Dr. Paul Loikith is a Professor of weather and climate science in the School of Earth, Environment, and Society Geography Academic Area. He joined PSU in 2015 and holds a PhD in Atmospheric Science from Rutgers University. Prior to joining PSU, Dr. Loikith was a Caltech Postdoctoral Scholar at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
His research expertise lies at the intersection of weather and climate timescales with a focus on synoptic scale atmospheric circulation in the mid-latitudes. Of particular interest are the atmospheric drivers of heat waves, heavy precipitation, and other high-impact phenomena across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. He is the director of the Portland State Climate Science Lab and is the program director for the MA/MS in Geography.