Caitlin Dirkes
I received my Bachelor’s in Meteorology in May 2019 from FSU and continued on to the Master’s program the following semester to work with Dr. Wing. Our project for my MS thesis involved using specific processes to diagnose the simulation of tropical cyclones in models. During my time in school, I also volunteered at two National Weather Service forecast offices, Key West and Tallahassee. I quickly realized that that was the career path I wanted to take. Shortly after completing my Master's in Meteorology in August 2021, I started my first forecasting job at NWS Memphis.
Though I have always been interested in meteorology, it has not always been my chosen field of study. Before transferring to FSU in the fall of 2017, I spent two years as a mathematics major at the University of Central Florida, in my hometown of Orlando, FL. When Hurricane Matthew impacted my area in 2016, I realized I wanted to apply my love for math and weather full time and make a career out of it. The following year, I transferred to Florida State, changed my major to meteorology, and two degrees later am working at my dream job.
M.S. Thesis: Process Oriented Diagnostics of Tropical Cyclones in Reanalyses Using Moist Static Energy Budgets
Current Position: Meteorologist, NWS Memphis
Caitlin Dirkes
M.S. 2019
cad14g@my.fsu.edu
M.S. Thesis: Process Oriented Diagnostics of Tropical Cyclones in Reanalyses Using Moist Static Energy Budgets
Publications
Dirkes, C.A., A.A. Wing, S.J. Camargo, and D. Kim (2022): Process-oriented diagnosis of tropical cyclones in reanalyses using a moist static energy variance budget, J. Climate, in review.