Faculty
I earned my Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from Cornell University in 2006. My doctoral research is primarily focused on the onset mechanism of atmospheric blocking. During my stay at Cornell University, I had kept wondering what the life of working in industry would feel like. Upon the completion of my Ph.D, I adventured into a wind energy consulting company called NextEra WindLogics, which later on became the leading provider of high-quality wind and solar resource assessment in the North America. I was appointed as Senior Atmospheric Scientist there with my job responsibilities mainly focusing on performing wind resource assessment for several mega wind power plants across the US, such as Texas, Colorado and Minnesota. After working in the company for three years, I started to miss conducting fundamental research in Atmospheric Sciences. I quit my job at the beginning of 2010 with an attempt to pursuing my dream in academia. I did my first postdoc job at University of New Mexico, focusing on paleoclimate dynamics analysis, particularly for the Last Glacial Maximum period. Then I started my second postdoc job at Los Alamos National Laboratory, focusing on developing and testing the brand new global variable-resolution atmospheric model called MPAS. Afterwards, I joined Auburn University as a Research Assistant Professor in the Geoscience Department with my research mainly focused on dynamical linkage between atmospheric blocking and midlatitude extreme weather. Meanwhile, I also served as an instructor in the Department of Physics at Auburn University. In the summer of 2018, I moved back to my home country and joined SUSTech as a Research Associate Professor.
Education
Ph.D., Atmospheric Sciences, 2006, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
M.S., Atmospheric Sciences, 2000, Lanzhou Institute of Plateau and Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
B.S., Atmospheric Sciences, 1997, Lanzhou University, China
Professional Experience
07/2018-present: Research Associate Professor, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China
04/2014-08/2017: Research Assistant Professor/Instructor, Auburn University, AL, USA
04/2011-08/2012: Postdoctoral Fellow, Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM, USA
01/2010-03/2011: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of New Mexico, NM, USA
01/2007-12/2009: Senior Atmospheric Scientist, WindLogics Inc, MN, USA
Awards
Associate Editor of Monthly Weather Review, 2008-2012
Panelist of AWEA Annual Workshop of Wind Resource Assessment, 2009
Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Cornell University, 2003
Research
- Midlatitude block onset mechanism
- Dynamical linkage between block onset and extreme weather
- Rapid intensification of typhoon from large-scale atmospheric dynamics perspective
- Onshore and offshore wind resource assessment
- Regional climate simulation with NCAR-LANL Modeling Prediction Across Scales (MPAS)
- Paleoclimate dynamics for past climate such as LGM and Mid-Holocene
- Midlatitude block onset mechanism
- Dynamical linkage between block onset and extreme weather
- Rapid intensification of typhoon from large-scale atmospheric dynamics perspective
- Onshore and offshore wind resource assessment
- Regional climate simulation with NCAR-LANL Modeling Prediction Across Scales (MPAS)
- Paleoclimate dynamics for past climate such as LGM and Mid-Holocene
Publications (* for corresponding author)
Dong, L.*, 2018: Wind resource assessment in the Southern Plains of US: Characterizing large scale atmospheric circulation regimes with cluster analysis, Atmosphere, 9(3), 110.
Dong, L.*, Mitra, C., Greer, S. and Burt, E, 2018: The Dynamical linkage of atmospheric blocking to drought, heatwave and urban heat island in Southeastern US: A multi-scale case study, Atmosphere, 9(1), 33.
X. Li, C. Mitra, L. Dong and Q. Yang, 2017: Understanding land use change impacts on microclimate using WRF model, Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 103, 115-126.
Dong, L.* and S. J. Colucci, 2015: The role of nonquasigeostrophic forcing in Southern Hemisphere blocking onsets, Monthly Weather Review, 143, 1455-1471.
Sakaguchi, K., L. R. Leung, C. Zhao, Q. Yang, J. Lu, S. Hagos, S. Rauscher, L. Dong, T. D. Ringler and P. H. Lauritzen, 2015: Exploring a multi-resolution approach using AMIP simulations, J. Climate, 28, 5549-5574.
Dong, L. *, T. J. Vogelsang and S. J. Colucci, 2008: Interdecadal trend and ENSO-related interannual variability in Southern Hemisphere blocking, J. Climate, 21, 3068-3077.
Dong, L. and S. J. Colucci*, 2007: Interpreting the opposition between two block-onset forcing mechanisms, J. Atmos. Sci., 64, 2091-2104.
Dong, L. and S. J. Colucci*, 2005: The role of deformation and potential vorticity in Southern Hemisphere blocking onsets, J. Atmos. Sci., 62, 4043-4056.