Leah Grant

Research Scientist I

leah.grant (at) colostate.edu

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Biosketch

I grew up in central Wisconsin, obtained my Bachelor's degree from UW-Milwaukee, and then came to CSU to complete my Masters and PhD degrees. For my Masters research, I investigated the relative influence of aerosols and the environment on organized deep convection. For my PhD research, I studied cold pool interactions with the land surface and with tropical oceanic convective systems. My general research interests involve cloud and convective processes. Outside of work, I try to enjoy all that Colorado has to offer, including biking, hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, camping, and cooking.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Atmospheric Science, 2018, Colorado State University

Master of Science, Atmospheric Science, 2014, Colorado State University

Bachelor of Science, Atmospheric Sciences (minor - Mathematics), 2011, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Publications

1. Drager, A. J., L. D. Grant, and S. C. van den Heever, 2019: Cold pool responses to changes in soil moisture. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., submitted.

2. Park, J. M., S. C. van den Heever, A. L. Igel, L. D. Grant, J. S. Johnson, S. M. Saleeby, S. D. Miller, and J. S. Reid, 2019: Environmental controls on tropical sea breeze convection and resulting aerosol redistribution. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., submitted.

3. Stephens, G. L., S. C. van den Heever, Z. S. Haddad, D. J. Posselt, R. L. Storer, L. D. Grant, O. O. Sy, T. N. Rao, S. Kumar, S. Tanelli, and E. Peral, 2019: A distributed small satellite approach for measuring convective transport in the Earth's atmosphere. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., in press, doi:10.1109/TGRS.2019.2918090. (Available online in Early Access)

4. Jensen, E. J., S. C. van den Heever, and L. D. Grant, 2018: The lifecycles of ice crystals detrained from the tops of deep convection. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 123, 9624-9634, doi:10.1029/2018JD028832. (link)

5. Grant, L. D., and S. C. van den Heever, 2018: Cold pool - land surface interactions in a dry continental environment. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 10, 1513-1526, doi:10.1029/2018MS001323. (link)

6. Grant, L. D., T. P. Lane, and S. C. van den Heever, 2018: The role of cold pools in tropical oceanic convective systems. J. Atmos Sci., 75, 2615-2634, doi:10.1175/JAS-D-17-0352.1. (link)

7. Grant, L. D., and S. C. van den Heever, 2016: Cold pool dissipation. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 121, 1138-1155, doi:10.1002/2015JD023813. (link)

8. Grant, L. D., and S. C. van den Heever, 2015: Cold pool and precipitation responses to aerosol loading: Modulation by dry layers. J. Atmos. Sci., 72, 1398-1408, doi:10.1175/JAS-D-14-0260.1. (link)

9. Grant, L. D., and S. C. van den Heever, 2014: Aerosol-cloud-land surface interactions within tropical sea breeze convection. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 119, 8340-8361, doi:10.1002/2014JD021912. (link)

10. Grant, L. D., and S. C. van den Heever, 2014: Microphysical and dynamical characteristics of low-precipitation and classic supercells. J. Atmos. Sci., 71, 2604-2624, doi:10.1175/JAS-D-13-0261.1. (link)

Awards

• CSU Graduate Student Council Travel Award for travel to the EGU General Assembly, 2017

• NSF Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW) Award, 2016:
  Travel and research support to conduct a 3-month research project with Prof. Todd Lane at the University of Melbourne

• Alumni Award for an outstanding paper based on Ph.D. research, 2016

• Early Career Travel Grant, HD(CP)2 Understanding Clouds and Precipitation conference, Berlin, Germany, 2016

• Outstanding Student Paper Award, AGU Fall Meeting, 2015

• CSU University Distinguished Professors Scholarship, 2015

• Student Travel Award, 16th Conference on Mesoscale Processes, 2015

• Outstanding Student Presentation Award, Aerosol-Cloud-Climate Interactions Symposium, AMS 95th Annual Meeting, 2015

• Herbert Riehl Memorial Award for an outstanding paper based on M.S. research, 2014

• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2012

• Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) Graduate Fellowship, 2011

• AMS Graduate Fellowship, 2011

Teaching Experience

• GTA positions
  • ATS 724: Cloud Microphysics, Spring 2017
  • ATS 623: Atmospheric Boundary Layer, Spring 2016
  • ATS 712: Dynamics of Clouds, Spring 2015
  • ATS 620: Thermodynamics and Cloud Physics, Fall 2013

• CMMAP Summer Internship Program mentor (Renee Duff), 2014

• CMMAP Weather and Climate for Educators Professional Development Series for Teachers: "Weather and Climate Across the Globe", July 2013 and July 2014

Field Experience

Project Manager and field participant, CSU Convective Cloud Outflows and UpDrafts Experiment (C³LOUD-Ex), July 2016 - July 2017.

First-Authored Conference Presentations (last 5 years)

• Grant, L. D., S. C. van den Heever, Z. S. Haddad, R. L. Storer, D. J. Posselt, J. Buowski, O. O. Sy, and G. L. Stephens, 2020: The relationship between vertical velocity and microphysical process rates in deep convection. 100^th AMS Annual Meeting, Boston, MA (P).

• Grant, L. D., T. P. Lane, M. W. Moncrieff, and S. C. van den Heever, 2019: Cold pool impacts on linear shear-parallel and shear-perpendicular tropical convective systems. 18^th Conference on Mesoscale Processes, Savannah, GA (O).

• Grant, L. D., and S. C. van den Heever, 2019: Microphysical impacts and large-scale wind influences on tropical convective organization in RCE. Understanding Clouds and Precipitation, Berlin, Germany (O).

• Grant, L. D., T. P. Lane, and S. C. van den Heever, 2018: Organized tropical convective systems in RCE - What are the roles of cold pools? AGU Fall Meeting, Washington, D.C. (O; Invited).

• Grant, L. D., S. C. van den Heever, P. J. Marinescu, S. W. Freeman, J. Bukowski, and P. C Kennedy, 2018: Spatial and temporal variability in midlatitude cold pools from C³LOUD-Ex observations. 98^th AMS Annual Meeting, Austin, TX (O).

• Grant, L. D., T. P. Lane, and S. C. van den Heever, 2017: Tropical convective system and cold pool interactions. 17^th Conference on Mesoscale Processes, San Diego, CA (O).

• Grant, L. D., T. P. Lane, and S. C. van den Heever, 2017: The role of cold pools in tropical convective systems. EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria (O).

• Grant, L. D., and S. C. van den Heever, 2016: Modeling cold pool - surface flux interactions. HD(CP)² Understanding Clouds and Precipitation Conference, Berlin, Germany (O).

• Grant, L. D., and S. C. van den Heever, 2015: Cold pool and surface flux interactions in different environments. 2015 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA (O).

• Grant, L. D., and S. C. van den Heever, 2015: How do surface fluxes influence cold pool evolution? 16^th Conference on Mesoscale Processes, Boston, MA (O).

• Grant, L. D., R. Duff, and S. C. van den Heever, 2015: Aerosol-induced microphysical processes and electrification in pyrocumulus. AMS 95^th Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ (O).

Outreach

• NSF Geopaths program presentation on Observing and Modeling Storms, 2019

• ESMEI REU program presentation on Observing and Modeling Storms, 2018

• Loveland High School Severe Weather Hazards presentations, 2015-2016

• 2014 Young Scientist Symposium on Atmospheric Research planning committee

• FORTCAST AMS local chapter Vice President, Spring 2014-2015
       Secretary, Spring 2013-2014

• Department of Atmospheric Science graduate student representative, 2012-2013

• Little Shop of Physics volunteer

Last Updated: 10/2019

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