Christine Neumaier
christine.neumaier@colostate.eduBiosketch
I grew up in Sacramento, California and graduated with my B.S. from the University of Washington in Atmospheric Sciences with a minor in Applied Mathematics. While at the University of Washington, I conducted research on topics related to aerosol-cloud interactions with Dr. Joel Thornton and during an internship at Pacific Northwest National Labrotory with Dr. Adam Varble and Lexie Goldberger. I completed my M.S. in the group in Fall 2023 and am now working on my PhD in the group. For my MS thesis and part of my PhD, I examined the dynamics of cold pools that pass the same location in quick succession and how they loft aerosols using the RAMS model. In my current research, I analyze novel drone based observations of the vertical thermodynamic structure of cold pools and how aerosol populations change due to cold pools from recent field campaigns conducted by the group that I participated in. In my free time, I enjoy running, reading, playing board games, and photography.
Education
M.S., Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, 2023
B.S., with honors, Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, 2021
Awards
Second Place Outstanding Student Presentation at the 2024 High Plains AMS/NWA Conference, 2024
Outstanding Student Oral Presentation Award at AMS 15th Symposium of Aerosol-Cloud-Climate Interactions, 2023
CSU Program of Research and Scholarly Excellence (PRSE) Award, 2021
UW Department of Atmospheric Sciences Phil Church Award, 2021
UW Department of Atmospheric Sciences Mindilin-Reed-Caldwell Scholarship, 2020
UW Mary Gates Research Scholarship, Received in 2019 and 2020
WxChallenge: 2025-2026: First place Cat. 2 (Graduate Students) for Glasgow, MT;
2019-2020: First place forecaster for Minneapolis, MN; First place Cat. 3 (Juniors/Seniors) for Lake Charles, LA; Overall Second place Cat. 3
Publications
- Neumaier, C.A. , N.M. Falk, L.D. Grant, R.J. Perkins, S.M. Kreidenweis, E.A. Stone, and S.C. van den Heever, 2026: Cold Pool Trains. In Review.
- Perkins, R.J., B. Ascher, T.W. Barbero, N. Bryan, C.M. Davis, P.J. DeMott, J. Escobedo, N.M. Falk, J.C. Fernando, T.K. Feldman, S.W. Freeman, B. Heffernan, T.C.J. Hill, D. Juergensen, S.M. Kreidenweis, G. Leung, C.B.A. Mampage, A.C. Mazurek, C. Mignani, C.A. Neumaier, M. Nieto-Caballero, E.A. Sherman, S.C. van den Heever, D. Veloso-Aguila, L.D. Grant, and E.A. Stone, 2025: The BioAerosols and Convective Storms (BACS) Field Campaigns: Variability in Cold Pool Characteristics and Aerosol Responses. In Press at Bull. Amer. Met. Soc.
- Freeman, S.W., J. Bukowski, L.D. Grant, P.J. Marinescu, J.M. Park, S.M. Hitchcock, C.A. Neumaier, and S.C. van den Heever, 2024: Characterizing Thermodynamic Observations from Unshielded Drone Sensors. Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 2941–2959. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2941-2026.
- Falk, N.M., L.D. Grant, S.C. van den Heever, B.D. Ascher, T.W. Barbero, C.M. Davis, J.A. Escobedo, S.W. Freeman, B.K. Heffernan, G.R. Leung, A.C. Mazurek, C.A. Neumaier, E.A. Sherman, G.A. Sokolowsky, D. Veloso-Aguila, P.J. Demott, S.M. Kreidenweis, R.J. Perkins, E.A. Stone, 2025: Do Cold Pools Propagate According to Theory?. J. Atmos. Sci., 82, 1481-1495. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-24-0136.1.
- Grant L.D., B. Kirsch, J. Bukowski, N.M. Falk., C.A. Neumaier, M. Sakradzija, S.C. van den Heever and F. Ament, 2024: How variable are cold pools?. Geo. Res. Lett., 51, e2023GL106784. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL106784.
