Johna Rudzin
Johna Rudzin

Johna Rudzin

Assistant Professor, Meteorology and Physical Oceanography

214 Hilbun Hall
Mississippi State, MS 39762

Dr. Johna Rudzin is an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences at Mississippi State University with joint affiliation with the Northern Gulf Institute. She received her Ph.D. in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science in 2018. She is interested in tropical cyclone-ocean interaction, particularly in understanding the complex relationships between the ocean and atmospheric boundary layer during intensity change, including but not limited to, atmospheric and oceanic boundary layer dynamics and thermodynamics, drag in extreme wind environments, and oceanic waves. She has a broad range of experience utilizing atmospheric and oceanic in situ and satellite observations, simple idealized models, and fully coupled atmospheric-oceanic tropical cyclone models. In addition to utilizing a variety of datasets, she has also participated in several research flights and cruises.

Dr. Rudzin's Website

Education

  • Ph.D. Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, University of Miami, 2012-2018
    Dissertation: “An assessment of the Caribbean Sea’s upper ocean influence on air-sea interaction during tropical cyclone passage”
  • B.S. Meteorology, The Florida State University, 2008-2012
    Honors Thesis: “The influence of cold-air outbreaks on the upper ocean thermal variability of the Florida Straits”

Experience

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences, Mississippi State University, 2021 - present
  • National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, Naval Research Laboratory Marine Meteorology Division, 2018-2021
  • Graduate Research Assistant, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, 2012-2018
  • Undergraduate Research Assistant, Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies, Florida State University, 2010-2012

Research Interests

Air-sea interaction, tropical cyclone-ocean interaction, atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers, upper ocean dynamics

Teaching Areas

GR 1604 Weather and Climate

GR 4823/GR 6823 Dynamics I

GR 4553/GR 6553 Computational Methods in Meteorology

GR 4990/GR 6990 Special Topics in Geosciences: Air-Sea Interaction

 

Honors/Professional Activities

  • 2018 Barrett Prize for Best Dissertation on Latin American and Caribbean Topics from the University of Miami Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas
  • Member of Ocean Observations Initiative Early Career Scientist Working Group
  • Early Career Member of The Oceanography Society
  • Member of the American Geophysical Union and American Meteorological Society
  • 30 days at sea for research cruises and 4 NOAA research flights2023 MSU College of Arts and Sciences Research Award for the Natural and Physical Sciences
  • 2022 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program Awardee
  • 2023 MSU College of Arts and Sciences Research Award for the Natural and Physical Sciences
  • Member of the AMS Air-Sea Interaction Committee

Recent Publications

  • Potter, H. and J.E. Rudzin, (2021) Upper ocean variability in the Gulf of Mexico and implications for hurricane intensity, J. Phys. Ocean, Accepted. https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-21-0057.1
  • Jaimes de la Cruz, B., L. K. Shay, J. B. Wadler, and J.E. Rudzin (2021). On the Hyperbolicity of the Bulk Air–Sea Heat Flux Functions: Insights into the Efficiency of Air–Sea Moisture Disequilibrium for Tropical Cyclone Intensification. Monthly Weather Review 149, 5, 1517-1534, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-20-0324.1
  • Levine R. M., Fogaren K.E., Rudzin J.E., Russoniello C.J., Soule D.C. and Whitaker J.M. (2020) Open Data, Collaborative Working Platforms, and Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Building an Early Career Scientist Community of Practice to Leverage Ocean Observatories Initiative Data to Address Critical Questions in Marine Science. Front. Mar. Sci. 7:593512., doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.593512
  • Rudzin, J.E., S. Chen, E R. Sanabia, and S.R. Jayne (2020), The air-sea response during Hurricane Irma’s (2017) rapid intensification over the Amazon-Orinoco River plume as measured by atmospheric and oceanic observations. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. in press. doi: 10.1029/2019JD032368
  • Rudzin J.E., L.K. Shay, and B. Jaimes de la Cruz (2019), The impact of the Amazon-Orinoco River plume on enthalpy flux and air-sea interaction within Caribbean Sea tropical cyclones. Mon. Wea. Rev., 147, 931–950, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-18-0295.1
  • Rudzin J.E., L.K. Shay, and W.E. Johns, (2018), The influence of upper ocean salinity stratification on SST response during tropical cyclone wind forcing using idealized experiments. J. Phys. Ocean., 48(7), 1471–1478.doi:10.1175/JPO-D-17-0279.1.
  • Rudzin, J.E., L.K. Shay, B. Jaimes and J.K. Brewster, (2017), Upper Ocean Observations in Eastern Caribbean Sea Reveal Barrier Layer within a Warm Core Eddy. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans. 122, 1057–1071. doi: 10.1002/2016JC012339