Faculty and Staff
The faculty of Valparaiso University’s geography and meteorology department bring extraordinary commitment and expertise to ensuring students’ success. Every professor in the geography and meteorology program at Valpo holds the highest degree in his or her field.
Teresa Bals-Elsholz, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology teresa.bals-elsholz@valpo.edu 219.464.6003 Dynamic and synoptic meteorology, tropical systems, Southern Hemisphere weather, CoCoRaHS.
Michael Longan, Ph.D. Professor of Geography mike.longan@valpo.edu 219.464.6874 Cultural geography, urban geography and planning, communication geography, rural geography, landscape, neighborhood and community activism, cyberspace, East Asia.
Craig Clark, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology craig.clark@valpo.edu 219.464.5523 Boundary layer meteorology, climatology, lake effect snow.
Bharath Ganesh Babu, Ph.D. Professor of Geography & Chair, Department of Geography & Meteorology bharath.ganeshbabu@valpo.edu 219.464.6984 Globalization and the Environment, Remote Sensing and GIS for Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, Cartographic Design.
Kevin Goebbert, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology & Assistant Provost kevin.goebbert@valpo.edu 219.464.5517 Synoptic Meteorology and Forecasting, Numerical Weather Prediction, and Meteorological Computer Applications, Climate Change.
Jon Paul McCool, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Geography jonpaul.mccool@valpo.edu (Pronouns: he/him/his) 219.464.5139 Geoarchaeology, Soils, Biorhexistasy Theory, African Humid Period, Sudan, North Africa, Geographic Information Systems, Earth Systems Science, Fluvial & Aeolian Sediment Transport, Anthropogenic Modification of Soil & Sediment Systems.
Katelyn Barber, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Meteorology katelyn.barber@valpo.edu Numerical modeling, Aviation meteorology, Tropical meteorology, Scientific reproducibility and management of large data sets
Adam Stepanek, Ph.D. Adjunct Assistant Professor of Meteorology adam.stepanek@valpo.edu 219.464.5472 Aviation meteorology, Synoptic-dynamic meteorology, Mesoscale meteorology, Weather forecasting problems, Operational meteorology, Meteorological computing, Space weather, Military meteorology.
Christopher Phillips, Ph.D. Visiting Assistant Professor of Meteorology christopher.phillips1@valpo.edu Machine learning and AI, Land-atmosphere interactions, Planetary boundary layer Numerical modeling, Land-cover change, Microscale instrumentation
Leanne Blind-Doskocil Staff Meteorologist leanne.blinddoskocil@valpo.edu 219.464.5157 Meteorological Instrumentation, Field Research, Severe Convection, Radar Meteorology, Forecasting, Community Outreach
Zoe Vander Vinne Administrative Assistant for Geography and Meteorology Zoe.VanderVinne@valpo.edu 219.464.5140
Emeriti Professors
Bart Wolf, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Meteorology bart.wolf@valpo.edu Large- and small-scale forecasting, severe storms, thermodynamics.
Ronald Janke, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Geography ronald.janke@valpo.edu American Indians, North America, Physical Geography