Selected Presentations
Neumaier, C.A., L.D. Grant, S.C. van den Heever, J. Bukowski, S.W. Freeman, B.D. Ascher, T.W. Barbero, C.M. Davis, J.A. Escobedo, N.M. Falk, B. Heffernan, G.R. Leung, A.C. Mazurek, M. Nieto-Caballero, E.A. Sherman, D.S. Veloso-Aguila, P.J. DeMott, S.M. Kreidenweis, R.J. Perkins, and E.A. Stone. Near-surface Atmospheric Variability in Pre- and Post-convective Environments as Observed by Small Uncrewed Aerial Systems. 105th AMS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA. January, 2025. (O)Neumaier, C.A., L.D. Grant, S.C. van den Heever, B.D. Ascher, J.A. Escobedo, N.M. Falk, S.W. Freeman, S.M. Kreidenweis, G.R. Leung, A.C. Mazurek, D.S. Veloso-Aguila, R.J. Perkins, and E.A. Stone. Cold Pool Trains in the Colorado Plains. 2024 High Plains AMS/NWA Conference, North Platte, NE. March, 2024. (O)
Neumaier, C.A., L.D. Grant, S.C. van den Heever, B.D. Ascher, J.A. Escobedo, N.M. Falk, S.W. Freeman, G.R. Leung, A.C. Mazurek, D.S. Veloso-Aguila, P.J. DeMott, S.M. Kreidenweis, R.J. Perkins, and E.A. Stone. Variability of Successive Cold Pools in BACS-I. AMS 20th Conference on Mesoscale Processes, Madison, WI, July, 2023. (O)
Neumaier, C.A., L. D. Grant, S.C. van den Heever, B. Heffernan, R. Perkins, T. Feldman, C. Mampage, E.A. Stone, B. Ascher, N. Bryan, J.M. Creamean, P.J. DeMott, J. Escobedo, N.M. Falk, S.W. Freeman, T. Hill, S. Kreidenweis, G.R. Leung, A. Mazurek, C. Mignani, M. Nieto-Caballero, D. Veloso-Aguila. Transport and Mixing of Bioaerosols by Successive Cold Pools. AMS 15th Symposium of Aerosol-Cloud-Climate Interactions, Denver, CO. January, 2023. (O)
Neumaier, C.A., J.A. Thornton, M. Diamond, B. Holzworth, and K.S. Virts. Human Activity and the Electrification of Storms: Leveraging Natural Experiments Related to COVID-19 and Policy Changes. University of Washington Research Symposium, Virtual, May, 2021. (O)
Neumaier, C.A., A. Varble, B. Schmid, and L. Goldberger. An Analysis of Shallow Orographic Cumulus Clouds Observed During the CACTI Field Campaign. 101st AGU Fall Meeting, Virtual, December, 2020. (P)
Field Experience
Drone Operations Manager , Filming of PBS NOVA Episode "Rain Bombs", 2025
Drone pilot onboard the R/V Meteor , Relating Atlantic Marine Convection, Ice Nuclei, and Cold pools (RAM-CINC), 2025
Radiosonde operator , Testing INCUS Methods Experiment - Small preLaunch Investigations of Convective Evolution (TIME-SLICE), 2024
Drone pilot, radiosonde operator, forecaster, NSF BioAerosols and Convective Storms Phase I and Phase II (BACS I and II), 2022 and 2023
Service, Outreach, and Teaching
van den Heever Group Lab Manager, 2025-Present
CSU CIRA-ATS Mentoring Program (CAMP) Leadership Team Member, 2022-Present
Little Shop of Physics, Science Demo Volunteer, 2023-2026
PROmoting Geoscience Research, Education, and SuccesS (PROGRESS) Mentor (2021-2025)
CAMP Mentor, 2022-2024
FAA Part 107 Licsensed UAS Pilot
CSU ATS 780 (African Storms), Guest Lecturer, Spring 2026
UW ATM S 321 (Physics of Climatology), Grader, Spring 2021
UW College of the Environment Academic Grievance Committee, Member, 2020-2021
UW Chapter of the AMS, Treasurer 2018-2019,Undergraduate President 2019-2021