Katie (Bowden) Wilson, Ph.D. Candidate (University of Oklahoma – CIMMS/NSSL)
Background:
M.S., Meteorology, University of Oklahoma
MMet., Meteorology, University of Reading
Experience:
Katie hails from Royal Wootton Bassett, a town in central England about an hour and a half west of London. She attended the University of Reading and came to the University of Oklahoma on an exchange program during her studies. After spending some time in Oklahoma, she decided she wanted more, and came back to earn her Master’s degree from OU in 2012. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at OU, and has already passed the program’s rigorous General Exam. She expects to complete her Ph.D. by late-2017.
What She Does:
Katie works on interdisciplinary experiments to understand the impact of higher-temporal resolution radar data on NWS forecasters’ warning decision processes. She has been a co-lead, along with NSSL’s Pam Heinselman, on the Phased Array Radar Innovative Sensing Experiment. In this displaced real-time simulation, Katie and Pam work with NWS forecasters to test the effects of radar update speed on resultant warning performance and workload. These studies have played a critical role in demonstrating the advantages of rapid-scanning phased array radar over WSR-88D. Katie has also won numerous awards for her studies on Eye-Tracking Technology with CIMMS and NSSL. By studying the movement of forecasters’ eye gaze during the warning decision process, researchers are gaining valuable information that will help develop better tools to guide meteorologists in the future.
Trivia:
Katie has two sisters back home in England, including an identical twin! She enjoys staying active and is quite adventurous – she has both skydived and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro! Katie and her husband, Chris, are newlyweds and celebrated their wedding in Chicago this summer.