Pileus Project - Team Bios

Team Profiles

Note: Your browser does not support JavaScript and thus the bio links that were developed using JavaScript at the bottom of the page won't work. Please read each person's bio right on this page, instead of clicking links on each person's name to view bios.Jeffrey A. Andresen, Ph.D.Jeffrey A. Andresen, Ph.D., is associate professor and the State Climatologist for Michigan with Michigan State University’s Department of Geography. Dr. Andresen is Co-Director (with Julie Winkler) of the Pileus Project, with a focus on the influence of weather and climate on regional tart cherry production and on grain quality. Jeff also oversees the development and analysis of historical climatological data used in the project and the integration of decision-support tools.A native of the Quad Cities area of Iowa/Illinois, he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from Northern Illinois University in the field of meteorology, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University in the field of agricultural meteorology/climatology. Dr. Andresen has professional experience as an agricultural meteorologist with the National Weather Service and with the USDA's World Agricultural Outlook Board in Washington, D.C., where he was involved in international crop/weather impact assessment and production estimation. He currently serves as director of the Michigan Climatological Resources Program and associated extension/outreach activities, including administration of the Michigan Automated Weather Network (MAWN), a network of automated weather stations designed to provide quality, detailed weather data to the state’s agricultural industry over the Internet. Teaching responsibilities include courses in agricultural climatology, meteorology, and physical geography. The primary focus of Andresen’s research has been the influence of weather and climate on agriculture, especially within Michigan and the Great Lakes Region. Current and past themes include; climatological trends and potential impacts, water use for agricultural irrigation, impacts associated with potential future changes in climate, weather and risk management in agricultural production systems, influence of land use changes on regional climate, winter hardiness and mortality of crops and insects, and the measurement and use of weather data for determination of plant disease risk.Tracy BeedyTracy Beedy is a Masters student in the Agricultural Economics program at Michigan State University. She is involved with the Pileus Project as a Research Assistant, with areas of expertise in supply chain and economics, a background in farm management, and decision making.She is working directly with stakeholders in collecting and interpreting data, developing comparative yields and cost structures for various stages of the supply chain.Roy Black, Ph.D.Roy Black, Ph.D., is a professor of Agriculture Economics at Michigan State University. He is a Principal Investigator for the Pileus Project and co-leads the Agriculture Group with a focus on economic cycle, risk and decision analysis. He is also involved in building key stakeholder relationships, and oversees data analysis, report and publication development.Dr. Black earned his Bachelor of Science from Montana State University in 1963, and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1975. His areas of expertise involving the Pileus Project include agricultural economics, risk assessment and decision making. Some of Dr. Black’s professional interests include: Supply/demand analysis and agricultural sector modeling; use of model results by farmers, agribusinessmen, and policy analysts in decision making. He is also involved in development of new protocol for National Academy of Science/Board on Agriculture species committee, on the nutrient requirements for food animals and poultry.John FurlowJohn Furlow works at the Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Research and Development. He has worked on the Global Change Research Program for about six years, where he manages the Great Lakes Pileus Project as well as projects examining the effects of climate change on water quality. John has a Master's degree in environmental policy and development economics from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.John and his wife spent part of 2002 and 2003 in Niger, West Africa. John had an opportunity to work on environment and development projects with several NGOs and with the US Embassy.*Photo: With Muhammed in Niger, West AfricaDonald F. Holecek, Ph.D.Donald F. Holecek, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources at Michigan State University (MSU). He is a Principal Investigator for the Pileus Project and leads the Tourism Group. His work with the Project includes identifying key stakeholders and related groups, conducting on-site stakeholder meetings, oversight of model-building, and stakeholder relations, among other tasks.Dr. Holecek earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Illinois, and his Ph.D. from the University of California-Berkeley. Since joining Michigan State University in 1972, he has conducted a wide range of research in the general area of tourism economics and marketing with special emphasis on Michigan's tourism industry. He has served as the Director of the Tax Policy Center since it was established in 1993. He is also the Director of the MSU-based Travel, Tourism, and Recreation Resource Center and World Travel & Tourism Tax Policy Center. He is past president of the CenStates Chapter of the International Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) and has served on TTRA's Board of Directors.Peter KurtzPeter Kurtz is an Applied Professional at Michigan State University, where his work is focused on climate data analysis. Peter works as the climate network administrator and programmer for various research applications in Michigan and other states. He also provides expertise to legal, insurance and consulting agencies with regards to their meteorological needs. His work on the Pileus Project focuses on the development and statistical analysis of the 1971-2000 climate normals.Peter has a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology from the State University of New York at Oneonta and a Master's degree from Michigan State University in Agricultural Engineering Technology.Lori LangoneLori Langone (formerly Lori Martin) is a Research and Outreach Specialist for the Travel, Tourism and Recreation Resource Center at Michigan State University (MSU). Her work with the Pileus Project entails managing relationships with tourism industry stakeholders and planning periodic stakeholder meetings, as well as overseeing the communication, data collection and analysis, and production of reports related to tourism. Langone's areas of expertise on the Project involve communications and marketing, tourism and recreation, and technology support.Ms. Langone has a B.S. in Marketing from the Pennsylvania State University and an M.S. in Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources from Michigan State University. During the past seven years, she has been involved in numerous studies focused on community-based tourism, the economic impacts of tourism, and marketing and strategic planning for tourism. She has been the editor and publisher of Michigan Tourism Business: The Industry's eNews Source for the past three years; current and archived issues are viewable online at www.imninc.com/tourism.Sarah Nicholls, Ph.D.Sarah Nicholls, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, and holds a joint appointment between the Departments of Geography, and Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies (formerly Parks, Recreation and Tourism Resources). Dr. Nicholls involvement with the Pileus Project consists of model building, stakeholder relations and journal publication for Tourism and Climate Change issues.Dr. Nicholls has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography from University College in London, England, and received both her M.S. and Ph.D. in Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences from Texas A & M University. Her academic interests besides climate change and tourism include: the geography of recreation and tourism; applications of GIS in parks, recreation and tourism; and urban park issues (including access, equity and property value analysis). Jeonghee NohJeonghee Noh is a third year doctoral student in Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources (at Michigan State University), deeply interested in tourism development.Before joining the program, She worked in the dual capacity of Chief Comptroller (Costs), and Manager of Accounting, in the prestigious Royal Inchon Hotel, one of the largest hotels in the major South Korean city, Inchon. Jeonghee Noh earned a Master of Science in Hospitality Business from Michigan State University, and a Master of Arts in Tourism Management from Kyunghee University (South Korea). She also has earned a Managerial License in Tourism Management (translated degree title) from the South Korean National Tourism Corporation - awarded at First Degree level, which is the highest. Her most recent master’s thesis specifically addressed tourism development. It emphasized the importance of governmental partnership with the private sector, together with local communities’ participation in the planning process, by identifying needs of both tourists and residents in Kangwha, an area the Korean government plans to develop as a tourism city. She has been working in the Michigan Travel and Tourism Resources Center since 2001, where She is tasked with analyzing data from the Michigan Travel Market Survey.Jim NugentJim Nugent is District Horticulturist for Northwest Michigan, MSU Extension. As coordinator of the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station, his responsibilities include overseeing the administration and management of the NWMHRS, as well as coordinating research activities and developing and conducting selected research projects. He is dedicated to working with fruit growers, industry-related personnel and MSU research and extension agents to develop and coordinate educational programs that will contribute to the biological sustainability and economic strength of the Michigan fruit industry. He serves as a statewide leader for cherry Extension programming and serves on the Tart Cherry Industry Strategy Planning Council. He also provides real-time horticultural and IPM information to growers, consultants, and Extension field staff via code-a-phones, "FaxNet," Internet, newsletters, etc.He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Horticulture at Michigan State University in 1972, specializing in Horticultural Marketing. He received his Masters in Entomology in 1975, with specialization in Fruit Integrated Pest Management. He has received Distinguished Service Awards from The Cherry Marketing Institute, the Leelanau Horticultural Society, and Northwest Michigan Farm Bureau.Krek PiromsopaKrek Piromsopa is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University. He also serves as a research assistant for a project investigating the impact of climate on agriculture and tourism in Michigan (the Pileus Project) and for a project on atmoshperic fire risk in a changed climate. Krerk grew up in Bangkok, Thailand. After reveiving his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in computer engineering from Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok, Thailand) in 1998 and 2000, respectively, he continued to serve as a faculty member at this school. In 2003, Krerk was awarded a scholarship from Royal Thai Government for pursing his Ph.D. in computer science, which brought him to the state of Michigan.Krerk primarily focuses on computer architecture and computer security. Together with his advisor, Dr. Richard Enbody, he designed a hardware butter-overflow prevention scheme, Secure Bit (The patent of this design is pending). Computers with this hardware would be protected from most computer worms and viruses.While pursuing his Ph.D., Krerk is also working with Dr. Julie Winkler in applying climate science for risk assessment. He is involved with the downscaling of GCMs data and the development of precipitation scenarios.Charles ShihCharles Shih is a Ph.D. student in the Dept. of Park, Recreation, and Tourism Resources at MSU. A native of Taipei, Taiwan, he came to United States in 1999 after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology at National Taiwan University and completing his two-year military service. He obtained a Master degree in the Dept. of Park, Recreation, and Tourism Resources of MSU in 2001 and continued pursuing his doctoral degree since then.Charles has been a research assistant in the Tourism Resource Center of MSU since 2001. He has been working with his major advisor, Dr. Donald Holecek, and Lori A. Martin in the Michigan Travel Indicators Project, a longitudinal study that examines travel activities in the state. He also worked with Dr. Fong Bristor in the Bovine TB Impact Study, which assessed the impacts of Bovine TB on the hunting and tourism industries in northeast Michigan. Currently, Charles is in the tourism team of the climate change project and is responsible for data management and analysis. His main research interests include tourism demand analysis and economic modeling and forecasting.Peter Sousounis. Ph.D.Dr. Peter Sousounis is a senior scientist at WSI Corporation in Andover, Massachusetts where he focuses on numerical weather prediction driven solutions for businesses. He also has a private meteorological consulting business that he runs from his house in Acton, Massachusetts where he lives with his wife and three children. Dr. Sousounis received his bachelor's degree in physics from Drexel University, his master's degree in meteorology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his doctorate degree in meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University. Before moving to Massachusetts, Dr. Sousounis was a Professor of Meteorology for ten years at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he taught classes and pursued research interests in the fields of numerical weather prediction, mesoscale and synoptic meteorology, forecasting, and climate change. During that time he was also an adjunct professor of meteorology at Michigan State University. Dr. Sousounis was one of the principal investigators during the Lake-Induced Convection Experiment (Lake-ICE) to study the impacts of the Great Lakes on cold air outbreaks in winter. He was also the previous Director of the Great Lakes Regional Assessment project and he is currently a Principal Investigator on the Pileus Project. Dr. Sousounis has authored or co-authored over 50 scientific publications on cold air outbreaks, lake-effect snow, marine forecasting, winter weather, and climate change.Suzanne Thornsbury, Ph.D.Suzanne Thornsbury, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor within the Agriculture Economics Department at Michigan State University. She is involved in developing an international trade model (focusing specifically on Poland) for the relative cost of production for tart cherries, as part of the comparative advantage component of the Pileus Project. Her areas of expertise for the Project include agricultural economics, market structure and international trade.Dr. Thornsbury received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. all from Virginia Tech, and joined the faculty at Michigan State University as an Agri-Food Systems and Markets Economist in 2002. Her particular research and extension focus is global produce markets and trade. She is also conducting research into Systems Approach Policies for Invasive Species Management. Prior