Katharine Kanak

Katharine M. Kanak is an American atmospheric scientist with noted publications on the dynamics and morphologies of atmospheric vortices, including tropical cyclones, supercell storms, tornadoes, and convective boundary layer vortices, such as dust devils,^[1] both terrestrial^[2][3]and Martian.^[4][5] She has also published papers on mammatus clouds,^[6][7][8] hailstorms, and hail processes^[9] and numerical techniques.

Katharine M. Kanak
Alma mater	University of Oklahoma (B.S., 1987) University of Wisconsin–Madison (M.S., 1990) University of Oklahoma (Ph.D., 1999)
Known for	Turbulent boundary layer structures; Dust devils on Earth and Mars; Tornadoes and supercells; Mammatus clouds; Hailstorms
Awards	University of Wisconsin-Madison: Schwerdtfeger Award and Lettau Award. University of Oklahoma: Graduate Teaching Award
Scientific career
Fields	Meteorology
Institutions	University of Oklahoma, School of Meteorology/ CIMMS (now CIWRO)
Thesis	On the Formation of Vertical Vortices in the Atmosphere  (1999)
Doctoral advisor	Douglas K. Lilly John T. Snow
Other academic advisors	Gregory J. Tripoli

Kanak earned a B.S. from the University of Oklahoma in 1987, majoring in meteorology and minoring in mathematics. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison she completed an M.S. in meteorology in 1990 with the thesis, Three-Dimensional, Non-Hydrostatic Numerical Simulation of a Developing Tropical Cyclone. She returned to the University of Oklahoma and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1999 with the dissertation On the Formation of Vertical Vortices in the Atmosphere. Kanak has developed three-dimensional numerical models for atmospheric simulation for both Earth and Mars and collaborated in field research. She was assistant field coordinator for Project VORTEX in 1994-1995, participated in STEPS in 2000,^[10] and served as a co-PI for VORTEX2 in 2009-2010.^[11]

See also

• Jerry Straka
• Erik N. Rasmussen