Dr. Renee McPherson
Submitted by gina on Tue, 2013-09-10 14:27
EPSCoR Research Focus:
Forecasting System * Decision-Support System
Associate Professor
Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability
University of Oklahoma
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Education:
B.S. | Mathematics and Meteorology with Honors | University of Wisconsin-Madison | 1987
M.S. | Meteorology | University of Oklahoma | 1991
Ph.D. | Meteorology | University of Oklahoma | 2003
Research Interests:
Dr. Renee A. McPherson serves as the OU lead researcher on the Oklahoma EPSCoR Adapting Socio-Ecological Systems to Increased Climate Variability RII award.
She is Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oklahoma (OU) and University Director of the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (formerly South Central Climate Science Center). She also is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Meteorology at OU. Dr. McPherson holds a B.S. in Mathematics and a B.S, M.S., and Ph.D. in Meteorology. Her research includes the societal and ecological impacts of climate variability and change, regional and applied climatology, mesoscale meteorology, severe local storms, land-air-vegetation interactions, surface observing systems, and applied meteorology. She teaches classes in climatology and physical geography, advises graduate students in their research and education, and mentors undergraduate students who are interested in research opportunities. Formerly, she was State Climatologist of Oklahoma and Acting Director of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey.
Dr. McPherson oversees the Consortium-related activities of the South Central Climate Science Center, as a co-governing partner of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Activities include coordination with USGS Headquarters, our USGS Director, our Consortium (Texas Tech University, Oklahoma State University, Chickasaw Nation, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Louisiana State University, and NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory), and the seven other Climate Science Centers. She has been principal or co-investigator on over $45 million of grants and contracts from federal and state agencies, universities, private companies, or non-governmental organizations. Dr. McPherson is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the American Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union, Association of American Geographers, American Association of State Climatologists, and Society of Environmental Journalists. She was co-recipient of the Innovations in American Government Award (Harvard University) and Environmental Achievement Award (U.S. Department of the Interior), and she received the Vice President for Research Norman Campus Outstanding Research Engagement Award.
ORCID: 0000-0002-1497-9681
Pictured (above/right): Dr. Renee McPherson poses in Croatia, where she worked on a research project
Teaching Responsibilities:
GEOG 1114: Introduction to Physical Geography
GEOG 4273: Regional Climatology
GEOG 4970: Applied Climatology
Research Assistants Funded by EPSCoR:
Aparna Bamzai (Staff)
Dept. of Geography and Environmental Sustainability, University of Oklahoma
Research Focus: Working on South Central Climate Science Center initiatives in conjunction with OK NSF EPSCoR.
Email: [email protected]
Xiamoning Hu (Staff)
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma
Research Focus: Generating a high-resolution regional climate simulation, with focus on the Great Plains; diagnosing the model precipitation bias, particularly in terms of the location of precipitation.
Email: [email protected]
Toni Klemm (Graduate Student)
Dept. of Geography and Environmental Sustainability, University of Oklahoma
Research Focus: Studying agricultural decision-making to improve seasonal climate forecasts for winter wheat producers in the U.S. winter wheat belt (TX, OK, KS, CO).
Email: [email protected]
Kim Merryman (Staff)
South Central Climate Science Center, University of Oklahoma
Research Focus: Facilitating planning and organization of outreach initiatives, including grant-writing workshops and presentations for Native American tribes in our region and New Mexico.
Email: [email protected]
Esther Mullens (Post-Doctoral Fellow)
South Central Climate Science Center, University of Oklahoma
Research Focus: Developing datasets for freezing precipitation; participating in outreach, including hosting a booth at the EPSCoR Women in Science Conference.
Email: [email protected]
Derek Rosendahl (Post-Doctoral Fellow)
South Central Climate Science Center, University of Oklahoma
Research Focus: Assessing uncertainties in the Global Climate Model (GCM) future climate change projections to inform regional climate modeling and local/regional impacts research; managing climate data for EPSCoR and other researchers across the South-Central US.
Email: [email protected]
April Taylor (Staff)
South Central Climate Science Center, Chickasaw Nation
Research Focus: Assisting with and participating in outreach, including the Climate Science Grant Writing Workshops for Tribal Professionals, Tribal College Conference Series on Climate Change, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Jones Academy STEM camp, and developing a guidebook for Working in Indian Country.
Email: [email protected]
Key Publications:
- Klockow, K. E., and R. A. McPherson, 2013: A spatio-temporal analysis of tornado warning response: Potential implications of Warn-on-Forecast. Appl. Geog., in review.
