Education

• PhD – Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL – expected Spring 2027
• MA – Secondary Education in Physics, Western Governors University, Salt Lake City, UT – 2020
• Educator Licensure Secondary Science, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL – 2015–2017
• Graduate Coursework – Nuclear Engineering, University of Idaho, Idaho Falls, ID – 2009–2010
• BA – Physics: Astrophysics, Math Minor, Carthage College, Kenosha, WI – 2005–2009

Research Experience

• Doctoral Researcher (PhD Candidate) - Weather, Climate, and Society Research Group, NIU, DeKalb, IL, 2022–Present
  • Leading research on Earth's atmospheric angular momentum, global torque budgets, and large-scale circulation variability using ERA5 reanalysis
  • Investigating connections between atmospheric dynamics, climate variability, and subseasonal predictability
• Research Assistant and Scientific Principal Investigator - CIRCS, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, 2025–Present
  • Originated and independently pitched funded research project investigating the evolution of high-loss severe convective storms and their perils in the U.S.
  • Leading scientific research, project direction, execution, and the hiring and mentoring of student researchers
• Field Campaign Research Assistant - Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets, Boulder, CO, 2026
  • Mobile mesonet and SWARMsonde operator for ICECHIP (hail) and BEST (tornado) campaigns
• Research Assistant - Northern Illinois University, ICECHIP Field Campaign, DeKalb, IL, 2025
  • Deployed and operated mobile mesonet vehicle and pods to measure surface conditions
  • Responsible for data QC, pod team communications and coordination, instrument calibration and maintenance, storm spotting, and instrument deployment
  • Collected, measured, massed, and crushed hailstones for analysis
• Graduate Research Assistant - University of Idaho, Idaho Falls, ID, 2009-2010
  • Investigated spent nuclear fuel recycling and storage techniques
  • Explored nuclear and chemical engineering with a focus on ion exchange and pyroprocessing of nuclear waste
• Nuclear Research Intern - Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID, 2009
  • Explored pyroprocessing and ion exchange techniques for recycling spent nuclear fuel
• Physics Fellow - Carthage College, Kenosha, WI, 2007-2009
  • Conducted high resolution spectrometry and astrophysics research
  • Assisted faculty with research and physics and astronomy lab course related tasks
  • Maintained physics and astronomy lab and class spaces, lab equipment, and computers
  • Ran weekly physics study sessions and tutored students
• Project Manager and Scientist - NASA and Carthage College, Houston, TX and Kenosha, WI, 2007-2009
  • Developed Microgravity University Systems program partnership between NASA and Carthage College
  • Put together a team to conduct research on NASA's Weightless Wonder / Vomit Comet
  • Worked with NASA advisor to complete development of an inertial particulate filtration device, a Mission Critical project for future Moon exploration → outcome: proof of concept, successful cyclonic filtration in microgravity
  • Designed and built experiment to assess angles of repose of lunar regolith in a lunar gravity environment
  • Managed administrative, public outreach, scientific and engineering team
• Science and Engineering Intern - Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, Green Bay and Milwaukee, WI, 2007-2009
  • Instrument Development Program - Created a near-space, multispectral atmospheric imager and launched on a high altitude weather balloon
  • Designed, built, and launched additional science payload to determine vertical aerosol distribution in southern Wisconsin
  • Responsible for developing scientific parameters, analyzing data for the instrument, and writing and presenting final reports at conferences
• Student Researcher: Astronomer - Carthage College, Kenosha, WI, Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, WI, and Steward Observatory, Tucson, AZ, 2006-2009
  • Research in observational astronomy using the 61" Kuiper Telescope and the 41" Yerkes Reflector
  • Projects: Development of a high resolution spectrograph for resolving the Zeeman effect; Methods in Earthbound imaging of Saturn using video techniques; Dynamics of planetary nebula

Publications and Manuscripts

Peer-reviewed journal articles

• Roufa, C. M., W. S. Ashley, A. M. Haberlie, J. M. Corner, K. T. Hawthorne, L. K. Moeller, V. A. Gensini, and A. C. Michaelis, 2026: Projected Mid- and Late-Century Changes in Severe Convective Storms Across the United States From Dynamically Downscaled Climate Simulations. International Journal of Climatology, 46(11). https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.70475. [Journal Link] [PDF]

Manuscripts under review

• Roufa, C.M., V.A. Gensini: Atmospheric Angular Momentum: Climatology and Multiscale Budget Closure in ERA5. Manuscript under review at the Journal of Climate.

Manuscripts in Preparation

• Pittman, K. D., V. A. Gensini, C. M. Roufa, E. C. Jilek, and M. S. Andrews, in preparation: A Wind Resistant Mobile Weather Balloon Launching Enclosure. Target journal: Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology.
• Roufa, C. M., and V. A. Gensini, in preparation: Climate Mode Superposition in Earth's Atmospheric Angular Momentum. Target journal: Climate Dynamics

Book chapters and technical reports

• Gensini, V. A., K. M. Weickmann, and C. Roufa, 2025: Chapter 12 – Global Wind Oscillation. Atmospheric Oscillations, B. Guan, Ed., Elsevier, 231–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-15638-0.00012-5. [PDF]
• Crosby, K. M., J. Agui, C. Pennington, E. Sorensen, E. Martin, I. Fritz, and B. Frye, 2009: Measurements of the Collection Efficiency of an Air Cyclone in Lunar Gravity. Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium. [PDF]

A full publication and presentation list is also available on my Publications page.

