Grad Student Brian Tang Receives Simpson Postdoctoral Fellowship

We are pleased to announce that Brian Tang has been awarded this year's Joanne and Bob Simpson Postdoctoral Fellowship. This award, based on an individual's cumulative research and other academic accomplishments, letter of recommendation and a research proposal, is a testament to Tang's accomplished research in the field of tropical cyclone dynamics.

Speaking with Tang recently, I quizzed him about how he came to choose PAOC for grad school. He answered, "I grew up in Denver, CO but also lived in Houston, TX and Irvine, CA through middle and high school. I received my undegrad. degrees from UCLA in atmospheric & oceanic science and applied mathematics with a specialization in computing. My undergrad. research advisor was David Neelin. As an undergrad., I studied how El Nino induced tropospheric warming in the N. Atlantic reduces seasonal tropical cyclone frequency and intensity. I chose PAOC primarily because I wanted to research tropical cyclones and I knew Kerry [Emanuel] was a very highly regarded scientist in that area. I remember when I visited as a prospective student, I had lunch with Jim Hansen (now at NRL), Kerry, and Ed Lorenz, and it was incredible as a young student to be sitting at a table with those three individuals hearing them talk about science. I also felt comfortable talking with the remainder of the faculty and students at that time, and I knew the curriculum was going to really prepare me well to succeed. In the end, it was an easy choice to attend." Asked what he is working on right now, he explained, "I am still working on ventilation in tropical cyclones, but I have switched my focus from theory to modeling and observations. I've developed an axisymmetric hurricane model to test some of the theoretical results. I'm also looking at the problem empirically by studying whether ventilation affects both the genesis and intensity of tropical cyclones in the observed data. Lastly, I've been looking at projections of how ventilation will change in GCMs and thereby potentially affect tropical cyclone statistics." And in the future? As a postdoc, Tang says he plans to look in more depth at tropical cyclogenesis- particularly how vertical wind shear and downdrafts affect the development of incipient disturbances. He also plans to expand his current thesis work by analyzing output from 3D models of tropical cyclones embedded in vertical wind shear, specifically analyzing aspects of the tropical cyclone in the context of the ventilation theory. His ultimate goal, he says, is to better understand what drives tropical cyclone intensity to improve models and observational targeting so that better intensity and genesis predictions can be made as these are areas where we still have little skill.