Madeleine Siegel

Madeleine is a doctoral candidate in Environmental Science & Engineering at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, where her research examines climate adaptation, environmental policy, and community engagement. Drawing on qualitative methods including semi-structured interviews with community-based organizations, practitioners, and decision-makers, her work investigates how infrastructure investments can be designed to advance equity and long-term climate resilience.

Her policy experience spans federal, state, and municipal levels. As a Water Policy Research Fellow with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), she synthesized technical data to assess climate adaptation implications and support resilience planning. At the New York State Attorney General’s Office, she authored policy memos analyzing state-level climate legislation and environmental regulation. At Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, she directed research evaluating how environmental reviews incorporate climate adaptation and land use planning considerations.

Madeleine holds a Master of Science from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science with Honors from UC Berkeley. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and Climate Currents, the publication of UCLA’s Center for Diverse Leadership in Science.

In 2021, she hiked the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.

Samantha Solis

Samantha Solis is a PhD candidate in the English Department whose work focuses on brownness and latinidad in contemporary American literature and culture. They are a coordinator for the Latinx Literary Reading Group (LLRG) and a member of UCLA’s Diversifying the Classics project. They have worked on a graduate student team crafting narratives about LA County parks, as part of a collaboration between LENS and the LA County Department of Parks and Recreation. Additionally, they work on the writing team for LA 2050, a LENS speculative film project.

Jennie Bukowski

Biosketch

My background is quite eclectic: before pursuing a career in atmospheric science, I studied the humanities, taught ESL abroad, and even worked in a plant museum and a virology laboratory. While enthusiastic about many subjects, my true passion is earth science. Always fascinated by weather, I eventually switched to studying meteorology and climatology.

My research involves high-resolution mesoscale modeling and ensemble modeling of aerosol-cloud-environment interactions, storm dynamics, and cloud systems in arid / semi-arid regions. I did my dissertation with Sue van den Heever at CSU, which focused on how thunderstorms interact with mineral dust aerosol and the land surface in dry environments, as well as representation of these processes in numerical models. Currently, I work with my postdoc advisors, Daniel Swain (UCLA-IoES) and James Done (NCAR), to investigate precipitation extremes that are connected in time / space and the physical mechanisms that contribute to these extremes in the American Southwest.

When not doing science, I enjoy playing music and learning new instruments, running, biking, hiking, gardening, reading, and over-watering my houseplants.

Research Interests

  • Convective Cloud Systems & Storm Dynamics
  • Precipitation Extremes
  • Atmospheric Aerosol & Cloud Microphysics
  • Convective Dust Storms (Haboobs)
  • Mesoscale Numerical Modeling & Ensemble Modeling
  • Statistical Applications in the Earth Sciences

Education

PhD: Atmospheric Science – Colorado State University
MS: Atmospheric, Oceanic, & Space Sciences – University of Michigan
BS: Russian Language & Literature, History, Eastern European Studies – University of Wisconsin

Selected Publications

Bukowski, J. and S.C. van den Heever, 2022: The Impact of Land Surface Properties on Haboobs and Dust Lofting, JAS. Link

Bukowski, J. and S.C. van den Heever, 2021: Direct Radiative Effects in Haboobs, JGR. Link

Bukowski, J. and S.C. van den Heever, 2019: Convective Distribution of Dust over the Arabian Peninsula: The Impact of Model Resolution, ACP. Link

Bukowski, J., D.J. Posselt, J.S. Reid, and S.A. Atwood, 2017: Modes of Vertical Thermodynamic and Wind Variability over the Maritime Continent, ACP. Link

Grant, L.D., S.C. van den Heever, Z.S. Haddad, R.L. Storer, D.J. Posselt, J. Bukowski, O.O. Sy, and G.L. Stephens, 2022: The Relationship between Vertical Velocity and Microphysical Process Rates in Deep Convection, JAS. Link

Saleeby, S.M., B. Dolan, J. Bukowski, K. Van Valkenburg, S.C. van den Heever, and S.A. Rutledge, 2022: Assessing rain drop breakup parameterizations using disdrometer observations, JAS. Link

van den Heever, S., L. Grant, S. Freeman, P. Marinescu, J. Barnum, J. Bukowski, E. Casas, A. J. Drager, B. Fuchs, G. Herman, S. Hitchcock, P. Kennedy, E. Nielsen, J. Park, K. Rasmussen, N. Razin, R. Riesenberg, E. Riley-Dellaripa, C. Slocum, B. Toms, and A. van den Heever, 2021: The Colorado State University Convective CLoud Outflows and UpDrafts Experiment (C3LOUD-Ex), BAMS. Link

Posselt, D.J., F. He, J. Bukowski, and J.S. Reid, 2019: On the Relative Sensitivity of a Tropical Deep Convective Storm to Changes in Environment and Cloud Microphysical Parameters, JAS. Link