Conference Presentations and Proceedings

Upcoming

• Roufa, C. M., V. A. Gensini, 2027: Torque Contributions to Atmospheric Angular Momentum Tendency During the Madden-Julian Oscillation. 107th AMS Annual Meeting, AMS. [Conference Link]

Recent scientific conferences

• Roufa, C. M., V. A. Gensini, 2026: Subseasonal-to-Seasonal Predictability of North American Weather Regimes Using Global Wind Oscillation Phase-Space Trajectories. 2026 AMS Madison Summit, AMS. [Conference Link]
• Roufa, C. M., V. A. Gensini, 2026: Atmospheric Angular Momentum: Budget Consistency and Influence of Multiscale Climate Modes 106th AMS Annual Meeting, AMS. [Conference Link]
• Roufa, C. M., W. S. Ashley, A. Haberlie, J. M. Corner, K. Hawthorne, L. Moeller, V. A. Gensini, and A. C. Michaelis, 2025: The Future of Hazardous Convective Weather in the United States. 105th AMS Annual Meeting, AMS. [Conference Link]

Earlier conference proceedings and abstracts

Earlier publications appear under the name C. Pennington.

• Crosby, K. M., I. Fritz, S. Kreppel, E. Martin, C. Pennington, B. Frye, and J. Agui, 2009: Scaling Relations for Repose Angles of Lunar Mare Simulants. Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, 1515, 13. [PDF]
• Crosby, K. M., J. Agui, C. Pennington, E. Sorensen, E. Martin, I. Fritz, and B. Frye, 2008: Inertial Filtration of Lunar Dust in Reduced Gravity. Joint Annual Meeting of LEAG-ICEUM-SRR, 1446, 43. [PDF]
• Arion, D. N., E. O. Martin, C. Pennington, and S. Kuttruff, 2008: Structural Analysis of NGC 2371/2 Using Deep Images in [O III]. American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #212, 212, 13.01. [Abstract Link]
• Pennington, C., K. Blakeman, J. Hart, E. Hoffman, C. Jelinski, R. Wilson, 2007: 2007 Elijah Project Science Payload Team Proceedings of the 17th annual Wisconsin Space Conference, WSGC.

Grants

• CIRCS Project Funding, 2025 - Evolution of High-Loss SCS in the U.S. ($117,000) — Project originator and scientific PI; NIU institutional PI of record: Alex Haberlie.
• NIU Research and Travel Grant - 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 ($2000)
• NIU Kouba Fund Grant - 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 ($6000)
• Illinois Retired Teachers Association Grant - 2019 ($1000)
• Carthage Physics Fellowship 2007–2009 (Annual Stipend)

Teaching Experience

• Instructor of Record - Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL - 2023-2026
  • Courses taught: MET 410/510/411/511 Weather Dynamics I & II; EAE 103 Planetary and Space Sciences
  • Led university level lecture instruction in atmospheric dynamics and planetary science, including undergraduate and graduate courses
  • Developed lessons, labs, applied exercises, and assessments to support students learning atmospheric dynamics
• Graduate Teaching Assistant - Northern Illinois University - Dept of Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment - DeKalb, IL - 2022-2026
  • Courses taught: MET 410/510/411/511 Weather Dynamics Lab I & II; Met 421 Synoptic Meteorology Lab; EAE 102 Environmental Geography Lab
  • Course curriculum design: MET 410/510/411/511 Weather Dynamics I & II
  • Redesigned Weather Dynamics lecture and laboratory curricula, including in class and Python activities and assessments.
• Science Teacher - Harlem Consolidated School District 122, Machesney Park, IL - 2017-2022
  • High School Subjects Taught: AP Physics, Earth Science: Astronomy, Oceanography, Meteorology, Climatology, Geology; Honors Physics; STEAM Physics; Physical Science - Chemistry and Physics
  • Content Leader - Physics and Earth and Space Sciences
  • Developed new courses and curriculum: STEAM Physics, AP Physics, Earth and Space Science - AOM
  • Organizations and Service: Key Club Advisor; E-team (Equity) Committee Member
• Instructional Designer and Content Expert GRA - Northern Illinois University - Division of Outreach, Engagement, and Regional Development P-20 SmartSpace - DeKalb, IL - 2016-2017
  • Developed science content for online games and created lesson plans for educators
  • Led STEAM outreach workshops and events for students, teachers, and the public
  • Assisted in securing project funding grants
  • Designed lessons for and taught STEM and STEM skills through art projects to both US and International middle school students at Laredo Taft Field Campus Summer Camps
• Student Teacher - Rockford Public Schools 205 - Rockford, IL - 2016-2017
  • Student taught 6th Grade Science at RESA MS - Chemistry, Climate, Environment
  • Completed clinicals at Auburn High School - Physics
• Clinicals Student Teacher - Kaneland School District 302 - Sugar Grove, IL - 2015-2016
  • Clinicals student teacher, intervention teacher, and tutor at Kaneland High School and Kaneland Harter Middle School - Physics and 6-8 Science
• Substitute Teacher - Mackay Joint School District 182, Mackay, ID - 2011-2012
  • Substitute teacher grades K-12, all subjects

