Russ Schumacher – Professor and Colorado State Climatologist
Phone: 970-491-8084
Email: Russ.Schumacher@colostate.edu
Research and teaching website
Career Overview
Russ Schumacher received his B.S. with majors in meteorology and humanities from Valparaiso University in Indiana in 2001. He received his M.S. in 2003 and Ph.D. in 2008 from the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. His graduate research examined the processes that cause mesoscale convective systems to produce extreme precipitation. Russ received an Advanced Study Program Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and spent 2008-09 at NCAR in Boulder. From 2009-11, Russ was Assistant Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University. He joined the CSU faculty in August 2011. He received the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation in 2010, and was selected as Outstanding Professor of the Year by the students of the department in 2012. He was selected to receive the Editor’s Award for the journals Monthly Weather Review and Weather and Forecasting in 2015. Russ was promoted to Associate Professor at CSU in July 2016 and Professor in July 2022. He currently serves as Editor of the journal Monthly Weather Review. Along with his faculty position in the Department of Atmospheric Science, Russ serves as the Colorado State Climatologist and director of the Colorado Climate Center.
Teaching Interests
- Mesoscale meteorology
- Synoptic meteorology
- Severe weather
- Numerical weather prediction
Research Interests
Mesoscale meteorology, mesoscale convective systems, weather analysis and forecasting, the climatology of precipitation, precipitation extremes, flash floods, and societal impacts of weather.
Research Sponsors
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET)
Awards, Honors, and Positions
- 2017 – Named Colorado State Climatologist and director of the Colorado Climate Center
- 2015 – Editors Award for the American Meteorological Society journals Monthly Weather Review and Weather and Forecasting
- 2012 – Outstanding Professor of the Year Award, CSU Department of Atmospheric Science
- 2010 – National Science Foundation CAREER award
- 2005 – “Paper of Note,” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society