I grew up in Peekskill, NY and West Hartford, CT, and I completed my undergraduate studies in Engineering Physics at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Along the way, I completed two summer internships, one at the Hurricane Research Division in Miami, FL through the NOAA Hollings program and one at Colorado State University through the CMMAP Summer Internship program. Over the course of these experiences, my childhood interest in hurricanes and other meteorological phenomena evolved into an academic interest in atmospheric science, and today I am a recent Ph.D. graduate of the van den Heever group here at CSU. I am broadly interested in tropical convection, and I am currently investigating processes governing the evolution of convective cold pools, as well as soil moisture-precipitation interactions. Away from my desk I enjoy participating in science outreach activities and gazing at the Colorado skies' stunning cloud formations.
Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, 2020
M.S. in Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, 2016
B.A. in Engineering Physics (minor in Applied Mathematics), Dartmouth College, 2012
Graduate Teaching Fellowship, CSU Scott College of Engineering, Spring 2018
Herbert Riehl Memorial Award, 2017
MAC Foundation Travel Grant to attend the AMS Mesoscale Meeting, 2017
2015 AMS Travel Grant to attend the AMS Annual Meeting
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2014-2017
AMS Graduate Fellowship, 2013-2014
Outstanding Student Paper Award, AGU Fall Meeting 2012
NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship, 2010-2012
Marinescu, P. J., P. C. Kennedy, M. M. Bell, A. J. Drager, L. D. Grant, S. W. Freeman, and S. C. van den Heever, 2020: Updraft vertical velocity observations and uncertainties in High Plains supercells using radiosondes and radars. Accepted pending revision at Mon. Wea. Rev.
van den Heever, S. C., L. D. Grant, S. W. Freeman, P. J. Marinescu, J. Barnum, J. Bukowski, E. Casas, A. J. Drager, B. Fuchs, G. R. Herman, S. M. Hitchcock, P. C. Kennedy, E. R. Nielsen, J. M. Park, K. L. Rasmussen, M. N. Razin, M. R. Riesenberg, E. M. Riley Dellaripa, C. J. Slocum, B. A. Toms, and A. van den Heever, 2020: Diving into cold pools and flying into updrafts of deep convective storms. Accepted pending revision at Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.
Drager, A. J., L. D. Grant, and S. C. van den Heever, 2020: Cold pool responses to changes in soil moisture. In press at J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., doi:10.1029/2019MS001922. [Journal Link]
Drager, A. J. and S. C. van den Heever, 2017: Characterizing convective cold pools. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 9, 1091-1115, doi:10.1002/2016MS000788. [Journal Link]
Igel, M. R., A. J. Drager, and S. C. van den Heever, 2014: A CloudSat cloud object partitioning technique and assessment and integration of deep convective anvil sensitivities to sea surface temperature. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 119, 10515-10535, doi:10.1002/2014JD021717. [Journal Link]
Drager, A. J., 2020: Response of Convective Cold Pools and Precipitation to Changes in Soil Moisture. [Ph.D. dissertation]. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University.
Drager, A. J., 2016: Convective Cold Pools: Characterization and Soil Moisture Dependence. [M.S. thesis]. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University. [Link]
Drager, A. J., 2012: Using Multimedia Pre-Lecture Assignments to Improve the Introductory Physics Experience. [undergraduate honors thesis]. Hanover, NH: Dartmouth College.
Drager, A. J.*, L. D. Grant, and S. C. van den Heever, 2019. Convective Cold Pool Responses to Sea-Surface Temperature. Oral presentation, 2019 PISTON Science Team Meeting, 13-14 Nov 2019, Fort Collins, CO.
Drager, A. J.*, and S. C. van den Heever, 2019. Sensitivity of Atmospheric Convective Cold Pools to Sea Surface Temperature. Poster presentation, US CLIVAR Workshop on Atmospheric Convection and Air-Sea Interactions over the Tropical Oceans, 7-9 May 2019, Boulder, CO.
Drager, A. J.*, 2019. The Influence of Surface Characteristics on Tropical Cold Pools. Invited seminar, Naval Research Laboratory, 29 April 2019, Monterey, CA.
Drager, A. J.*, L. D. Grant, and S. C. van den Heever, 2018. Convective Cold Pool Responses to Soil Moisture. Poster presentation, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, 10-14 Dec 2018, Washington, DC.