Awards and Honors

• Outstanding EAE Graduate Student Award 2026
• NIU Outstanding Graduate Student Award 2024
• WGU Excellence Award in Physics - Waves 2019
• WGU Excellence Award in Physics - Optics 2019
• Most Outstanding Physics Student of the Year 2008

Research Mentoring and Training

• Undergraduate Research Mentor – CIRCS Project, NIU, Spring 2026
  • Employed and mentored three undergraduate researchers working on severe convective storms research
• Student Research Mentor – Severe Convective Storms Climate Study EAE 790, NIU, Spring 2024
  • Mentored two undergraduate students and one master's student on research contributing to a published climate projections study
• Field Team Leadership – ICECHIP, 2025
  • Collaborating with a colleague, trained and mentored a mobile instrumentation pod team consisting of master's and undergraduate students in field operations, instrument deployment, and data collection
• Peer Technical Mentoring – NIU, ongoing
  • Help undergraduate and graduate researchers with commandline navigation, WRF simulations, Python programming, scientific figures, posters, research ideas, and manuscript and thesis drafts
  • Connect students with faculty and research opportunities aligned with their interests
  • Write letters of recommendation for students and mentees

Outreach

• Panelist: DeCarbon DeKalb: What's coming for Northern Illinois? Nov 4, 2026. DeKalb, IL
• Developed a public-facing Northern Illinois weather and climate resource with regional climatology and accessible figures for the November 2026 DeCarbon DeKalb presentation.
• Invited Talk and Panelist: Vox Atmosphaerae: Hearing the Hidden Rhythms of Earth's Atmosphere May 8, 2026. Ars Pvblica, Vox Naturae, Rockford, IL.
• Invited Talk: One Hail of a Storm! Revisiting the 4.18.2025 Event, Hail Safety, and the Future of Severe Weather in Southern Wisconsin April 22, 2026. EarthDay, Evansville CSD, Evansville, WI.
• Panelist: Hotter, Wetter, Wilder: The Future of Climate in Northern Illinois, April 11, 2026. DeCarbon DeKalb 3rd Annual EarthFest.
• STEM Outreach and Instructional Design – NIU P–20 SmartSpace, 2016–2017: Developed science learning activities and led STEAM workshops for students, educators, and public audiences.

Professional Service and Organizations

• NIU Women in STEM Ambassador - 2026
• Ad hoc reviewer, Climate Dynamics (Springer Nature) - Since 2025
• AMS NIU Chapter - Graduate Committee, Spring 2025
• American Meteorological Society (AMS) NIU Chapter - Member, 2022–present
• Equity Team Harlem HS - Advisory Committee Member, 2020–2022
• STEPUP Physics - Ambassador, 2021
• Key Club Harlem HS Chapter - Faculty Advisor, 2018–2021
• Character Quest Leadership - Mentor, 2006–2009
• Society of Physics Students - Committee Member, 2006–2009

Skills

• Scientific Computing and Modeling: WRF, ERA5, xarray/netCDF, Linux commandline navigation, high-performance computing
• Programming Languages: Python, Bash, LaTeX, HTML, SQL
• Software: ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, ERDAS Imagine, Google Earth Engine, Vim, Jupyter, VS Code
• Education Skills: Curriculum design, Classroom teaching
• Research Skills: Atmospheric dynamics, Climatology, GIS, Remote sensing, Data science, Modeling, Numerical weather prediction, Project management

Certifications

• Illinois Professional Educator’s License – Issued May 2017
  • Subject endorsements: 6–12 Science, Physics, Chemistry, Earth and Space Science
• Geographic Information Systems Analysis Certificate – Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL – May 2025
• Amateur Radio License: Technician Class – Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Other Work Experience

• Custodian - Mackay Joint School District, Mackay, ID, 2011-2012
• Dance Instructor - Eastern Idaho Technical College and Independent, Idaho Falls, ID, 2010-2012
• Retail Associate - Hallmark, Idaho Falls, ID, 2010-2011
• Office Assistant - Carthage College, Kenosha, WI, 2006-2009
• File Clerk - Rockford Health System, Rockford, IL, 2006-2008
• Conservation Worker - Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Rock Cut State Park, Loves Park, IL, 2005-2006

In the Media

• Interview Highway to Hail
• ICECHIP In-Field Interview NewScientist
• ICECHIP Short In-Field Interview KFDA CBS 10 Amarillo
• ICECHIP Interview Fox 32 Chicago
• NASA Interview