Written by: Liz Junod June 5, 2023 Interim Chair for the Department of Atmospheric & Earth Science, Dr. Larry Carey. The College of Science at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), welcomes a new Interim Chair for the Department of Atmospheric & Earth Science, Dr. Larry Carey. Carey is thrilled to be taking on the responsibilities of growing and promoting UAH’s prominent department. He previously held the position from 2014-2018. “It’s important for me to help service a world class undergraduate and graduate program in atmospheric and earth science,” says Carey. Since 2007, Carey has been an instrumental faculty member and research scientist to UAH’s Department of Atmospheric & Earth Sciences and its Earth System Science Center. In addition to Interim Chair, Carey currently serves as the Associate Director of Earth System Science Center and as full-time Professor within the Department of Atmospheric & Earth Science. Throughout his 16-year career at UAH, Carey has authored 61 peer-reviewed research publications, many of which highlight his extensive research on thunderstorms. He has successfully advised seventeen master’s and four doctoral students at UAH and taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in radar meteorology, mesoscale meteorology, precipitation physics and thermodynamics. In 2018, Carey was awarded the prestigious UAH Graduate School Mentor Award for his outstanding commitment to mentoring UAH’s Department of Atmospheric & Earth Science students. “Most, if not all, of our students come in with a deep passion for meteorology, earth science, environmental science. Helping them find their path and their success is my most important goal,” Carey says. As interim chair, Carey’s top priority is to spread the word about UAH’s Department of Atmospheric & Earth Science full-service department from undergraduate to doctorate degrees worldwide. “I want to help the department continue to navigate what it means to be a world-class program in atmospheric and earth science and to make sure faculty and students’ professional and educational objectives are being met. We want our students’ education to set them up for success after graduation to meet the current needs of the private sector, public sector, or onward to graduate or post-doctorate research,” Carey states. UAH’s Department of Atmospheric & Earth Science offers a wide variety of atmospheric and earth science concentrations such as satellite and ground-based remote sensing, lightning, atmospheric chemistry, tropical cyclones, severe weather, global climate, cloud microphysics and dynamics, earth system science, urban climate, environmental science, geographic information systems, geospatial intelligence, and numerical modeling. Recently, The National Science Foundation of Higher Education ranked UAH’s Department of Atmospheric & Earth Science among the top 10 federally funded atmospheric science and meteorology research programs in the nation. UAH’s Department of Atmospheric & Earth Science is located within the same building as UAH’s Earth System Science Center, The National Weather Service of Huntsville, and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Earth Science Division. Being intermingled with numerous atmospheric science projects and research taking place allows UAH’s Atmospheric & Earth Science students to foster collaborations without having to step foot outside UAH’s campus. “The opportunities are endless for Atmospheric & Earth Science students to receive real world experience working as a student specialist or graduate research assistant with these organizations and programs right on campus,” says Carey. As Carey begins his new role, Dr. John Mecikalski will be stepping down as the Department Chair of Atmospheric & Earth Science after serving five years as Department Chair and Interim Chair. Mecikalski will remain at UAH as a Professor within the Department of Atmospheric and Earth Science. With Carey’s passion to enrich the lives of students with the department and his dedication to atmospheric science research, UAH’s College of Science is excited to have him as interim Chair of the Department of Atmospheric & Earth Science.
