Michael Biggerstaff

Back to People Page

Contact Information

General Information

Ph.D. Atmospheric Sciences (1991) University of Washington; B.S. with highest honors Engineering Sciences (1984) University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Biggerstaff is Director of the Shared Mobile Atmospheric Research and Teaching (SMART)-radar program and an Associate Professor of Meteorology. His research focuses mainly on cloud microphysics, electrification and storm dynamics with emphasis on gaining understanding through observational analysis. His recent work includes relating lightning activity to vertical motions and retrieved cloud microphysical properties from dual-polarimetric radar, interpretation of satellite-based passive microwave signatures of clouds across the tropics, the internal dynamics of hurricanes at landfall, and the role of downdrafts on tornadogenesis in supercell thunderstorms. Dr. Biggerstaff has also received awards for teaching from the University of Oklahoma and Texas A&M University, where he worked before joining OU in 2002.