Deanna Hence

Deanna Hence is an Associate Professor in the Department of Climate, Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She holds affiliations with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. Her research focuses on hazardous weather impacts, convective storm systems, tropical meteorology, and orographic precipitation, utilizing radar and satellite remote sensing. She is also committed to science communication and policy engagement to bridge science and societal needs.

Education:

• Ph.D. Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington (2011)
• M.S. Atmospheric Science, University of Washington (2007)
• B.S. Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Science, University of Michigan (2004)

Research Interests:

• Extratropical cyclones and winter storms
• Thunderstorm dynamics and hazards
• Tropical cyclones and hurricanes
• Weather and climate risk communication
• Remote sensing technologies

Recent work emphasizes equity in weather services, sexual harassment in academia, and field campaigns like RELAMPAGO in South America. Her projects are funded by NSF, NASA, and DOE. She teaches courses on weather hazards and climate change.

Labs/Teams: Lead the Hence High Impact Weather (HIWx) Group, studying cloud system behaviors and their societal impacts.