Meteorology Faculty

    Dr. Gregory Goodrich

Meteorology Program Leader

Associate Professor of Meteorology

Office: EST 431

Phone: (270) 745-5986

Email: gregory.goodrich@wku.edu

About/Research Interests: Dr. Gregory Goodrich joined the Department in Fall 2005 after completing his Ph.D. from Arizona State University. His research focuses on how multi-decadal climate teleconnections such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) influence precipitation patterns associated with interannual teleconnections such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). He is especially interested in the impact of drought and precipitation patterns on agriculture. For more information about his research topics and agenda, contact Dr. Goodrich at gregory.goodrich@wku.edu.

Courses Taught:

• METR 121 - Meteorology
• METR 122 - Aviation Meteorology
• METR 324 - Weather Analysis and Forecasting
• METR 325 - Meteorological Instruments
• METR 431 - Dynamic Meteorology I
• METR 433 - Dynamic Meteorology II
• METR 460 - Climate Teleconnections

 

    Dr. Joshua Durkee

Professor of Meteorology/University Meteorologist

Office: EST 362/424

Phone: (270) 745-8777

Email: joshua.durkee@wku.edu

About/Research Interests: Dr. Josh Durkee joined the Department in Fall 2008 after completing his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. Dr. Durkee's research expertise focuses on precipitation science, namely methods for assessing influences from extreme thunderstorm rainfall on regional hydroclimates. Dr. Durkee has also published on the climatological aspects and case-study analyses of high-wind events, as well as non-formal pedagogical methods for experiential learning. Most recently, his agenda focuses on research-to-operations for weather crisis and disaster management. For more information, feel free to contact Dr. Durkee at  joshua.durkee@wku.edu or visit  https://people.wku.edu/joshua.durkee/

Courses Taught:

• METR 121 - Meteorology
• METR 324 - Weather Analysis and Forecasting
• METR 335 - Radar/Satellite Meteorology
• METR 432 - Synoptic Meteorology
• METR 437 - Mesoscale Meteorology
• METR 425 - Field Methods in Severe Weather Analysis and Forecasting

 

    Dr. Xingang Fan

Professor of Meteorology

Office: EST 360

Phone: (270) 745-5980

Email: xingang.fan@wku.edu

About/Research Interests: Dr. Xingang Fan joined the faculty in August 2009. His research interests encompass weather and climate modeling and prediction, computing and visualization, climatology of various weather events such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods. He had experience collaborating with interdisciplinary areas including remote sensing, civil engineering, and public health. Specifically, he is interested in analysis and modeling of severe storms, prediction of seasonal precipitation in relationship of soil temperature, snow, and vegetation, and utilization of remote-sensing data in modeling. Contact Dr. Fan at xingang.fan@wku.edu or visit people.wku.edu/xingang.fan for more information about his research and projects.

Courses Taught:

• METR 121 - Meteorology
• METR 322 - Global Climate Systems
• METR 422 - Physical Climatology
• METR 430 - Meteorological Computing
• METR 438 - Physical Meteorology
• METR 439 - Atmospheric Modeling

 

    Dr. Jerald Brotzge

Professor of Meteorology/State Climatologist

Office: EST 436

Phone: (270) 745-4215

Email: jerald.brotzge@wku.edu

About/Research Interests: Dr. Jerry Brotzge joined the Department in Fall 2022. His research focuses on the design and deployment of environmental sensing networks to optimize climate applications, numerical weather prediction and weather operations. Dr. Brotzge serves as the State Climatologist of Kentucky, the Director of the Kentucky Climate Center (KCC), and Director of the Kentucky Mesonet. In these roles, Dr. Brotzge is collaborating with commercial, academic and public partners from across Kentucky to improve the collection, quality and application of environmental data. For example, his KCC research team is working with the agriculture, emergency management, health, and transportation sectors to improve their operations with more local, higher quality weather and climate data. Contact Dr. Brotzge at jerald.brotzge@wku.edu for more information about his research.  

Courses taught: 

• METR 121 - Meteorology
• METR 426 - Applied Climatology

 

    Dr. Zachary Suriano

Assistant Professor of Meteorology

Office: EST 428

Phone: (270) 745-4216

Email: zachary.suriano@wku.edu

About/Research Interests: Dr. Zac Suriano joined the Department in Fall 2022. He is a climatologist with primary research interests in assessing the variability and forcing mechanisms of meteorological and hydrologic events with high societal impacts. Recent efforts have focused on evaluating large- and synoptic-scale dynamics in the atmosphere to understand the variability of rapid snowmelt, drought, lake-effect snow, and extreme precipitation events in regional climates. He is also interested in applied climatological investigations with applications in renewable energy, human health and athletic performance, and STEM education. Dr. Suriano completed his Ph.D. from the University of Delaware. For more information, please contact him at zachary.suriano@wku.edu, or visit zacharysuriano.wordpress.com. 

Courses taught: 

• METR 121 - Meteorology
• GEOG 455 - Global Climate Change
• METR 475 - Hydroclimatology