Karen Kosiba has always been fascinated by the world around her.  As a child she collected caterpillars, built model bridges, took lots of photos, and stayed up late watching lightning.  When she started college, she considered careers in architecture, patent law, and veterinary medicine, but ultimately decided that observational studies of severe weather (somehow) combined all of her interests. Karen now the Managing Director of the F.A.R.M. (Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets) Facility and is an Adjunct Research Professor at the University of Illinois. Her research mainly focuses on the kinematics and dynamics of severe convective storms, characterizing the low-level wind structure in tornadoes, and understanding the boundary layer winds and small-scale structures in landfalling hurricanes. Key to her research is executing field projects to collect data that can be analyzed to better understand and predict these hazardous weather events.  A strong believer in experiencing weather from the inside of a mobile weather radar, she has participated as a radar operator, project scientist, and project leader in a multitude of field projects. She has collected data in over 100 tornadoes and has deployed radars in nine hurricanes. Additionally, she is passionate about science education, regularly participating in outreach activities at schools, museums, and festivals, and in media interviews.  She has a B.S. and an M.S. in Physics, an M.A.T in Teacher Education, and a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science.

A quick disclaimer about this interview, which was originally recorded in November 2022 –  while the project references are good, the timing on the projects is going to sound a bit off. Please take note of this when dates are referenced in the discussion. 

The Girls Who Chase Podcast is recorded and edited by Jen Walton. “Badlands” - our music - is by Lori Bailey and Inês Lobo. 

“Motivation Orchestra” for Spring Training promo is licensed via Envato.

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