When Lydia Koehler, College of A&GS Outstanding Junior, spoke at the OU Aviation Announcement on 11/07/2022, she called the School of Aviation Studies a family. It was a feeling she picked up when touring at the University while still in high school.
Andjela Jovanovic doesn’t do anything small. She’ll graduate in May of 2023 with three degrees: Aviation Management Non-Flying Concentration, International Business/Information Management Systems, and International Security Studies. While balancing three degrees, along with competing on the OU Rowing team, working, and being part of various student organizations sounds like a lot, it’s normal for Jovanovic.
Even though he’s left the state of Oklahoma, you can still catch DGES alum, Grant Borelli, watching OU sports on the weekends with other OU graduates living in Dallas. Borelli landed in Texas after two years working with Aerial Data Services in Tulsa, his first job post-college.
In late July of 2022, Yagmur Derin was given the Early Career Scientist 1st Prize for Outstanding Presentation/Poster award from the International Precipitation Working Group. Her presentation concerned the uncertainty of satellite-based products over complex terrain using environmental parameters.
Looking for a word to describe Aiyesha Ghani? How about multifaceted? A graduate student pursuing an MS in Geospatial Technologies in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability, Ghani brings a wide lens to her work, with a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from New York University, and a recently completed MFA in Interdisciplinary Art. Her current research lies at the intersection of hydroclimatology, remote sensing, climate change, and land use.
James Ruppert, PhD, describes his journey into the field of meteorology as happening “by chance.” He grew up on Long Island, New York, and experienced thunderstorms and the occasional hurricane, but aside from that, he doesn’t have the storm story that so many others do.
Eric Gaffney, an alumnus of the School of Aviation, spent the lockdown portion of the pandemic a little differently than most of us did: he authored a children’s book. Airick Flies High is about an airplane with one wing shorter than the other. “It’s symbolic of my life and career as a one-handed airline pilot,” said Gaffney. In design and color, Airick the Airplane is designed after the Piper Cherokees at OU
Lauren Mullenbach has been teaching in a college classroom since she was a PhD student, but she’s been educating in some capacity since she was an undergraduate student. In college, she ran environmental education programs, and after graduation she worked as a math and science tutor for middle and high school students. Her master’s degree had an emphasis in environmental education, and after completing that degree she was involved in a watershed education program. “It’s kind of been a part of what I do since college.”
When Naoko Sakaeda, PhD, says she works in tropical meteorology, most people think of hurricanes and typhoons. But her area of research is much broader.
