Flor Vanessa Maciel

I'm Vanessa, a third-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.

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