ASCENT scholarship funds graduate students’ international research

Atmospheric science graduate students Jingyuan Li and Rung Panasawatwong will receive funding from the Assisting Students, Cultivating Excellence, Nurturing Talent (ASCENT) program to pursue research opportunities outside the United States. This department scholarship was established to enrich the graduate experience, often through international travel.

Li, a Ph.D. student in Professor Dave Thompson’s research group, will use her funding to travel to Bergen, Norway for two months this fall to work with Camille Li, an expert in large-scale atmospheric dynamics. She will investigate relationships between midlatitude circulation and surface temperature variability, especially in relation to extreme heat events.

“I believe working with Dr. Li’s group will greatly help and enhance my Ph.D. work,” Li said. “I will also be able to meet and discuss with many scientists at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Bergen and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research in Bergen, two of the best climate institutes in the world.”

Ph.D. student Panasawatwong, advised by Professors Michael Bell and Kristen Rasmussen, applied for an ASCENT scholarship to develop skills as a field campaign researcher and extend her stay on a field study in Japan next summer. Panasawatwong will be part of the Yonaguni island team for the Prediction of Rainfall Extremes Campaign In the Pacific, or PRECIP.

Read the full Source article, “ASCENT scholarship funds atmospheric science graduate students’ international research.”

Photo at top: The Department of Atmospheric Science granted ASCENT scholarships to Ph.D. candidates Rung Panasawatwong, left, and Jingyuan Li to support their proposed international research projects.