NOAA and ARL appreciate the commitment and effort spent by our external reviewers. The conclusions of the review team are available in the: Summary Report of the Review of the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory

The 2022 Review Panel includes:


Review Chair: John T. Walker
Title: Senior Chemist U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development
Staff Profile/Link to website: Walker
Relevance: Dr. Walker’s research interests include: measurement and modeling of atmosphere-biosphere exchange of mass and energy, measurement and modeling of trace gas emissions from natural and agricultural sources, measurement and modeling of trace gas and particle air-surface exchange in agricultural and forest landscapes, biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen, processes of secondary aerosol formation in the atmosphere, and micrometeorology.

Reviewers

Erik Kabela
Meteorologist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Staff Profile: Kabela
Research Theme Expertise: Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion
Erik Kabela is a Meteorologist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Division. His current research and development focuses in a wide range of atmospheric science contexts, including meteorological modeling, transport and dispersion modeling, emergency response, data collection and analysis, meteorological instrumentation, and radar. Prior to joining Oak Ridge, Erik spent 5 years at the Savannah River National Laboratory in the Atmospheric Technologies Group.

Rohit Mathur
Senior Scientist, EPA’s National Exposure Research Laboratory
Staff Profile: Mathur
Research Theme Expertise: Surface Exchange
Dr. Mathur studies a number of methods to represent the physical and chemical behavior of atmospheric pollutants in comprehensive modeling frameworks. Through a multidisciplinary approach involving physical, numerical and computational modeling, my work has focused on continually enhancing the science in air quality models through exploring the development of novel new modeling methodologies.

Susan O’Neill
Research Air Quality Engineer,  US Forest Service
Staff Profile: O’Neill
Research Theme Expertise: Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion
Dr. O’Neill studies the impact of hazardous fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations for extended periods, primarily due to wildfires. She also studies the processes that influence wildland fires and the effects of fires, including the natural role of wildland fire, forest management, ignitions, emissions, transport, chemistry, and human health impacts.

Astrid Suarez 
Chief, Analysis Branch, Meteorological Modeling and Analysis Mission Air Force Technical Applications Center
Research Theme Expertise: Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion
Astrid Suarez, Ph.D., serves as Analysis Branch Chief for the Meteorological Modeling and Analysis Mission at the Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick AFB, FL. She earned her B.S in Meteorology from Western Kentucky University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Suarez currently leads a team of meteorologists in support of a national security mission that monitors worldwide nuclear treaty compliance and nuclear surprises. Her work primarily focuses on improving numerical weather prediction and atmospheric transport and dispersion applications for nuclear monitoring efforts. She regularly serves as a national-level expert for work with major universities, national laboratories, and other U.S. government agencies and has been the recipient of various institutional awards.

Peter Thorne
Professor in Physical Geography (Climate Change) at Maynooth University in Ireland & Director of the Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS group (ICARUS); Director of ICARUS,
Department of Geography, Maynooth University, Co. Kildare, Ireland.
Staff Profile/Link to website: Thorne
Research Theme Expertise: Boundary Layer Characterization
Dr. Thorne is a climate scientist and researches observed climate changes globally. He co-chair of the GCOS Working Group on the Global Climate Observing System Reference Upper Air Network (GRUAN) to implement a high quality reference network of traceable and comparable measurement capabilities at a subset of global locations in support of monitoring, characterizing broader aspects of the global observing system (including satellites) and process understanding. He was a Lead Author on 5th Assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the 2014 US National Climate Assessment and also served as a Lead Author on the US CCSP1.1 report on atmospheric temperature trends.

David D. Turner
Title: Lead, Model Assessment Section, Assimilation Development Branch, Global Systems Division, Earth Systems Research Laboratory
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Staff Profile: Turner
Research Theme Expertise: Boundary Layer Characterization
Dr. Turner is an expert on the boundary layer and land-atmosphere interactions, including turbulent interactions and the how the land surface affects cloud properties and vice versa. He conducts research on the boundary layer thermodynamic and dynamic structure, diurnal evolution, convection and convective initiation, and other processes via passive and active remote sensing of boundary layer.

Reviewers by Research Theme


Surface Atmosphere Exchange

Rohit Mathur
John Walker

Boundary Layer Characterization

Dave Turner
Peter Thorne

Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion

Susan O’Neill
Eric Kabela
Astrid Suarez Mullins