The Unidata Program Center is pleased to welcome new members to the program's governing committees. Committee members serve three-year terms, meeting twice each year to provide feedback on the effectiveness of the Unidata Program and advise staff on issues facing the university community. Appointments reflect the range of large and small colleges and universities with undergraduate and graduate emphases where Unidata systems are in use.
The following provides a brief introduction to the scientists joining Unidata's committees. You can find additional information about the governing committees, including contact information for committee members, on the Governing Committees page.
Charles Graves, Strategic Advisory Committee
Dr. Chuck Graves is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Saint Louis University. After earning a Ph.D. in physics from Iowa State University in 1988, he spent 3 years working with Dr. Gerald North at Texas A&M University. Since 1992 he has been a faculty member at Saint Louis University. Over the last 20 years, he has worked closely with the National Weather Service on anticipating high-impact weather events. The late Dr. James Moore introduced him to Unidata and encouraged him to serve on the Unidata Users Committee, which he did during the early 2000s. Dr. Graves continues to be a dedicated user of many of Unidata software products.
“Unidata software and personnel have been instrumental in both my research and teaching,” says Dr. Graves. “I appreciate the efforts of Unidata to provide both critical tools and support to the atmospheric community. I am excited to be a member of the strategic advisory committee and help Unidata move forward; continuing to support the advancement of teaching and research in atmospheric sciences.”
Alex Haberlie, Users Committee
Dr. Alex Haberlie is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University. His research interests include observed and future projections of climate extremes, severe and hazardous weather, and land use / land cover effects on regional climatology. He uses machine learning, digital image processing, and climate modeling to conduct his research.
“I am interested in helping undergraduates learn how to code,” says Dr. Haberlie, “and in giving graduate students the tools to create, maintain, and publish scientific code associated with their projects to support open science and reproducibility.”
Dr. Haberlie was a Unidata Summer Intern in 2016, while still working on his doctorate from Northern Illinois University. He was a presenter at the 2018 Unidata Users Workshop, leading a session on classifying rainfall regions in radar images using machine learning techniques. Now that he is at LSU, he works closely with developers and students at the Southern Regional Climate Center.
James Potemra, Strategic Advisory Committee
Dr. James Potemra is a professor in the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) at the University of Hawaii (UH). His background is in physical oceanography and research interests include the ocean's role in climate. He became interested in data services through his work in the western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean, and he now serves as manager of the Asia-Pacific Data Research Center (APDRC) and also leads the data management efforts of the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS). These activities all rely on Unidata technologies such as netCDF and THREDDS. More recently, Jim has been able to incorporate these data services into different classes; he was also able to make use of the Unidata Science Gateway's JupterHub during one of his Spring semester 2020 courses.
Returning Committee Members
Four sitting committee members have agreed to extend their terms of service:
John Allen, Users Committee
Dr. John Allen s beginning a second three-year term on the Users Committee. Dr. Allen is an Assistant Professor at Central Michigan University.
Kevin Goebbert, Users Committee
Dr. Kevin Goebbert is beginning a second three-year term as Chair of the Unidata Users Committee. He is an Associate Professor of Meteorology at Valparaiso University, and has served on the Unidata Users Committee since 2014.
Gretchen Mullendore, Strategic Advisory Committee
Dr. Gretchen Mullendore is beginning a second three-year term on the Strategic Advisory Committee. Dr. Mullendore is chair of the Atmospheric Sciences Department at the University of North Dakota (UND). Before joining the Strategic Advisory Committee, she served on the Unidata Users Committee from 2014 through 2017.
Chuck Pavloski, Strategic Advisory Committee
Dr. Chuck Pavloski is taking the role of chair of the Strategic Advisory Committee. Dr. Pavloski is the Research Innovations with Scientists and Engineers (RISE) Team Lead at Pennsylvania State University's Institute for CyberScience (ICS). He has served on the Unidata Strategic Advisory Committee since 2016.