- Klockow, K. E., and R. A. McPherson, 2013: Tornado risk perception in space and time. Wea., Clim. Soc., in review.
- Klockow, K. E., R. Peppler, and R. A. McPherson, 2013: Tornado folk science in Alabama and Mississippi in the 27 April 2011 tornado outbreak. GeoJournal, in review.
- McPherson, R. A., 2013: Vegetation-atmosphere interactions: Impacts of Oklahoma’s winter wheat crop on temperature and moisture fields. J. Appl. Meteor. Clim., in review.
- Qiao, L., Y. Hong, R. McPherson, M. Shafer, S. Chen, D. Williams, D. Gade, and D. Lilly, 2013: Climate change and hydrological response in the trans-state Oologah Lake watershed – Evaluating dynamically downscaled NARCCAP and statistically downscaled CMIP3 simulations with VIC model. Water Resour. Manag., in review.
- Boone, K. M., R. A. McPherson, M. B. Richman, and D. J. Karoly, 2012: Spatial coherence of rainfall variations using the Oklahoma Mesonet. Intl J. Clim., 32, 843-853. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/joc.2322/abstract)
- McPherson, R. A., J. D. Lane, K. C. Crawford, and W. G. McPherson Jr., 2011: A climatological analysis of heatbursts in Oklahoma (1994 – 2009). Intl J. Clim., 31, 531-544. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/joc.2087/abstract)
- Klockow, K. E., R. A. McPherson, and D. Sutter, 2010: On the economic nature of crop production decisions using the Oklahoma Mesonet. Weather, Climate, and Society, 2, 224–236. (http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/2010WCAS1034.1)
- Fiebrich, C. A., C. R. Morgan, A. G. McCombs, P. K. Hall, Jr., and R. A. McPherson, 2010: Quality assurance procedures for mesoscale meteorological data. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 27, 1565–1582. (http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/2010JTECHA1433.1)
- Basara, J. B., B. G. Illston, C. A. Fiebrich, P. Browder, C. Morgan, A. McCombs, R. A. McPherson, A. Schroeder, & K. C. Crawford, 2010: The Oklahoma City Micronet. Meteorol. Appl., 18, 252-261. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/met.189/abstract)
- Arndt, D. A., J. B. Basara, R. A. McPherson, B. G. Illston, G. D. McManus, and D. B. Demko, 2009: The overland reintensification of Tropical Storm Erin (2007). Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 90, 1079–1093. (http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/2009BAMS2644.1)
- McPherson, R. A., 2007: A review of vegetation–atmosphere interactions and their influences on mesoscale phenomena. Prog. Phys. Geog., 31, 261-285. (http://ppg.sagepub.com/content/31/3/261.abstract)
- McPherson, R. A., C. Fiebrich, K. C. Crawford, R. L. Elliott, J. R. Kilby, D. L. Grimsley, J. E. Martinez, J. B. Basara, B. G. Illston, D. A. Morris, K. A. Kloesel, S. J. Stadler, A. D. Melvin, A.J. Sutherland, and H. Shrivastava, 2007: Statewide monitoring of the mesoscale environment: A technical update on the Oklahoma Mesonet. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 24, 301–321. (http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JTECH1976.1)
- Fiebrich, C. A., D. L. Grimsley, R. A. McPherson, K. A. Kesler, and G. R. Essenberg, 2006: The value of routine site visits in managing and maintaining quality data from the Oklahoma Mesonet. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 23, 406–416. (http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JTECH1852.1)
- McPherson, R. A., and D. J. Stensrud, 2005: Influences of a winter wheat belt on the evolution of the boundary layer. Mon. Wea. Rev., 133, 2178–2199. (http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/MWR2968.1)
- McPherson, R. A., D. J. Stensrud, and K. C. Crawford, 2004: The impact of Oklahoma’s winter wheat belt on the mesoscale environment. Mon. Wea. Rev., 132, 405-421. (http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/1520-0493%282004%29132%3C0405%3ATIOOWW%3E2.0.CO%3B2)
- McPherson, R. A., and K. Crawford, 1996: The EARTHSTORM Project: Encouraging the use of real-time data from the Oklahoma Mesonet in K-12 classrooms. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77, 749-761. (http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/1520-0477(1996)077%3C0749%3AEA%3E2.0.CO%3B2)
Presentations:
Curriculum Vitae:
