Research Interests:

As the current acting Director for the Global Systems Division at NOAA ESRL, Jennifer is responsible for carrying forward the mission statement of GSD, which is to conduct world-class applied research and directed development resulting in technology transfer of environmental data, models, products, and services that enhance environmental understanding with the outcome of supporting commerce, supporting NWS in protecting life and property, and promoting a scientifically literate public.

Research areas under GSD include:

• Perform research and development of regional and global Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models and data assimilation techniques for research applications and operational forecasting using convection allowing models including the FV3 dynamic core. Perform evaluations of existing and new observations and assimilate new data into weather prediction models.
• Develop environmental information systems with tools for collecting, processing, displaying, sharing, and disseminating environmental data for use by forecasters, analysts, and researchers.
• Develop decision-support systems to provide information needed to enable decision makers to utilize and improve high-impact weather and water forecasts, in order to mitigate aviation hazards, recognize and advise public on potential adverse health impacts due to air quality, support the renewable energy industry, and reduce loss of life and property. Integrate social science into the development process.
• Explore new hardware and software technologies to run high-resolution weather models more quickly and accurately on High-Performance Computing systems (HPC). Research includes working with modelers during development to ensure that software is designed to take advantage of the latest developments in HPC system architectures.