NOAA’s AOML welcomes Dr. Gus Alaka as new Director of the Hurricane Research Division

NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) is excited to announce the selection of Dr. Ghassan “Gus” Alaka as the new Director of the Hurricane Research Division (HRD). Per the NOAA website, as a key member of the AOML team since 2014, Alaka brings deep experience to the position. He joined the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies as a postdoctoral associate about 10 years ago. Alaka was a key member of the AOML team that developed and advanced the Basin-scale Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting model. He also served as a science crew member on dozens of hurricane hunter reconnaissance missions, where he was instrumental in collecting vital observational data in a number of different roles on board NOAA WP-3D aircraft. He earned his Ph.D. and Masters in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University.