This photo of Todd Jones was taken on a hiking trip in the Roosevelt National Forest in northern Colorado.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of Ellen Jones

Todd Jones

I first became interested in studying science and math in about the 8th grade when I discovered my love for reading maps (specifically weather maps) and graphs and plots.  Plus, I grew up in Northeast Ohio where there was a much-revered television weather man who happened to have gone to the same school system that I was in.  So that influence was strong. 

I am a PhD student at Colorado State University where I am studying the use of cloud-resolving models to represent the effects of clouds on the weather in global models.  "What does that mean?", you might ask.  Well, when we use computer models of the atmosphere that cover the whole planet, we have to simplify the representation of things like how rain forms, what happens to turbulent winds, and anything else that happens over short distances so that the computer can finish its simulation in a reasonable amount of time. Models that only cover small areas of the world (like cloud-resolving models) can include more detailed information about that small-scale stuff.   So I use these "cloud-scale" models, let them react to the weather on the larger scale, and then tell the "global-scale" about how the clouds responded and acted to change the larger scale weather.  It is important to have detailed information about what the clouds are doing because they have such a strong effect on the weather and climate through radiation, precipitation, and the energy in the atmosphere.  Researching and improving modeling techniques like this will make weather predictions better and better so that we will be able to "believe the weather man" a little bit more than we can right now. 

I find my work rewarding in that, somewhere down the line, I know that it is going to help someone in some way.  Outside of work, my wife and I love to go hiking, backpacking, biking, and visit all the interesting places around Fort Collins, all with two kids in tow.

Last modified May 9, 2008 by Becca Hatheway.

You might also be interested in:

Traveling Nitrogen Classroom Activity Kit

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

Rain

Rain is precipitation that falls to the Earth in drops of 5mm or more in diameter according to the US National Weather Service. Virga is rain that evaporates before reaching the ground. Raindrops form...more

Wind

Wind is moving air. Warm air rises, and cool air comes in to take its place. This movement creates different pressures in the atmosphere which creates the winds around the globe. Since the Earth spins,...more

Radiation

Radiation comes in two basic types: electromagnetic radiation transmitted by photons, and particle radiation consisting of electrons, protons, alpha particles, and so forth. Electromagnetic radiation,...more

People in the Atmospheric Sciences

Atmospheric science includes the study of the atmosphere, its processes, the effects other systems have on the atmosphere, and the effects of the atmosphere on these other systems. The people who study...more

Jim Benedict

I have always been curious about how things in nature work. Growing up in New England, my house was sometimes hit by thunderstorms, hurricanes, and snowstorms that always seemed to amaze me. I became interested...more

Todd Jones

I first became interested in studying science and math in about the 8th grade when I discovered my love for reading maps (specifically weather maps) and graphs and plots.  Plus, I grew up in Northeast...more

Rachel McCrary

I am a graduate student at Colorado State University and I study drought. For my masters thesis, I am using global climate models to study drought over the Great Plains of the United States. I am most...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA