Marqi Rocque receives NASA Future Investigators fellowship

Marqi Rocque has been selected for a Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) fellowship. Her proposal was one of 58 selected out of 351 submitted for the Earth science division of the FINESST competition.

Rocque will work with her adviser, Assistant Professor Kristen Rasmussen, to investigate the relationship between storm electrification, kinematics and microphysics and provide insight into how satellite-based lightning observations from the Geostationary Lightning Mapper can improve forecasts and the predictability of severe weather. They also will explore the impacts a warming climate will have on storm location, duration and intensity in subtropical South America.

“Having this award gives me the flexibility to explore a new topic that I have always been interested in but haven’t been able to study,” Rocque said. “I am looking forward to learning about different and novel ways of observing and modeling the electrical properties of severe storms, especially in subtropical South America where some of the most intense thunderstorms on Earth are known to occur.”