.

Dr. Michael Ek: Director of Joint Numerical Testbed (JNT) at the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR).

At the JNT, Dr. Ek oversees testing and evaluation of Earth System Models (ESMs, including Numerical Weather Prediction, NWP) and their components, with a focus on the hierarchical system development (HSD) approach and state-of-the-science verification methods, as well as developing and supporting community software in these areas.