Current Lidar Team
2001 Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Mayor specializes in atmospheric lidar and boundary layer meteorology.
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Cheyenne Young, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Cheyenne is majoring in Environmental Science with a degree option in Atmospheric and Climate Science
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Dr. Pierre Dérian, Consultant
2012 Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from INRIA Rennes - Bretagne Atlantique.
Dr. Dérian worked full-time in the lidar group from December 2012 to December of 2014 and continues to serve as a part-time consultant from his home in Nantes, France.
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Mohammad Astaneh, PhD student, UC Davis
2015 BS in Civil Engineering from Azad University, Shiraz, Iran
2019 MS in Environmental Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
2021 MS in Atmospheric Science from University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming
Mohammad is analyzing the REAL data from CHATS and M2HATS.
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Spencer Pollard, Undergraduate Research Assistant
2024 BS in Physics (Professional Physics) from California State University, Chico, Chico, California
2024 BS in Computer Science from California State University, Chico, Chico, California
2025 MS in Computer Science from California State University, Chico, Chico, California
Spencer worked on writing new data acquisition software for the REAL using Python as well as helping refactor parts of the Lidar website.
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Bruce Morley, Associate Scientist
BA in Physics from Chadron State College
MS in Atmospheric Physics from the
University of Nevada-Reno.
Bruce supports the Chico State Lidar Research Group through the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
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Graduates
Kyle Mason, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Kyle majored in Environmental Science with the degree option in Applied Ecology.
He began working in the lidar group in the spring of 2023.
Efrain Cobian, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Efrain majored in Mechanical Engineering at Chico State.
Efrain worked in the lidar group during the summers of 2021 and 2022.
Emily Everton, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Emily is majored in Environmental Science with the degree option in Applied Ecology.
She worked in the atmospheric lidar research group in F21 and S22.
Alejandro Espinoza, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Alejandro majored in Environmental Science with the degree option in Atmospheric and Climate Science.
He worked on the canopy waves from the fall of 2021 to the summer of 2022.
Justin Hicks, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Justin majored in Environmental Science and graduated in May of 2023.
He worked in the lidar group during the 22-23 academic year and accepted a position at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Kevin Scheive, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Kevin majored in Environmental Science with a degree option in Atmospheric and Climate Science and graduated in May of 2023.
He worked in the lidar group in the fall of 2022.
Julia Colombini, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Julia majored in Environmental Science with a degree option in Atmospheric and Climate Science and graduated in May of 2023.
She worked in the atmospheric lidar research group in the fall of 2021.
Nina Hong, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Nina graduated with a BS in Environmental Science in May of 2022.
She participated in the atmospheric lidar research group in the 21-22 academic year.
Katherine Mifsud, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Environmental Science, with emphasis in Atmosphere and Climate Science.Katherine worked in the atmospheric lidar research group over the summer of 2021. She is now a graduate student at the University of Washington.
Jillian Olivar, Undergraduate Teaching Assistant
Chico State Major: Environmental Science, with emphasis in Atmosphere and Climate Science.
Jillian worked in the lidar group from 2016 - 2019, mainly as a grader for GEOS 170.
Kyle Brownell, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Physics and Computer Science
Kyle worked in the lidar group from May of 2016 to May of 2019. He is now a PhD student in the Richter Research Group at the University of Notre Dame.
Chris Mauzey, Programmer and Research Assistant
2010 B.S. in Computer Science from CSU Chico
Chris worked in the lidar group from September of 2010 to the summer of 2018. He now works at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Lexi Smith, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Environmental Science
Lexi joined the lidar group in the summer of 2015 and graduated in May of 2017. She completed a master's at Yale University.
Steve_Samons, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Electrical Engineering and Applied Mathematics
Steve joined the lidar group in May of 2016 and graduated in May of 2017.
Ryan Clare, Undergraduate Research Assistant
2016 B.S. in Environmental Science from CSU Chico
Ryan joined the lidar group in the summer of 2014 and graduated in May of 2016. He completed a master's at UW-Madison and is now a research scientist at the Marine Meteorology Division of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.
Masaki Hamada, Lecturer
2007 B.S. in Physics from CSU Chico
2014 M.S. in Environmental Science from CSU Chico
Masaki joined the lidar team in September of 2012 and graduated in August of 2014. He evaluated the cross-correlation algorithm for his masters thesis. He was a lecturer in the Department of Physics and is now a teacher in Japan.
Jason Stockton, Research Assistant
2015 B.S. in Physics from CSU Chico
Jason joined the lidar group in the summer of 2014. He assisted with maintenance of lidar hardware. He is a physicist at Naval Air Systems Command at China Lake.
Tyson Randall, Graduate Researcher
2011 B.A. in Physics from UC Santa Barbara
2015 M.S. in Environmental Science from CSU Chico
Tyson worked in the lidar team from January of 2012 to July of 2015. He studied canopy waves in the CHATS data.
Tyson works for DataRay in Redding, California.
Christopher Hasek, Programmer and Research Assistant
2013 B.S. in Physics from CSU Chico
2015 M.S. in Computer Science from CSU Chico
Chris Hasek has worked in the lidar group since 2010. He completed a number of projects to facilitate the display of REAL data.
Lena Heffern, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Majors: Physics and Mechanical Engineering; Graduation Date: May 2013
Lena worked in the lidar group in 2011 on mechanical engineering aspects of the REAL.
Lena completed a MS degree in Nuclear Engineering from University of New Mexico in 2015 and is now a PhD candidate at Arizona State.
William (Gabe) Vivas, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Mechanical Engineering; Graduation Date: May 2013
Gabe joined the lidar team in May of 2012.
Denton Scott, Graduate Student in Electrical Engineering
2011 B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Brigham Young University
2012 M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from CSU Chico
Denton worked in the lidar group from Oct 2011 to Dec 2012. He developed a control system for the REAL as his MS thesis project and now a systems engineer at Target.