to moving to East Lansing, she was on the faculty at the University of Florida where she specialized in food policy and trade. She has served on the AAEA International Committee and is a past board member of the Food and Agricultural Marketing Policy Section of AAEA.Jordan M. West Ph.D.Dr. Jordan M. West received her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Cornell University in 1996. Her areas of expertise include freshwater and marine ecology, invertebrate zoology, evolutionary theory, environmental assessment and stakeholder processes. Her professional experiences have included a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratories, where she studied the evolution of development in crustaceans, and an Assistant Professorship at Pacific University, where she taught undergraduate courses in Marine Biology, Invertebrate Zoology, and Introductory Biology. From 1999-2002, Dr. West was awarded two Science and Technology Policy Fellowships from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). For the AAAS Revelle Fellowship in Global Stewardship, she served as Marine Science Advisor at IUCN-The World Conservation Union. She then served as an AAAS Environmental Policy Fellow with the National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).Dr. West stayed on at the EPA after her fellowship and currently serves on the Ecosystems Team of the Global Change Research Program, Office of Research and Development. Her work focuses on assessing the impacts of global change (climate change, land use change, and UV radiation) on aquatic ecosystems and developing potential management responses. Current projects include building resilience to climate change into networks of marine protected areas, developing coral reef management strategies in the context of climate change, and assessing the potential impacts of global change on ecosystem services of watersheds and lake systems.Julie A. Winkler, Ph.D.Julie A. Winkler, Ph.D. is a professor of Geography at Michigan State University. She and Dr. Jeff Andresen are the co-directors of the Pileus Project. Dr. Winkler’s responsibilities for the Pileus Project include climate scenario development, downscaling, estimating uncertainty and oversight of the climate team.Dr. Winkler grew up on a farm outside of Oriska, North Dakota. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Geography from the University of North Dakota, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Geography both from the University of Minnesota. She was also a CIC Traveling Scholar in Meteorology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to arriving at MSU in 1987, Dr. Winkler taught at both the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and San Diego State University. She also worked for the National Weather Service Techniques Development Laboratory in Silver Spring Maryland as a Research Associate and Visiting Scientist. Dr. Winkler’s teaching responsibilities at MSU include physical geography, introductory meteorology, weather analysis and forecasting, advanced quantitative methods, and research design.Dr. Winkler is interested in many aspects of geography and climatology including synoptic and applied climatology, regional climate change, and climate scenario development. Current and past research themes include heavy precipitation, nocturnal thunderstorms, low-level wind maxima, airflow within midlatitude cyclones, wildland fire risk, and the possible impacts of potential future climate change. Most of Dr. Winkler’s research has focused on the Central Plains and Great Lakes region of the United States. In addition to her work in climatology, Professor Winkler has also conducted research on the participation of women in academia.Dr. Winkler has been actively involved in the disciplines of geography and atmospheric science. She has been on the editorial board of several journals and has served as an Associate Editor for the Annals of the Association of American Geographers. She is a past National Councilor and National Secretary of the Association of American Geographers and currently serves as the Commissioner for Education and Human Resources for the American Meteorological Society. Dr. Winkler recently was a Fulbright Senior Specialist at the University of Silesia in Poland. Dr. Winkler is an avid gardener and dressage rider.Jie YanJie Yan is a graduate student in Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University. She works as a research assistant for her major advisor Dr. Roy Black in the Pileus Project. Her responsibilities in this project include constructing tart cherry yield response model and figuring out optimal replacement decision rules. Currently she is working on her master thesis based on the project. She also serves as a research assistant for Dr. Roy Black on other projects like livestock insurance design.Jie received her Bachelor's degree in Finance from Renmin University of China. Before entering the graduate program at MSU she was working as an auditor in Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and later in Ernst & Young for two years. Her research focuses on agricultural finance, especially on risk management. Costanza ZavalloniCostanza Zavalloni has had a major role in developing the computer simulation