U-M Climate and Space Welcomes New Faculty and Leadership

The U-M Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering is excited to welcome new faculty and leadership to the department for the upcoming academic year.

Welcome to our new faculty and department leaders!

New Department Leadership

Allison Steiner, Acting Chair

Allison Steiner is a professor of atmospheric sciences in the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, with a dry appointment in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, at the University of Michigan. She received her B.S. in chemical engineering from Johns Hopkins University and her Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research uses and develops models to explore the interactions of the biosphere and atmosphere, with the goal of understanding the natural versus human influence on climate and atmospheric chemistry. Dr. Steiner is the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER grant award (2010), the UM Henry Russel Award (2013), the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Atmospheric Sciences Ascent award (2015), and the Americam Meteorological Society Walter Orr Roberts Interdisciplinary Lecturer (2022). She was an editor at Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres (2014-2018), served on the National Research Council’s committee on The Future of Atmospheric Chemistry Research (2016) and was a board member for the National Academy of Sciences Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (2016-2021). She is currently the President of the Atmospheric Sciences Section of the AGU.

Kevin O’Neill, Unit Administrator

Kevin O’Neill joined the U-M Department of Climate and Space in early August as the new Department Administrator. He previously worked as Chief Administrator to 3 LSA departments- Communication and Media, Film, Television and Media and Women’s and Gender Studies where he managed the overall non-instructional operations of the department, maximizing existing operations, implementing new initiatives, and providing efficient administrative and fiscal support.

Prior to these roles, Kevin worked as the Business Manager for Michigan Language Assessment, a joint venture between the University of Michigan and the University of Cambridge. Before immigrating from Scotland in 2016, Kevin worked for one of the largest energy companies in the United Kingdom where his focus was on acquisitions, sustainable fuel sources and electric transportation. He takes a special interest in the areas of the Climate and Space Sciences.

New Faculty, Tenure and Tenure Track:

Assistant Professor Mohammed Ombadi

Assistant Professor Mohammed “Mo” Ombadi has a keen interest in understanding and quantifying climate change impacts on hydroclimatic extremes. From heavy storms and floods to extreme heatwaves and droughts, Ombadi’s research focuses on the changing characteristics of these events and their impacts on our daily lives. His recent work has focused on developing new techniques to measure resilience of environmental systems to extreme events, with the ultimate goal of informing mitigation and adaptation strategies to climate change. Prior to his appointment at the University of Michigan, Ombadi was a Post-doctoral Fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Assistant Professor Adriana Raudzens Bailey

Assistant Professor Adriana Raudzens Bailey recently worked as an atmospheric scientist studying water cycle processes in the Earth Observing Laboratory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. She uses the isotope ratios of water to trace atmospheric dynamics and investigate microphysical controls on clouds, aerosols, and precipitation. She has supported National Science Foundation science broadly through her work at the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s aviation facility. She has also worked as an Ambassador for the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s If/Then Initiative, which works to portray women in STEM more positively and inspire young girls.