Drager, A. J.*, and S. C. van den Heever, 2018. Convective Cold Pool Responses to Changes in Sea-Surface Temperature. Oral presentation, AMS 33rd Conf. on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology, 16-20 April 2018, Ponte Vedra, FL. [Abstract]
Drager, A. J.*, L. D. Grant, and S. C. van den Heever, 2018. Convective Cold Pool Responses to Soil Moisture. Poster presentation, 32nd Conf. on Hydrology, AMS 98th Annual Meeting, 7-11 Jan 2018, Austin, TX. [Abstract]
Drager, A. J.*, S. M. Hitchcock, C. T. Rhodes, S. W. Freeman, E. R. Nielsen, and J. A. Knox, 2018. The AMS Student Conference "Tools of the Trade" Session: An Open-Access Resource for Developing Computing Skills in the Atmospheric Sciences. Poster presentation, 27th Symp. on Education, AMS 98th Annual Meeting, 7-11 Jan 2018, Austin, TX. [Abstract and Poster]
Drager, A. J.*, L. D. Grant, and S. C. van den Heever, 2017. Convective Cold Pool Responses to Changes in Soil Moisture. Oral presentation, AMS 17th Conf. on Mesoscale Processes, 24-27 July 2017, San Diego, CA. [Abstract]
Drager, A. J.*, L. D. Grant, and S. C. van den Heever, 2017. Aerosol Impacts on Convective Cold Pools in a Tropical Continental Environment. Oral presentation, 9th Symp. on Aerosol-Cloud-Climate Interactions, AMS 97th Annual Meeting, 22-26 Jan 2017, Seattle, WA. [Abstract]
Drager, A. J.*, and S. C. van den Heever, 2016. Convective Cold Pools: Properties and Soil Moisture Dependence. Oral presentation, AMS 32nd Conf. on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology, 17-22 April 2016, San Juan, PR.
Drager, A. J.*, and S. C. van den Heever, 2016. A New Approach to Automated Cold Pool Tracking. Oral presentation, 14th Conf. on Artificial and Computational Intelligence, AMS 96th Annual Meeting, 10-14 Jan 2016, New Orleans, LA. [Abstract]
Drager, A. J.*, and S. C. van den Heever, 2015. The 'Slant' of Slantwise Convection: An Idealized Modeling Study. Oral presentation, AMS 16th Conf. on Mesoscale Processes, 3-6 Aug 2015, Boston, MA. [Abstract and Recorded Presentation]
Drager, A. J.*, M. R. Igel, and S. C. van den Heever, 2012. CloudSat-derived Morphology of Deep Convection over Tropical Oceans. Poster presentation,
- 12th Annual Student Conference, AMS 93rd Annual Meeting, 6-10 Jan 2013, Austin, TX.
- 25th Conf. on Clim. Var. and Change, AMS 93rd Annual Meeting, 6-10 Jan 2013, Austin, TX.
- American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, 3-7 Dec 2012, San Francisco, CA.
- 13th CMMAP Team Meeting, 7-9 Aug 2012, Fort Collins, CO.
Igel, M. R.*, A. J. Drager, and S. C. van den Heever, 2012. A Scaling Relationship between Tropical Convective Core and Anvil Widths. Oral presentation, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, 3-7 Dec 2012, San Francisco, CA.
Drager, A. J.*, M. R. Igel, and S. C. van den Heever, 2012. CloudSat-derived Morphology of Deep-Convective Clouds over Tropical Oceans. Oral presentation, 6th CMMAP Student Colloquium, 31 July - 3 Aug 2012, Fort Collins, CO.
Drager, A. J.*, and P. D. Reasor, 2011. Diagnosing Vertical Wind Shear Impacts in the HWRFx Model. Oral presentation,
- NOAA Science and Education Symposium, 2-4 Aug 2011, Silver Spring, MD.
- 1st Annual AOML Student Symposium, 28 July 2011, Miami, FL.
- National Hurricane Center Monthly Science Meeting, 14 July 2011, Miami, FL.
* denotes presenter
Colorado State University
Spring 2018 - MECH 105: Mechanical Engineering Problem Solving
July 2015 - Weather and Climate Across the Globe (Part 2 of Weather and Climate for Educators, presented by CMMAP)
Dartmouth College
Spring 2013, Winter 2013, and Spring 2012 - ENGS 23: Distributed Systems and Fields
Spring 2013 - MATH 17: Beyond Calculus
Winter 2013 - ENGS 34: Fluid Dynamics
Spring 2012 - EARS 14: Meteorology
Winter 2012 - ENGS 22: Systems
AMS Student Conference
- Co-Chair, 2016-2018
- Co-Chair in Training, 2015-2016
- Planning Committee, 2014-2019
CSU Department of Atmospheric Science
- Graduate Student Representative, 2015-2016
Young Scientist Symposium on Atmospheric Research
- 2015 Planning Committee
- 2014 Planning Committee
Little Shop of Physics
- Volunteer, 2012-2020
