Dr. Elizabeth Austin (born May 6, 1964, in New York, NY) is an American atmospheric Physicist and Forensic Meteorologist.
Career
editDr. Austin received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Atmospheric Science from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1987, her Master of Science Degree in Atmospheric Physics in 1991 from The University of Nevada, Reno and her Ph.D. in Physics (Atmospheric) from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1994. She has also held affiliate research professor positions at the Desert Research Institute /University of Nevada Reno. Dr.Austin is the recipient of a Fullbright Senior Specialist award at the Laboratoire de Physique de l'Atmosphere, CNRS, Université de La Rèunion, Rèunion Island, France and the distinguished teaching award at the four-year Sierra Nevada College in Incline Villege Nevada.
Dr. Austin is the chief project meteorologist for the Perlan Project to fly a manned glider to 100,000 feet. [1] During phase 1 of the project, pilots Steve Fossett and Einar Enevoldson set the absolute altitude record for a glider of 50,671 feet (15,447 meters). [2] The Perlan Project is now in Phase 2 and is a non-profit venture that has benefited from Dennis Tito among many other contributors.
Dr. Austin's areas of speciality include forensic meteorology, aviation meteorology, mountain weather, mesoscale atmospheric modeling cloud and ice physics, education and stratospheric mountain waves.
Dr. Austin has appeared on-air all over the world (Germany, China, New Zealand, France, Australia and USA), lectured and taught courses and seminars on weather, climate and it's effects, all over the world.
In 1994 She founded, and is president of WeatherExtreme Ltd., a weather research, consulting and forensic meteorology firm. The firm's work has ranged from civil to criminal cases. She has worked on well over 1,000 cases ranging from aviation, wildfires, auto accidents, agriculture, kite-surfing, boating, equipment malfunctions, avalanches, skiing accidents, and tornadoes.
See also
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