Saleeby, S.M., S.C. van den Heever, J. Bukowski, A.L. Walker, J.E. Solbrig, S.A. Atwood, Q. Bian, S.M. Kreidenweis, Y. Wang, J. Wang, and S.D. Miller, 2019: The Influence of Simulated Surface Dust Lofting and Atmospheric Loading on Radiative Forcing, ACP. Link

Miller, S.D., L.D. Grasso, Q. Bian, S.M. Kreidenweis, J.F. Dostalek, J.E. Solbrig, J. Bukowski, S.C. van den Heever, Y. Wang, X. Xu, J. Wang, A.L. Walker, T.-C Wu, M. Zupanski, C. Chiu, and J.S. Reid, 2019: A Tale of Two Dust Storms: Analysis of a Complex Dust Event in the Middle East, AMT. Link

 

Ariadne Reynolds

Ariadne is a doctoral student in the Institute of the Environment & Sustainability at UCLA. Her research centers around marine ecosystem conservation and management, and aquaculture science and policy. Specifically, she is interested in understanding drivers of aquaculture planning and policy, and integrating sustainable aquaculture methods and products into local food systems in California. She uses spatial analysis, policy analysis, and social science methods in her research.

Before joining UCLA, Ariadne earned a master’s degree from the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara, specializing in coastal marine resources management, and worked as a marine biologist at The Bay Foundation restoring kelp forests and abalone populations in the Santa Monica Bay. Ariadne is a Cota-Robles Fellow and a member of the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science (CDLS). She is advised by Dr. Kyle Cavanaugh.

Sebastián Solarte-Caicedo

Sebastián is a Ph.D. Candidate at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. He is interested in understanding the socio-technical complexities of community-driven energy transitions in the Global Souths. His doctoral work focuses on the dynamic interplay between governmental rationalities and local commoning practices in shaping heterogeneous energy and development geographies in rural Colombia.

Before joining IoES, Sebastián obtained a Bachelor of Laws from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia, where he is still involved in teaching and researching energy and sustainability topics. He also holds an M.Sc. in Applied Economics from Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. He has contributed to various organizations including the Colombian Government, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Global Green Growth Institute, and local consulting firms in the design, implementation, and evaluation of energy and environmental policies.

Sebastián is conducting his doctoral studies as a Fulbright grantee.

Website: www.sebsolarte.com


Sebastián es Candidato a Doctor en el Instituto de Ambiente y Sostenibilidad de la Universidad de California en Los Ángeles (UCLA). Su investigación se centra en las transiciones energéticas basadas en la comunidad en el Sur Global, con un enfoque en Colombia, con el objetivo de promover el bienestar local, el empoderamiento comunitario y la construcción de paz.

Antes de unirse al Instituto, Sebastián obtuvo su título de abogado en la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana en Colombia, donde aún participa en la enseñanza e investigación de temas de energía y sostenibilidad. También posee un Máster en Economía Aplicada de la Universidad de los Andes en Colombia. Ha contribuido a diversas organizaciones, incluyendo el Gobierno de Colombia, el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, el Instituto Global de Crecimiento Verde y firmas locales de consultoría en el diseño, implementación y evaluación de políticas energéticas y ambientales.

Sebastián realiza sus estudios de doctorado como becario Fulbright.

Marie-Pierre Delisle

Jordyn Moscoso

My research is centered on understanding impacts of dynamical ocean processes on biogeochemistry, ecology, and food-web structure. Specifically, my research focuses on the physical processes that control patterns of productivity in the California Current System — one of four Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems — through idealized ocean modeling. Along with research, I am a member of the Do-it-yourself Dynamics (DIYnamics) team. With DIYnamics, I create content and videos to complement concepts in geophysical fluid dynamics taught in the classroom.

Paige Hoel

My academic passions in the marine world focus on the interactions of coastal biogeochemistry. Currently, my research involves modeling wastewater outfalls, and studying their impacts on coastal carbon and productivity. I hope to expand upon this research so that it can inform policymakers and regional water quality standards. In addition to this research, I hope to incorporate our oceanographic models generated at UCLA into a GIS format, allowing for more user friendly and widespread applications in and out of academia.

Daniel Dauhajre

I investigate coastal ocean dynamics utilizing both idealized and realistic simulations of the ocean. These simulations allow us to investigate unexplored coastal current regimes and diagnose material transport, which strongly influences ecosystem dynamics. 

Daniel McCoy

I am currently a PhD student and member of Dr. Daniele Bianchi’s Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Group (OBEG). My research focuses on using observations and regional ocean climate models to study the interaction of geophysics and biogeochemical cycling in Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems (EBUS).