University of Michigan - Climate & Space

"The MEng program [in Climate Impacts & Solutions] at Michigan attracted me for a few reasons. First, the hands-on project and getting experience really appealed to me. I also knew that the program would be fairly small, allowing me more individual focus from professors and faculty as well as with my fellow classmates." Alumnus Brian Cromwell '24 shares his experience mastering in climate impacts and solutions, and going on to work for the National Weather Service.

Read more: https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/2026/06/09/climate-impacts/

U-M Climate Impacts & Solutions Alumnus Says Nothing Quite Compares to MEng Degree - Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering The MEng in Climate Impacts & Solutions prepared Alumnus Brian Cromwell for his career at the National Weather Service, where he creates warnings and watches for hazardous weather.

Congratulations to our new Ph.D.! We are proud of you, and we can't wait to see what you accomplish, Dr. Erica Whiting!

Read more: https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/2026/06/08/congratulations-to-our-new-phd-5/

Owen Hughes, a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, has been selected for the prestigious Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program. He will work on research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, with a focus on Earth system model development.

Read more: https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/2026/06/01/u-s-department-of-energy-selects-u-m-doctoral-candidate-for-office-of-science-program/
Michigan Engineering

U.S. Department of Energy Selects U-M Doctoral Candidate for Office of Science Program - Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering Owen Hughes, who is studying at University of Michigan Climate and Space, has been selected for the prestigious DOE Office of Science research program.

"It’s as if you could install an airbag in the magnetosphere,” says Assistant Professor Daniel Welling, a co-author on the study and space physicist at the University of Michigan Department of Climate and Space. Could a radical new idea block solar storms from impacting Earth's atmosphere with gases released from satellites, to create a kind of protective "airbag"?

Read more in Science: https://www.science.org/content/article/radical-proposal-would-block-solar-storms-orbital-airbag

Radical proposal would block solar storms with orbital ‘airbag’ Gases released from satellites could slash the threat of severe space weather

"Scientific fields advance by connecting pieces that are often studied separately—stars and their activity, planets and their atmospheres and magnetospheres—and those connections are hard to establish from individual papers alone. A good book synthesizes what we know across those interfaces, makes assumptions and terminology explicit, and highlights where knowledge gaps exist." — U-M Professor Xianzhe Jia

In honor of the 70th anniversary of the AGU Books Program, Eos interviewed three members who have served on the Books Board since its founding in 2020, including Dr. Xianzhe Jia, who is a space physicist and professor at University of Michigan Climate and Space. The Editorial Board members discussed their favorite projects and why books remain important within the scientific literature which is dominated by journals.

Read the article in Eos: https://eos.org/editors-vox/the-editorial-board-marks-the-latest-chapter-in-agu-books

Michigan Engineering

The Editorial Board Marks the Latest Chapter in AGU Books - Eos In honor of the AGU Book Program’s 70th anniversary, Editorial Board members reflect on their involvement over recent years and the importance of books in scholarly literature.

The U.S. Department of Energy has selected doctoral candidate Owen Hughes, who is studying at University of Michigan Climate & Space, for the prestigious Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program. SCGSR prepares doctoral candidates for careers of critical importance to the Office of Science’s mission of transforming our understanding of nature and advancing the energy, economic, and national security of the U.S.

Read more: https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/2026/06/01/u-s-department-of-energy-selects-u-m-doctoral-candidate-for-office-of-science-program/
Michigan Engineering

U.S. Department of Energy Selects U-M Doctoral Candidate for Office of Science Program - Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering Owen Hughes, who is studying at University of Michigan Climate and Space, has been selected for the prestigious DOE Office of Science research program.

Many of our graduate students at U-M Climate and Space are receiving the NASA FINESST grant, a prestigious award for Future Investigators of NASA Earth and Space Science Technology! Alexandra Roosnovo has been selected with her project “Comparative Magnetospheres: Modeling Observed Plasma Interchange at the Gas Giants.”

Congratulations, Alexandra!

Read more: https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/2026/05/12/roosnovo-receives-nasa-finesst-grant-to-study-gas-giants-and-their-magnetospheres/

Students! Did you know you could become a U-M student delegate to COP31, for the United Nations Climate Change Conference? Applications are now open. Apply to attend COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9-20, 2026, with the University of Michigan student delegation!

The deadline to apply is May 31st. For more details and eligibility, visit Climate Blue: https://climateblue.org/
Direct link to the application: https://myumi.ch/pgDyJ

Meet our students who have been selected to receive NASA’s prestigious FINESST award! Dinan Bai, a graduate student in the University of Michigan Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, has been selected to receive the NASA FINESST grant (Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science Technology) for his project “Calibration and Field Deployment of a Polarimetric GNSS-R Microwave Sensor on a Drone Platform for Earth Land Remote Sensing.”

Read more: https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/2026/05/12/bai-selected-for-nasa-finesst-grant-to-study-field-deployment-of-gnss-r-sensors-on-a-drone-platform-for-remote-sensing/

Could you survive inside a tornado? One professor who worked at University of Michigan Climate and Space — and studies tornados — experienced this natural disaster and lived to tell the tale. Professor Emeritus Perry Samson has been featured in The Conversation, and was also recently interviewed on NPR's "Here & Now." Read the story or visit our website to see more interviews and headlines!

"Can You Survive Inside a Tornado?" by The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/can-you-survive-inside-a-tornado-this-scientist-did-by-accident-hes-lucky-to-be-alive-278648

In the media: https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/category/in-the-media/

Can you survive inside a tornado? This scientist did by accident – he’s lucky to be alive When you’re inside a vortex, your body experiences things the news cameras can’t capture.