Faculty feature: Neil Lareau, Ph.D.

Atmospheric scientist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics Neil Lareau's research specializes in mountain weather and wildfire plume dynamics and examines atmospheric dynamics across a range of scales. He recently authored paper in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters documenting the rare and deadly firenado that occurred at the Carr Fire in July of 2018. His findings were reported on by National Geographic, WIRED, the Los Angeles Times, the Smithsonian and more, and may help forecasters and scientists identify – and potentially warn – for future destructive fire-generated vortices.