Dr. Udaysankar Nair, an assistant professor in UAH's Atmospheric Science Department, has been awarded an almost $750,000 Faculty Early Career Development grant from the National Science Foundation. The five-year grant will support both a study of land use and land cover changes on Asian islands, how those changes might be altering weather patterns and a multi-disciplinary project to develop new tools for teaching atmospheric dynamics. Nair is the first atmospheric science faculty member to receive an NSF CAREER award. One of the NSF's most prestigious awards, grants through the CAREER program support junior faculty who are establishing their careers in research and education.