Kerry H Cook
John E. "Brick" Elliott Centennial Endowed Professorship in Geological Sciences (Holder)
Mailcode: C9000
Kerry Cook came to The University of Texas at Austin in August, 2008. She began her career at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab at Princeton University, followed by 18 years as a professor at Cornell University where she taught courses in Climate Dynamics, Atmospheric Dynamics, and Atmospheric Physics and was a founder of the Science of Earth Systems major. She is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, and has served on the Board of Trustees of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and as an editor of the Journal of Climate. She is currently the Chair of the American Meteorological Society's Board of Climate Variability and Change and serves on the NSF GEO Advisory Council.
Dr. Cook's research centers on predicting and understanding climate change and climate variability around the world, including Africa, South America, the central U.S., and home in Austin, TX. She and her group use numerical models of the climate system, including atmosphere, ocean, and vegetation components, along with observational analysis to improve our understanding about how features and processes at the earth's surface interact with atmospheric circulation and precipitation fields.
Dr. Cook has published a text on Climate Dynamics (2013, Princeton University Press); a second edition is expected in 2024. Supplemental resources for Climate Dynamics are available at: www.jsg.utexas.edu/climate-dynamics-book/
Areas of Expertise
Climate dynamics, atmospheric dynamics, global climate change, paleoclimate, climate and weather of Africa and South America, climate system modeling, climate change in Texas
Research Locations
Current Research Programs & Projects
Regional climate change prediction: Ausitn, Central and eastern Texas, Africa
Understanding the basic dynamics, and interannual variability, of the West African monsoon system
Understanding the physics of abrupt climate change - past and future - over northern Africa and the central U.S.
Predicting the fate of the Amazon basin climate and vegetation under greenhouse gas-induced climate change
Understanding the seasonal cycle and potential for climate change over East Africa
Understanding the dynamics of the Caribbean low-level jet, and its relationship to the Great Plains low-level jet and regional drought
Joanne Simpson Tropical Meteorology Research Award - American Meteorological Society (2020)
Outstanding Graduate Instruction - Jackson SChool of Geosciences (2012 - 2012)
Fellow - American Meteorological Society (2009)
Outstanding Educator - Merill Presidential Scholar (2007)
Board of Trustees - University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (2006 - 2013)
Outstanding Educator - Merrill Presidential Scholar (2003)
Member, Geological Sciences (GEO) Advisory Committee, National Science Foundation (2020)
Chair, Climate Variability and Change Committee, American Meteorological Society (2018)
Member, Working Group: Changing Width of the Tropics, US CLIVAR (2016 - Present)
Advisory Board, Future Climate for Africa Program, UK Dept. Of International Development (2016 - Present)
Chair, Endowment Committee, Jackson School of Geosciences (2016 - Present)
Co-chair, Climate Variations and Change Meeting, 2018, American Meteorological Society (2016 - 2018)
Member, Awards Nominating Committee, American Meteorological Society (2015 - Present)
Guest Editor, Special issue of Earth Systems Dynamics on Climate, Land Use, and Conflict in Northern Africa, European Geosciences Union (2015 - Present)
Editor, Journal of Climate, American Meteorological Society (2014 - 2019)
Member, Committee on Climate Change and Variability, American Meteorological Society (2014 - Present)
Member, Scientific Organizing Committee, Workshop on Climate Change, Land Use and Conflict in Northern Africa, Max Planck Institute (2014 - 2015)
Editor, Journal of Climate, American Meteorological Society (2011 - 2015)
Member, Committee on Communicating Climate Change, American Meteorological Society (2010 - Present)
Board of Trustees, .University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), (2007 - 2013)
Executive Committee, Board on Oceans and Atmosphere, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (2007 - 2013)
Postdocs
Rory Fitzpatrick, 2019 - 2020
Fan Han, 2017 - 2018
Jaya Khanna, 2016 - 2017
Xiaoming Sun, 2015 - 2017
Julien Cretat, 2012 - 2014
Graduate Students
Patrick C Andrews
, Ph.D., expected 2025
(Supervisor)
My research centers on Africa's Congo Basin and modifying our understanding of the processes that underlie its rainfall from the synoptic to the climatic scale, especially in relation to MCS's, such as to evaluate the potential for future change to the climate.
