Stephen Nesbitt
Stephen Nesbitt

Contact Information

1301 W Green Street
Natural History Building Room 3074
M/C 104
Urbana, IL 61801
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Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences

Biography

Steve Nesbitt is a professor of climate, meteorology, and atmospheric sciences (CliMAS) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and holds a joint appointment at Argonne National Laboratory. Nesbitt received his PhD from the University of Utah in 2003, and then was as a research scientist at Colorado State University from 2003-2006. He joined Illinois in 2006, and served as associate head of CliMAS from 2021-2023 and head of CliMAS from 2023-2026. His research focuses on cloud and precipitation science using advanced observational techniques, high performance computing, and artificial intelligence modeling tools to improve the understanding and prediction of high-impact weather and extreme events.

Prof. Nesbitt has participated in over 20 field experiments; notably he was the lead Principal Investigator of the 2018-2019 NSF/NOAA/NASA RELAMPAGO (Remote sensing of Electrification, Lightning, And Mesoscale/microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations) field campaign, which observed convective storms in central Argentina alongside the DOE CACTI (Clouds, Aerosols, and Complex Terrain Interactions) field campaign, which he served as a Co-Lead Investigator.  He is co-author of the 2018 textbook Radar Meteorology, A First Course. He has received several research, teaching, and mentoring awards, including the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship, the NASA New Investigator Program award, the NASA Robert H. Goddard Award for Scientific Achievement, and named a Distinguished Visitor of the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina for international cooperation. He was named a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society in 2025. Prof. Nesbitt also serves as the Chief Editor of the Atmosphere Section of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology. He also serves as a co-host of the Weather Realness podcast on Illinois Public Media.

Prof. Nesbitt serves as the Associate Dean for Research in the Office of Research, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. He leads a team of staff coordinating research strategy and administration for the college. In this role, he works to expand the college's research enterprise, foster interdisciplinary collaborations and publicly engaged research, and connect faculty and students with the resources necessary to advance their scholarly and scientific pursuits.

Research Interests

  • precipitation processes and cloud dynamics
  • mesoscale meteorology
  • tropical meteorology
  • radar and satellite meteorology
  • data science in atmospheric sciences

Education

  • Ph.D., 2003, Meteorology, University of Utah
  • M.S., 1999, Meteorology, Texas A&M University
  • B.S. Honors, summa cum laude, 1997, Meteorology, State University of New York College at Oswego

Awards and Honors

  • Highly Meritorious Meteorology Senior Award, State University of New York College at Oswego, 1997
  • Excellence in Graduate Research Award, University of Utah, 2003
  • NASA Earth System Science Graduate Fellowship
  • Editors’ Citation for Excellence in Refereeing for Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres, American Geophysical Union, 2006, 2007, 2011
  • NASA Robert H. Goddard Award, as member of the NASA Global Precipitation Measurement mission Ground Validation team, 2015
  • NASA Group Achievement Award, 2010, 2015
  • Award for Outstanding Service to the Radar Meteorology Committee, American Meteorological Society, 2016

academic positions

  • Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois, 2019 - present
  • Associate Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois, 2012 - 2019
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois, 2006 - 2012
  • Research scientist I, II, Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, 2003 - 2006

leadership positions

Associate Head, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, 2021 - 2023

Head, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, 2023 - 2026

Associate Dean for Research, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 2026 - present


selected service activities

  • Member, Chair of the American Meteorological Society Scientific and Technical Committee on Radar Meteorology, 2008 - 2016
  • Co-Chair, American Meteorological Society 35th Conference on Radar Meteorology, Pittsburgh, PA, 2011
  • Editor, Journal of Applied Meteorology, 2010 - 2014
  • Member of the American Meteorological Society Scientific and Technical Committee on Mesoscale Meteorology, 2019 - present
  • Member, Universities Space Research Association Earth Sciences Council, 2016 - present
  • Co-Chair, American Meteorological Society 19th Conference on Mesoscale Meteorology, Location TBD, 2021

selected publications

  • Suarez, S. R, M. Sued, L. Vidal, P. Salio, D. Rodriguez, S. Nesbitt, and Y. G. Skabar, 2018: Supervised classification techniques for discrimination between meteorological and non-meteorological echoes using a C-band radar. Meteorologica, 44, 45-65, Link.
  • Mulholland, J. P., S. W. Nesbitt, R. Trapp, K. L. Rasmussen, and P. V. Salio, 2018: Convective storm life cycle and environments near the Sierras de Córdoba, Argentina. Monthly Weather Review, 146, 2541–2557, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-18-0081.1.
  • Trapp, R., G. R. Marion, and S. W. Nesbitt, 2018: Reply to “Comments on ‘The regulation of Tornado intensity by updraft width.’” Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 75, 4057–4061, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-18-0276.1.
  • Chase, R. C., J. A. Finlon, P. C. Borque, G. A. McFarquhar, S. W. Nesbitt, M. Poellot, S. Tanelli, 2018: Evaluation of Triple-Frequency Radar Retrieval of Snowfall Properties Using Coincident Airborne In Situ Observations During OLYMPEX. Geophysical Research Letters, 45, 5752–5760, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077997.
  • Finlon, J. A., G. M. McFarquhar, S. W. Nesbitt, R. M. Rauber, H. Morrison, W. Wu, and P. Zhang, 2019: A novel approach for characterizing the variability in mass-dimension relationships: Results from MC3E. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19, 3621–3643, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3621-2019.
  • Borque, P., K. J. Harnos, S. W. Nesbitt, and G. M. McFarquhar, 2019: Improved parameterization of ice particle size distributions using uncorrelated mass spectrum parameters; results from GCPEx. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 58, 1657–1676, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-18-0203.1.
  • Tridon, F., A. Battaglia, A., R. J.  Chase, F. J. Turk, J. Leinonen, J., S. Kneifel, K. Mroz. J. Finlon, A. Bansemer, S. Tanelli, A. J. Heymsfield, and S. W. Nesbitt, 2019: The microphysics of stratiform precipitation during OLYMPEX: compatibility between 3‐frequency radar and airborne in situ observations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029858.
  • Mulholland, J.P., S.W. Nesbitt, and R.J. Trapp, 2019: A Case Study of Terrain Influences on Upscale Convective Growth of a Supercell. Monthly Weather Review, 147, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-19-0099.1.
  • Marion, G., R. J. Trapp, and S. W. Nesbitt, 2019: Using overshooting top area to discriminate potential for large, intense tornadoes. Geophysical Research Letters, 46. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084099.
  • Borque, P. C., S. W. Nesbitt, R. J. Trapp, S. Lasher-Trapp, and M. Oue, 2019: Observational study of the thermodynamics and morphological characteristics of a midlatitude continental cold pool event. Monthly Weather Review, 147, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-19-0068.1.