Alan Rhoades, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Environmental Science; Graduation Date: May 2012
Alan worked briefly in the lidar team during the spring of 2012. He installed the WRF model on the physics server.
Alan completed a PhD at UC Davis and is now a hydroclimate scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs.
Waleed Amjad, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Computer Information Systems; Graduation Date: May 2011
Waleed worked in the lidar group from September to December of 2010. He processed REAL data from the 2004 deployment of REAL in Washington D.C.
Chris Van Hoosear, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Majors: Mechatronic Engineering, Computer Engineering; Graduation Date: December 2010
Chris Van Hoosear worked in the lidar group from December to June of 2010. He refurbished the REAL's beam-steering unit in preparation for new mirrors and field operation.
Chris completed an MS in Computer Engineering/Robotics from University of the Pacific.in 2013 and is now an Engineering Manager at Spectranetix, Inc.
Terry McAFee, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Physics; Graduation Date: May 2010
Through PHYS 499, Terry developed a comprehensive understanding of the laser and optics in REAL. He helped set up the lidar at the University farm and moved all of the components from the old shipping container into the new one.
Terry completed a PhD in physics at NC State University. He was a senior scientific engineer at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs. He passed away in September of 2024 at age 37.
Zeb Wheeler, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Computer Science; Graduation Date: May 2010
Zeb investigated whether the Horn and Schunck (1981) technique could be applied to lidar images to estimate vector motion fields.
Zeb is now a Sr. Software Engineer at Blue River Technology.
Chris Griffo
Chico State Major: Physics; Graduation Date: May 2010
Chris Griffo helped set up the REAL at the University Farm during the spring of 2009.
He completed an MS in physics at CSU Fullerton in 2012, and is a Display Exploration Engineer at Apple.
Former (or currently inactive) Lidar Team Members
Kirk Williams, Graduate Student
2019 B.S. in Physics from CSU Chico
Kirk was enrolled in the MS program in Environmental Science in the Spring of 2022.
Maira Iqbal, Graduate Student
2019 B.S. in Computer Science with minor in Mathematics from CSU Chico.Maira worked in the atmospheric lidar research group during the summer of 2021.
Niko Merrick, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Niko is majoring in Mechanical Engineering at Chico State.
He worked in the atmospheric lidar research group during the summer of 2021.
Naila Khan, Graduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Naila worked in the lidar group during the autumn of 2015. She specialized in computer networking.
Dr. Paul Arpin, Professor
2012 Ph.D. in Physics from
University of Colorado at Boulder.
Dr. Arpin worked in the lidar group in the summer of 2014. He is now a Professor in the Department of Physics.
Project Page
Scott Gimbal, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Physics; Graduation Date: May 2014
Scott worked with
Dr. Anna Petrova-Mayor on polarization aspects of the REAL.
He is now a Software Development Engineer at Amazon.
Thomas Schwab, Mechanical Engineer
2012 B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Thomas worked in the lidar group from February to June of 2013 on a variety of mechanical engineering projects.
Kevin Baker, Technician
2001 B.S. in Computer Information Systems from CSU, Chico
1987 A.A. in Business Administration from Santa Barbara City College
1985 A.S. in Electronic Technology from Santa Barbara City College
Kevin worked part-time to maintain the lidar research facility at the University Farm. He passed away in October of 2015.
Liz Jachens, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Civil Engineering; Graduation Date: May 2014
Liz worked in the lidar group in 2011 and 2012. She started the canopy waves page.
Liz earned a PhD in Water Resources Engineering at Oregon State in 2020 and is now a hydrologist at USGS.
Project Page
Jim Schafer, Graduate Student
2001 B.S. in Geoscience from CSU Chico
Jim worked in the lidar group from January of 2012 to January of 2013 on the depth of the convective boundary layer in the northern California Central Valley.
Rex Belli, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Physics; Graduation Date: December 2012
Rex worked in the lidar group in 2011 and implemented algorithms to objectively identify the height of the convective boundary layer in the REAL RHI scans.
Jen Lowe, Scientific Programmer and Data Analyst
Master's of Information Science from San Jose State University
B.S. in Applied Math from University of Arizona
Jen worked in the Lidar Group from April of 2010 to February of 2012. She wrote and used programs to process, analyze, and display the REAL data from CHATS.
Forest Sears, Student Research Assistant
Chico High School, Senior
Forest worked in the lidar group 2011.
He completed a BS in Materials Science and Engineering at MIT in 2016 and is now a Research Engineer at Prayog Labs.
Steven Sun, Student Research Assistant
Chico High School, Sophomore
Steven worked in the lidar group during July of 2011. He searched for canopy waves in RHI scans.
Steven completed a BA in Math in 2018 from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Chico State in 2022.
Yibo Zhang, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Physics; Graduation Date: May 2012
Yibo volunteered in the lidar group and learned how to write IDL programs.
William Meadows, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Majors: Computer Science, Applied Computer Graphics; Graduation Date: May 2012
During the spring and summer of 2010, Will developed and ran IDL programs to transform the REAL at CHATS data set into thousands of images and animations. Results of his project can be found at NSF Project Results.
You can read more about his subsequent work on his LinkedIn Page.
Esmeralda F. Ramirez, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chico State Major: Journalism; Graduation Date: May 2012
Esmeralda produced graphics for journal articles and conference presentations. She also designed web pages and put content on them.
Shemu Nixon Ariyasivam
Chico State Major: Physics; Graduation Date: May 2011
Shemu helped set up the REAL at the University Farm and learned how the principles of the lidar transmitter work by taking PHYS 499.
He is a Help Desk Specialist at Enloe Medical Center in Chico, California