Group Members

Jacob Carstens

Jake completed his Ph.D. in 2022, with my research on self-aggregation and tropical cyclogenesis processes in idealized numerical simulations. He completed a B.S. in Meteorology from FSU in 2017, and a M.S. in 2019. In addition to his Ph.D. research under Dr. Wing’s advisement, Jake served as the President of the North Florida Chapter of the AMS/NWA for the 2019-2020 academic year.

As an undergraduate, Jake was active in broadcast meteorology as a producer (2016-2017) and on-air personality for the student-run "FSU Weather" television show. Jake's interest in both tropical cyclones and weather communication was solidified in part by FSU Weather's on-air coverage of 3 hurricanes which affected the Tallahassee area: Hermine (2016), Irma (2017), and Michael (2018). Jake also had a prior tenure on the North Florida AMS/NWA executive board as the Vice President during his senior year.

Prior to starting graduate school, Jake was fortunate to gain research experience at FSU's Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS). There, he helped produce FSU's monthly Indian Ocean wind pseudostress analysis, and developed quality control tests for research vessel SST data. In addition, he completed an undergraduate Honors Thesis in 2017 with Dr. Vasu Misra, analyzing East Pacific tropical cyclones with the concept of Integrated Kinetic Energy.

Jake is a 14-year native of Oak Lawn, Illinois (a southwest suburb of Chicago) but a Floridian for nearly a decade, having moved to the Fort Lauderdale area in 2010 and eventually Tallahassee. Jake has always been passionate about teaching and mentorship, and hopes to embark on a career in academia. Outside of the lab or studio, there’s a good chance you’ll find Jake on a golf course or losing his voice at a Seminoles football game.

Check out Jake's Twitter (linked on this page) for some general weather info/fun facts, corny jokes, and the occasional animation from his research!

M.S. Thesis: Tropical Cyclogenesis from Self-Aggregated Convection in Numerical Simulations of Rotating Radiative-Convective Equilibrium

Ph.D. Dissertation: The Sensitivity of Convective Self-Aggregation and Tropical Cyclogenesis to Planetary Rotation

Current Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Penn State University

Personal Website: https://www.carstensweather.com

Jacob Carstens

Ph.D. 2022, M.S. 2019
jdc14c@fsu.edu
Ph.D. Dissertation: The Sensitivity of Convective Self-Aggregation and Tropical Cyclogenesis to Planetary Rotation

Publications

Carstens, J.D. and A.A. Wing (2023): Regimes of convective self-aggregation in convection-permitting beta-plane simulations, J. Atmos. Sci., doi:10.1175/JAS-D-22-0222.1, in press.

Carstens, J.D. and A.A. Wing (2022): Simulating Dropsondes to Assess Moist Static Energy Variability in Tropical Cyclones, Geophys. Res. Lett., 49, e2022GL099101, doi:10.1029/2022GL099101.

Carstens, J.D. and A.A. Wing (2022): A spectrum for convective self-aggregation based on background rotation, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 14, e2021MS002860, doi:10.1029/2021MS002860. [cover article]

Carstens, J.D. and A.A. Wing, (2020): Tropical cyclogenesis from self-aggregated convection in numerical simulations of rotating radiative-convective equilibrium, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 12, e2019MS002020, doi:10.1029/2019MS002020.

In the News
CNN
"This relentless Atlantic hurricane season has put nearly every mile of coastline from Texas to Maine on alert". 13 Nov 2020.
EOS
"Storms Interact but Rarely Merge into Bigger Tempests". 26 August 2020.
Forbes Magazine
"2 Tropical Storms Aren’t Going To Merge Into A Megastorm - Here’s Why". 22 August 2020.
WCTV
"FSU grad student attempting to solve the mystery of hurricane formation". 22 May 2020.
NSF Research News
"Even small disturbances can trigger catastrophic hurricanes, researchers find". 19 May 2020.
FSU News
"'Hurricanes from scratch': FSU researchers find even small disturbances can trigger catastrophic storms". 13 May 2020.