Melissa Gervais
Dr. Melissa Gervais is an assistant professor in the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science and a Co-Hire of the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences at Penn State. Prior to joining Penn State in September 2018, she worked as a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University. She received her BSc and MSc from the University of Toronto and her PhD from McGill University, working with Bruno Tremblay and John Gyakum.
Outside of academia, Melissa is an avid dancer. She also enjoys musical theatre, biking, cooking, and ultimate frisbee.
Current Group Members
Grant LaChat – PhD Student
Grant graduated with his B.S. in Meteorology and a minor in Energy, Business, and Finance from Penn State in May 2021. He completed work with the Aviation Weather Center as an Ernest F. Hollings Scholar during the summer of 2020 and was a Pathways Student at the National Weather Service office in Phoenix, Arizona during the summer of 2021. Grant is currently conducting work with Dr. Kevin Bowley and Dr. Melissa Gervais on the implications of Rossby Wave Breaking (RWB) on climate and synoptic-dynamic scales by using the machine learning method of self-organizing maps (SOM). Grant’s research interests include continued understanding of the intersection between synoptic meteorology and atmospheric dynamics and the impact of weather on the National Aerospace System. Outside of academics, Grant enjoys all types of team sports and being active.
Jack Stone – PhD Student
Jack received his Bachelor of Science degrees in Meteorology and Geography from University of Delaware in Spring 2021. While at UD, Jack studied the impacts of sea ice loss in the Antarctic on local atmospheric variability and was president of the local AMS student chapter. At Penn State, Jack is working under Dr. Gervais, with a focus on tracking and characterizing cold air outbreaks and quantifying changes in cold air outbreaks due to future sea ice loss. Jack’s research interests include the influence of long-term climate changes on synoptic weather patterns and the large-scale interactions between the atmosphere and cryosphere.
Angela Poulos – MS Student
Angela received her Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in 2023, with a minor in Marine Sciences. While at Rutgers, she studied the development and characteristics of marine boundary layer stratocumulus clouds over the Eastern North Atlantic as a member of the George H. Cook Scholars Program. Angela is currently working under the guidance of Dr. Melissa Gervais, studying the impacts of Arctic sea ice loss on atmospheric variability over North America using self-organizing maps. Her research interests broadly include climate dynamics and air-sea interactions.
Asha Spencer – IUG Student
Asha will graduate with her Bachelor’s in Meteorology and Atmospheric Science from Penn State in 2025, and is working under Dr. Gervais to pursue her Master’s degree. She completed work with the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory as an Ernest F. Hollings Scholar during the summer of 2024 and was a William M. Lapenta intern at the U.S. National Ice Center during the summer of 2023. With Dr. Gervais, Asha is working on sea ice-atmosphere interactions over the Hudson Bay and their impacts on cold air outbreaks. Asha’s research interests include atmospheric and climate dynamics and air-sea interactions.
Former Group Members
Qinxue (Sharon) Gu – PhD Student
Sharon received her Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Science from Zhejiang University in 2018. While at ZJU, she studied the impact of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation on autumn droughts in North China as well as the wet-to-dry decadal changes over the Sichuan Basin. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. under the guidance of Dr. Gervais, working on investigating decadal variability and prediction using self-organizing maps. Her research interests include air-sea interactions, climate dynamics, and decadal prediction.
Samantha Staskiewicz – MS Student
Samantha received her Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from The College of New Jersey in 2019 with a specialization in Geophysics and minor in Environmental Studies. During her time at TCNJ, Samantha worked with a team of students launching weather balloons to capture ice crystals from cirrus clouds and study their surface characteristics. At Penn State, Samantha works under Dr. Gervais researching how Arctic sea ice loss impacts atmospheric variability. Outside of research, her academic interests include environmental policy and scientific writing.
Jian Sun – Postdoc
Matthew Williams – MSc Student
Thesis Title: “Causes and Impacts of Sea Ice Variability in the Sea of Okhotsk Using CESM-LE”