Jana Lesak Houser

I am an associate professor of meteorology and atmospheric sciences at The Ohio State University. I have an extensive background in severe thunderstorm and tornado chasing and research. My primary area of expertise is investigating the structure, evolution, and behavior of tornadoes and the storms that produce them through the use of rapid-scan mobile radar observations. I am particularly interested in investigating the time-height evolution of rotation before and during tornado formation, as well as the sources for the rotation that feeds tornadoes. Additionally, I study how the physical land characteristics (terrain and land cover) can impact tornado formation, intensity, path, and dissipation.
I have a BS from Penn State (2004), where I majored in Meteorology, and both an MS (2008) and PhD (2013) from The University of Oklahoma, where I studied under the mentorship of Dr. Howard Bluestein, one of the world's more renowned severe weather researchers. I have been chasing tornadoes since 2004, and have been engaged in academic research equally as long. I have been funded by the National Science Foundation and am active in the severe local storms community of the American Meteorological Society, both as an academic participant and by serving as a Scientific and Technological Activities Commission chair person.
I teach classes in severe weather, forecasting, synoptic meteorology, and radar meteorology and techniques.