Michelle Hawkins | |
|---|---|
 Dr. Michelle Hawkins at the NOAA in Maryland | |
| Born | Chicago IL |
| Alma mater | Howard University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Atmospheric Sciences at NOAA as Branch Chief |
| Institutions | NOAA |
Introduction
editMichelle Hawkins is the branch chief at the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association). She got her PhD at Howard University for Atmospheric Sciences and initially majored in chemistry at the same university. She participated in an undergraduate program at Howard University which was sponsored by NASA. Her participation in this program was the spark of inspiration that led her to follow the career path of Meteorology. She took great interest in the different weather patterns and storms that passed through Chicago which was her hometown. She was also a true advocate for women in STEM.
Background & Biography
editDr. Michelle Hawkins grew up in Chicago, where she fell in love with STEM and Science in general. She had the privilege to participate in many extracurricular activites such as summer programs that specialized in STEM. However, it was difficult to find many programs to participate in. In her area, many were not offered or advertised so she had to depend on being proactive to seek out opportunities. Upon graduating high school, she moved to Washington DC to attend Howard University to major in chemistry, having had a long lived interest in the field since childhood. The NASA program helped her pursue meteorology. After graduating college she enrolled in the doctoral program at Howard University and got her doctorate in atmospheric science. Howard University is known for producing the largest amount of black STEM PhD students in the world. Later, she interned at the center for climate and energy solutions (C2ES) in July 2000. She then moved on to working as a Howard University weather came coordinator. Afterwards, she moved on to working at the NOAA as a Climate program analyst in August 2007. She worked this position for the next 8 and a half years while gaining a lot of experience in the STEM field relating to meteorology. Then, in January 2017 she became the branch chief of the NOAA in Maryland.
Publications
edit- Activity modification in heat: critical assessment of guidelines across athletic, occupational, and military settings in the USA
- Assessment of extreme heat and hospitalizations to inform early warning systems
- Assessment of NOAA National Weather Service Methods to Warn for Extreme Heat Events
- Ch. 2: Temperature-Related Death and Illness. The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment