Juliet Pilewskie

Biosketch

I have enjoyed living in multiple locations, being born in Santa Clara, CA and growing up near Boulder, CO, with a short stint in Leipzig, Germany during high school. During my undergraduate studies, I conducted research projects in plasma physics, planetary science, and geomechanics. My undergraduate honors thesis involved a research project developing and testing a model that simulated dust rings around a minor planet called Chariklo at the Institute for Modeling Plasma, Atmosphere and Cosmic Dust (IMPACT). The transition towards atmospheric science developed naturally when being introduced to the chaotic nature of weather patterns in classical mechanics, nonlinear dynamics, and geomechanics courses. My love of remote sensing came about through an REU position at the MIT Haystack Observatory, where I combined GPS and radar data to study Earth surface deformations.

I received an M.S. (2019) and Ph.D (2023) working in Tristan L’Ecuyer’s research group at University of Wisconsin-Madison where I analyzed convective storm system properties to understand their present-day contributions to the Earth’s energy budget and water cycle. I then worked as a postdoc with Gregory Cesana at Columbia University / NASA GISS to construct observational estimates of high cloud feedbacks to better constrain climate model output. My postdoc research at CSU is motivated by the science goals of the NASA INCUS mission. I am currently studying deep convective systems using multiple satellite observations to characterise storm system characteristics, such as the link between convective mass flux and anvil outflow, and their relationships to various environments, within the tropics. Aside from work, I love getting involved in communities in whichever way I can, whether it be joining a running or biking social group, or volunteering at a local botanical garden. I also enjoy hiking/backpacking/camping, traveling, playing instruments and singing, going to concerts, cooking, and crafting.

Education

Ph.D., Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison, 2023
M.S., Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, UW-Madison, 2019
B.S., Physics, University of Colorado-Boulder, 2017

Awards

Women in Science Incentive Prize, The Story Exchange, 2024
Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science (FINESST) Fellow, 2020-2023
Wahl Award for Outstanding TA, UW-Madison, 2022
2nd Place Student Oral Presentation, 2019 Joint Satellite Conference
UW-Madison AOS Department Student Service Award, 2019

Publications

Pilewskie, J.A., A.J. Drager, B. Pan, B. Dolan, T. L’Ecuyer, and S.C. van den Heever (In prep). Do Differences in Environmental Characteristics Drive the Difference in Convective Storms over the Amazon and Congo Regions?
Pilewskie, J.A., G. Cesana, A. Arouf, and T. Vaillant de Guélis (Submitted). A new lidar-based observational estimate for a short-term LW high cloud feedback. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.
Arouf, A., G.V. Cesana, and J. Pilewskie (Submitted). Observed Sc and Cu cloud variability and their dependency to environmental factors. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.
Russell, G.L., A.A. Lacis, B.E. Carlson, W. Su, and J.A. Pilewskie (2025). Global-scale seasonal variability profiles of EPIC-derived vs GISS ModelE-simulated all-cloud and ice-cloud fraction distributions. Frontiers in Remote Sensing. doi:10.3389/frsen.2025.1691948
Pilewskie, J.A. and T.S. L’Ecuyer (2025). The Role of Convective Intensity in Modulating Earth’s Radiative Balance. Journal of Climate. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-24-0334.1
Pilewskie, J.A., G. Stephens, H. Takahashi, and T.S. L’Ecuyer (2024). A multi-satellite perspective on ‘hot tower’ characteristics in the equatorial trough zone. Surveys in Geophysics. doi:10.1007/s10712-024-09868-2
Stephens, G., K.A. Shiro, M.Z. Hakuba, H. Takahashi, J. Pilewskie, T. Andrews, C.J. Stubenrauch, and L. Wu (2024). Tropical deep convection, cloud feedbacks and climate sensitivity. Survey of Geophysics,doi:10.1007/s10712-024-09831-1
Pilewskie, J.A. and T.S. L’Ecuyer (2022).The global nature of early-afternoon and late-night convection through the eyes of the A-Train. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 127, e2022JD036438. doi:10.1029/2022JD036438
Wang, X., J.Pilewskie, H. Hsu, and M. Horányi (2016). Plasma Potential in the Sheaths of Electron-Emitting Surfaces in Space. Geophysical Research Letters, 43, 525–531, doi:10.1002/2015GL067175

Teaching/Mentorship and Outreach

AOS Graduate Student Association (GSA) Outreach Committee Member, 2017-2023
Co-supervised (with Tristan L’Ecuyer) undergraduate Kyle Obremski at UW-Madison, 2021-2022
Mentored undergraduate through AOS Mentorship Program, 2020-2021
Teaching Assistant for AOS 441: Radar and Satellite Meteorology, Spring 2020 & 2021
Physics tutor for a personal friend in a Post-Baccalaureate program, 2020
Teaching Assistant for AOS 310: Atmospheric and Ocean Dynamics, Fall 2019
Summer Expeditions Badger Volunteer at UW-Madison, 2018
Physics and math tutor for undergraduate athletes, 2018

Professional Service

Early Career Scientist (ECS) Representative, NASA GISS, 2024-2025
Co-organizer of Convective Tracking Assessment Activity, Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) Data and Analysis Panel, 2025
Session co-convener, Convective Evolution: Processes, Dynamics, Environment, and Links to Weather and Climate, 2025 AMS Annual Meeting
Co-organizer of NASA-INCUS-GEWEX Cloud Tracking Workshop, 2024
Session moderator of 14th International Precipitation Conference Early Career and Student Workshop, 2023
UW-Madison AOS Colloquium Committee Member (Invited), 2019-2022
Session Rapporteur, Earth Observation for Water Cycle Science Conference, 2020
UW-Madison AOS Graduate Student Association (GSA) Facilitator, 2019-2020
Session co-chair, Status of Satellite Products and Data Access: Cloud, 2019 Joint Satellite Conference
UW-Madison AOS GSA Welcome Committee Chair, 2018-2019
UW-Madison AOS Faculty Hiring Committee, 2018-2019

Last Updated: 1/26