Meet our Undergraduate Alumni

What attracted you to do your degree at Mason? It was a brand new program with a lot of opportunity. While the program is new and is still growing, it is very comprehensive and sets students up for success in any career path. I would highly recommend this program to any student interested in meteorology. 

What have you been doing since you graduated from George Mason? I went on to earn a masters degree at Ball state university where I focused on winter weather and teleconnections. After graduating, I started my career at the NWS sterling field support center as a contractor supporting the ASOS improvement project. After moving on from that role, I moved up to supporting the JPSS/LEO satellite program within NESDIS where I work on stakeholder engagement.

What were your favorite experiences while studying at George Mason? I am a swimmer so one of my favorite memories from George Mason was being on the club swim team. It was a nice way to disconnect and relax after a long day of deriving equations. While the program was new, the department is filled with well known scientists in the climate community. I had to read a book about the history of meteorology at Ball State and Dr. Shukla was quoted in this book. I believe it was his simple quote "climate is what you expect and weather is what you get". I also really like the local connections to NOAA. I had the opportunity to volunteer at the WPC as well as the Sterling WFO. I loved both opportunities

What attracted you to do your degree at George Mason? The faculty! I was looking for a faculty that would be accessible compared to the program size, and all professors are well distinguished and very knowledgeable in their field. 

What have you been doing since you graduated from George Mason? I completed a master's in Sustainable Engineering at Villanova University, then another master's in Energy and Environment Management at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. I worked for a few years with lidars in industry, and I am now doing a PhD on marine boundary layer measurements with scanning lidars for wind energy applications. 

What were your favorite experiences while studying at Mason e.g. classes, student organizations, research or internship opportunities? I enjoyed being a part of the Weather club/AMS chapter at GMU, as well as the major specific courses like extreme weather and thermodynamics. 

Growing up just north of Richmond, Virginia, Reilly chose to attend George Mason University to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Atmospheric Sciences. After spending a year working in local government, he returned to George Mason University to continue his studies in the Climate Science Master’s Program.

During his time in the Climate Science Master’s Program, he initially participated in the Climate Science Master’s Fellowship before joining the Virginia Climate Center as a Graduate Research Assistant. In that role, he contributed to projects focused on renewable energy solutions and floodplain management. He also conducted independent research examining recent precipitation and flooding trends in the James River Watershed.

What attracted you to do your degree at George Mason? I was attracted to the AOES and the Climate Dynamics departments at George Mason because of the unique soft skills that the atmospheric science degree presented and potential of working on projects beyond just coursework.

What have you been doing since you graduated from George Mason? I have been working for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) as an Oceanographer. I work on the deconfliction, modeling, and statistical analysis of oceanic variables that impact the safety of navigation mission at NGA.

What were your favorite experiences while studying at George Mason? One of my favorite experiences was being apart of Dr. Burls research team during my tenure as a Bachelor's Accelerated Master's Student (BAMS) that enhanced my academic career by providing real research experience that fused real-world data and theory that resulted in a valuable contribution to the scientific community.