DaNa L. Carlis ( ) is an American

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

and director of the

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...

National Severe Storms Laboratory The National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather research laboratory under the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. It is one of seven NOAA Research Laboratories (RLs). NSS ...

(NSSL) in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...

. He is the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to serve as the head of a NOAA research laboratory.

Early life and education

Carlis was born and raised in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

. He attended Carver Middle School and Booker T. Washington High School, where, in 2018, he was inducted to the school's Distinguished Hall of Fame. He attended

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

, as well as Master of Science and PhD degrees in

atmospheric science Atmospheric science is the study of the Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere and its various inner-working physical processes. Meteorology includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics with a major focus on weather forecasting. Clima ...

s, studying under

Vernon Morris Vernon Leslie Morris (13 June 1900 – 11 January 1973) was a Welsh cricketer. Morris was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. Morris was born at Briton Ferry, Glamorgan. Morris made his debut for Glamorgan in the 1920 Mino ...

, founder of Atmospheric Science Program at Howard. He was the second African American male to receive a PhD from the program. Carlis credits his relationship with Dr. Gary Davis, one of the few African American physicians in Tulsa at the time and the father of a close friend, for inspiring him to pursue a career in science.

Career

Carlis began working for NOAA while in graduate school, conducting research on modeling airflow over the island of

Maui Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

and implementing semi-operational weather models over the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

. This led to the publication of a research paper in the journal ''

Monthly Weather Review The ''Monthly Weather Review'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Meteorological Society. It covers research related to analysis and prediction of observed and modeled circulations of the atmosphere, including technique ...

'', with Yi-Leng Chen, of the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and Morris serving as second and third authors. After completing his PhD, Carlis held positions at the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

(NWS)

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Weather Forecast Office The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...

, as well as the agency's Pacific Region Headquarters, before returning to the

mainland United States The contiguous United States, also known as the U.S. mainland, officially referred to as the conterminous United States, consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States in central North America. The ter ...

, where he held several positions at the NWS

National Centers for Environmental Prediction The United States National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) delivers national and global weather, water, climate, and space weather guidance, forecasts, warnings, and analyses to government agencies and private users. The centers f ...

(NCEP)

Environmental Modeling Center The Environmental Modeling Center (EMC) is a United States Government agency, which improves numerical weather, marine and climate predictions at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), through a broad program of research in d ...

(EMC) from 2007 to 2014. From 2014 to 2016, he served as a policy advisor to the NOAA chief scientist and the NOAA assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction. In 2016, he began working at the NOAA Weather Program Office (WPO), part of the agency's

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). OAR is also referred to as NOAA Research. NOAA Research is the research and development arm of NOAA and is the driving force beh ...

(OAR), where he founded the Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC) and Next-Generation Global Prediction System (NGGPS) programs. In September 2020, he became deputy director of the NOAA Global Systems Laboratory (GSL). In 2023, Carlis was named the sixth director of NSSL, where he leads a team of scientists working to advance the science and technology of

severe weather Severe weather is any dangerous meteorological phenomenon with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life. These vary depending on the latitude, altitude, topography, and atmospheric conditions. High ...

forecasting Forecasting is the process of making predictions based on past and present data. Later these can be compared with what actually happens. For example, a company might Estimation, estimate their revenue in the next year, then compare it against the ...

and warnings in an effort to improve accuracy and lead times.

Honors and awards

Among the honors and awards Carlis has received during his career are the following: *

Department of Commerce Bronze Medal The awards and decorations of the United States Department of Commerce are Awards and decorations of the United States government, civil awards and decorations which are presented to civilian and uniformed personnel of the U.S. Department of Commer ...

(2022) * NOAA Research Employee of the Year – Personal & Professional Excellence (2021) * NOAA EEO/Diversity Individual Award (2018) * NOAA Research Employee of the Year Award – Leadership (2018) *

NOAA Administrator's Award The NOAA Administrator's Award is an award of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The award is granted by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, who serves concurrently as the Administrator of the Natio ...

(2016, 2017) *

Department of Commerce Gold Medal Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

(2015)

Professional service

Carlis is a member of the

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is a scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance the atmosph ...

(AMS) and was elected in 2022 to serve a three-year term (from 2023 to 2026) on the AMS Council. He also has served as chair of the AMS Forecast Improvement Group. In 2014, he co-founded NOAA's Diversity and Professional Advancement Working Group (DPAWG) with Michelle Hawkins of NWS. Global ERG Network named DPAWG the fifth-best employee resource group as part of its 2021 Diversity Impact Awards. He also serves as a member of the

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) is a US nonprofit consortium of more than 100 colleges and universities providing research and training in the atmospheric and related sciences. UCAR manages the National Center for Atmosph ...

(UCAR) Community Programs (UCP) External Advisory Committee (EAC), which guides the programs and activities of UCP in its effort to serve researchers, academics, and others in the

Earth system science Earth system science (ESS) is the application of systems science to the Earth. In particular, it considers interactions and 'feedbacks', through material and energy fluxes, between the Earth's sub-systems' cycles, processes and "spheres"—atmosp ...

community.

Personal life

Carlis is married to Dr. Lydia Carlis, chief learning and impact officer at Acelero Learning, an

early childhood education Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of Education sciences, education theory that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is ...

provider, and founder/CEO of Eyemagination Enterprises, LLC. In 2014, the pair co-authored the book ''M. I. T.: Meteorologist in Training.'' They have a daughter, Dia Carlis, a

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

graduate who works as a law clerk in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

References

External links

Meet The New Director Of The National Severe Storms Laboratory
(News9.com)
Clear Skies Ahead: Conversations about Careers in Meteorology and Beyond
(AMS podcast)
Dr. DaNa Carlis – A New Leader with NOAA
(The National Weather Desk YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlis, DaNa American meteorologists African-American scientists People from Oklahoma People from Tulsa, Oklahoma 21st-century African-American scientists National Weather Service people American atmospheric scientists Living people