Flor Vanessa Maciel

I'm Vanessa, a second-year PhD student at the University of California, Los Angeles. My research interests lie in the intersection of climate change, air pollution, aerosol-cloud interactions and extreme precipitation.

I am currently a part of Dr. Jasper Kok's Aerosols and Climate Interactions group. My research involves studying the interactions between dust and cirrus clouds.

I previously worked in Dr. Minghui Diao's Cloud and Aerosol group. During my time there, I worked on understanding cirrus clouds and their relationship with aerosols with both in-situ and model data. I produced a thesis entitled “The Influence of Aerosols on Ice and Mixed-phase Clouds Based on In-situ Observations and CAM6 Simulations.”

As a first-generation and Latina student, I have high aspirations for myself. I hope to continue on to a post-doc after I complete my PhD in order to reach my goal of becoming a Professor. I enjoy both teaching and research, so this is my dream career. I am also very keen on being in a position where I can help underrepresented students achieve their own goals in academia and beyond, as I know first-hand how difficult it can be finding support as one.

Outside of researching, I enjoy swimming, drawing, watching horror films and cuddling my cat.

Please check out my Curriculum Vitae for more details on my academic background.

Project Report

Project Code

If you would like to get in contact with me you can reach me at fvmaciel@ucla.edu.