Bill Capehart

Dr. Bill Capehart is an Associate Professor at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, serving as Program Director for the Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences Program and affiliated with the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.

• B.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Asheville
• M.S. and Ph.D. in Meteorology from Penn State University

His research focuses on the remote sensing and modeling of surface features and land-surface processes, with applications in operational meteorology, risk and hazard assessment, numerical weather and regional climate prediction, and land-surface hydrology. He emphasizes developing tools to study the hydrologic cycle's response to land cover, vegetation, and subsurface processes under climate change and extreme weather scenarios.

Dr. Capehart teaches courses on climate change and resiliency, numerical weather prediction, boundary layer meteorology, geosciences computing, numerical methods, and environmental modeling. He has previously instructed remote sensing and synoptic meteorology classes. His work intersects with national security concerns, as seen in his public advocacy against cuts to scientific infrastructure (e.g., weather balloon programs, NSF grants) and policy issues affecting students and researchers.