Kristen L. Rasmussen

Kristen L. Rasmussen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University (CSU), affiliated with the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering. She holds a Ph.D. (2014) and M.S. (2011) in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Washington, and dual B.S. (Meteorology and Mathematics) and B.A. (Music) from the University of Miami (2007). Before joining CSU in 2016, she was an Advanced Study Program Postdoctoral Fellow at NCAR (2015–2016).

Her research focuses on convective storms, cloud-climate interactions, mesoscale meteorology, and hydrometeorology. Key interests include analyzing extreme rainfall, tropical convective systems, and the impacts of climate change on storm dynamics. She leads the Rasmussen Group, which investigates topics like the NASA INCUS satellite mission, subtropical storms in South America, and climate modeling.

• Received awards such as the 2015 AMS Mesoscale Processes Conference Very Early Career Award and the 2011 NASA Earth System Science Graduate Fellowship.
• Active in field campaigns like RELAMPAGO in Argentina and PRECIP in Taiwan/Japan.
• Teaches courses on synoptic and mesoscale meteorology, hydrometeorology, and mountain meteorology.

Her group includes researchers and students studying topics ranging from convective storm environments to stratospheric aerosol injection impacts. Ongoing projects include the INCUS mission and climate projections for extreme precipitation in the U.S. Midwest.