model for tart cherries for the Pileus Project, which is instrumental for evaluating how climate change and variability may potentially impact tart cherry growth, development, and potential yield in the Great Lakes Region.As a graduate student, Dr. Zavalloni worked many years on plant ecophysiology involving numerous aspects of mineral nutrition, fertilization, irrigation, water deficit, and soil management for various plants and deciduous fruit tree (including strawberry, peach, apple, sour and sweet cherries, and turf grass).Growing up on a peach farm in Cesena, Italy, Costanza developed a strong passion for plants, which led to a career in plant physiology and horticulture. Dr. Zavalloni received her Laurea (equivalent to a M.S.) in Agricultural Science from the University of Bologna in 1997, and recently completed her Ph.D. in Horticulture from Michigan Sate University in 2004.Jenni van RavenswayJenni van Ravensway is a Masters student in Geography at Michigan State University. She also received her Bachelors in Geography at MSU, where she focused on climatology. Jenni’s responsibilities for the Pileus Project involve working on the development of downscaling methods for future climate scenarios. Jenni grew up in East Lansing, Michigan and has been at Michigan State University since August of 1997. She is currently working on her Masters thesis which will be investigating the influence of the Great Lakes on convective activity. Jenni’s interests include synoptic climatology, global climate change, GIS, and environmental science.Web Development TeamHai Kyung MinHai Kyung Min is the Web designer for the Pileus Project. Her responsibility covers every stage of the Web development including defining visual concepts and global layout, usability/accessibility design, graphic/visual design, content integration, and Web standard validation. She has also been involved in the graphic and usability design of the decision support tools.Hai grew up in Korea and received a her Bachelor of Art degree in Mass-communication from Ewha Woman's University (Seoul, Korea) and her M.A. in Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media (concentration on Digital Media Art and Technology) from Michigan State University. Before she came to Michigan, she worked as a content designer and writer for radio programs in Korean Broadcasting System, the only public broadcasting company in Korea, with a nationwide network. During her master's study at Michigan State University, she worked as a Web designer, Web master, project developer, or graphic designer for several departments and groups on campus such as Department of Geography, Virtual University Design and Technology Group, and Program on Humanistic Globalization.Her interest is in multimedia design involving Web standard and usability, design research for user-centered media design, instructional media design, online learning and educational psychology.*Hai's portfolio Web site: www.msu.edu/~minhaiHaryono PrawiranataHaryono Prawiranata is currently working toward his Ph.D in the Department of Geography at Michigan State University. Haryono received his Bachelor's and Master's degree in environmental engineering from Bandung Institute of Technology and Michigan State Univeristy, respectively. His research interests began with industrial wastewater treatment and has evolved to bioremediation of contaminated groundwater and hydrology.Under the guidance of Dr. Jeffrey A. Andresen, Haryono's work has focused on multiple-scales data assimilation and integration of climate-hydrologic modeling for sustainable agricultural practices. He also works as the system administrator and is responsible for PHP/web programming for the Pileus Project.Other areas of interest include: parallel computations, cybernetics, electronic instrumentation and embedded programming. His professional affiliations include: a member of IEEE (computer, cybernectics , and remote sensing society section), and International Water Association (IWA).Ryan TorreRyan Torre is a Telecommunications Masters student at Michigan State University. His responsibilities for the Pileus Project include interface design and programming for several of the Macromedia Flash based tools, including Future Climate Scenarios. He also worked as the animator, editor and programmer of the flash-based interpretation guides for the Future Climate Scenarios tool.Mr. Torre has been a student at Michigan State University since August of 1997. He currently has a Bachelors of Arts in Telecommunications and is working on completing his thesis in early December.Mr. Torre's interests include the use of multimedia for training or education, Human Computer Interaction (HCI), and professional video production. He has programmed interfaces using ActionScript, Lingo, JavaScript and C.Mr. Torre is currently working on completing his thesis project, in which he will develop a Web site for parents about a genre of video games called Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs). The site is intended to help parents understand the video games that their teenage children play.More information about projects that Ryan Torre has worked on is available on his Web site at http://www.ryantorre.com.

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