After receiving a B.S. in meteorology (2008) and a M.S. in geography (2010) from Northern Illinois University, I am now an Assistant Professor of meteorology at College of DuPage and a doctoral candidate of the University of Georgia under the direction of Dr. Thomas Mote. I have a relatively diverse background, but I consider myself first and foremost an atmospheric scientist. My research interests are primarily rooted in: severe convective storms, synoptic meteorology, applied climatology, GIS techniques, operational meteorology, and hazards.  Currently, I am researching the relationship between historical observed convective variables and those produced by reanalyses datasets.  Of interest is the relative utility of using reanalysis to approximate atmospheric environments conducive to severe convective storms.  Additionally, I am researching aspects surrounding high-resolution dynamical downscaling of global climate model data using the WRF model for purposes of explicitly resolving convection under future SRES emissions scenarios.