Allysa Dallmann (Supervisor)
Siyu Zhao, Ph.D., 2023
(Supervisor)
Jackson School of Geosciences
Harisankar Manoj, M.S., 2023
(Supervisor)
Jackson School of Geosciences
Weiran Liu, Ph.D., 2019
(Supervisor)
Department of Geosciences, UT Austin
Gang Zhang, Ph.D., 2015
(Supervisor)
Department of Geosciences, UT Austin
Caroline Binkley, M.S., 2015
(Supervisor)
Department of Geosciences, UT Austin
Naresh Neupane, Ph.D., 2014
(Supervisor)
Department of Geosciences, UT Austin
Meredith Brown, M.S., 2012
(Supervisor)
Department of Geosciences, UT Austin
Bing Pu, Ph.D., 2010 (Supervisor)
Christina Patricola, Ph.D., 2010 (Supervisor)
Samson Hagos, Ph.D., 2007 (Supervisor)
Jen-Shan Hsieh, Ph.D., 2005 (Supervisor)
Ned Vizy, Ph.D., 2003
(Supervisor)
Cornell University
Torsten Duffy, M.S., 2000
(Supervisor)
Cornell University
Corinne Carter, M.S., 1997
(Supervisor)
Cornell University
Leslie Greene, M.S., 1997
(Supervisor)
Cornell University
John Lenters, Ph.D., 1996
(Supervisor)
Cornell University
Todd Ringler, Ph.D., 1996
(Supervisor)
Cornell University
Predicting 21st Century Climate Change over Africa, Brown International Advanced Research Institutes, Brown University, Providence RI (2011)
African Climate Change and Variability, Summer Colloquium, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (2011)
Toward confident and useful climate change projections: West Africa and the Sahel, International Union of Geogesy and Geophysics, Melbourne, Australia
| Year | Semester | Course | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Spring | GEO 347D | Global Warming |
| 2023 | Spring | GEO 387D | Climate Dynamics |
| 2023 | Spring | GEO 347D | Global Warming |
| 2022 | Spring | GEO 391 | Atmospheric Dynamics |
| 2022 | Spring | GEO 347D | Global Warming |
| 2021 | Spring | GEO 387D | Climate Dynamics-Wb |
| 2021 | Spring | GEO 347D | Global Warming-Wb |
| 2020 | Spring | GEO 347D | Global Warming |
| 2019 | Spring | GEO 387F | Dynams Of Atmospheres & Oceans |
| 2019 | Spring | GEO 371T | Dynams Of Atmospheres & Oceans |
| 2019 | Spring | GEO 347D | Global Warming |
| 2018 | Spring | GEO 347D | Global Warming |
| 2018 | Spring | GEO 394 | Rsch In Geological Sciences |
| 2017 | Fall | GEO 394 | Rsch In Geological Sciences |
| 2017 | Spring | GEO 394 | Rsch In Geological Sciences |
| 2017 | Spring | GEO 347D | Global Warming |
| 2016 | Fall | GEO 394 | Rsch In Geological Sciences |
| 2016 | Spring | GEO 387F | Dynams Of Atmospheres & Oceans |
| 2015 | Fall | GEO 394 | Rsch In Geological Sciences |
| 2015 | Fall | GEO 347D | Global Warming |
| 2015 | Spring | GEO 394 | Rsch In Climate Dynamics |
| 2015 | Spring | GEO 387D | Climate Dynamics |
| 2014 | Fall | GEO 394 | Rsch In Climate Dynamics |
| 2014 | Fall | GEO 347D | Global Warming |
| 2014 | Spring | GEO 387F | Dynams Of Atmospheres & Oceans |