Research Staff

	Professor Matei Georgescu Dr. Georgescu’s research aims to improve understanding and characterization of human-environment interactions, with a principal, though not exclusive focus on urban environments. His research is focused on local to continental scales.
	Dr. Sudhansu Sekhar RATH Dr. Rath specializes in urban climate, extreme weather events, regional weather and climate modeling, and land–atmosphere interactions. His research focuses on heat waves, extreme precipitation, and urban heat islands using reanalysis products, as well as regional and global climate modeling. Since the Fall of 2025, he is working with Prof. Georgescu on characterizing urban induced modification of extreme precipitation under current and projected future climate(s).

Current Graduate and Undergraduate Students

	Xiangwen Deng Xiangwen Deng is a 3rd year PhD student in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at ASU. Her research focus is at the nexus of regional climate modeling, adaptation to extreme heat, and air conditioning demand.
	Joseph Karanja Joseph Karanja is a 4th year PhD student in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at ASU. His research focus is on identification of the complex drivers of heat risk across multiple spatial and temporal scales using statistical models.
	Ryan Swart Ryan is a Senior Undergraduate student at Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University, working with Dr. Georgescu since 2023. Ryan is a Computer Science major that is actively involved in urban climate modeling research, having also presented a poster at his first professional meeting while participating in the 2025 American Meteorological Society meeting.
	Omar Abuasba Omar is a Senior Undergraduate student at Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University, working with Dr. Georgescu since 2024. Omar is pursuing a Computer Science degree in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU and is actively involved in urban climate modeling research and model tool(s) development.
	Brendan Waldrop Brendan is a Senior Undergraduate student at Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University, working with Dr. Georgescu since spring 2025. Brendan is pursuing a Computer Systems Engineering degree in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU and is actively involved in urban climate modeling research and model tool(s) development.
	Madison Kaminski Madison is a Senior Undergraduate student at Arizona State University, working with Dr. Georgescu since spring 2025. Madison is pursuing a Geography degree with a concentration in Meteorology in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning. She is participating in a project to characterize spatial and temporal trends in Phoenix’ tree canopy extent using remote sensing data.

High School Students – None at this time

Alumni – Research Faculty, Postdoctoral Scholars, PhD students, Undergraduate students, and High School students

	Francisco Salamanca Dr. Francisco Salamanca was a Research Faculty in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at ASU, and worked on regional climate modeling of urban environments and regional scale climate dynamics applications with Dr. Georgescu between 2021-2024. He is now Assistant Professor at Florida Tech, in Melbourne (FL).
	Aldo Brandi Aldo Brandi was a PhD student and obtained his doctorate from the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at ASU, working with Prof. Georgescu on urban boundary layer flow in complex terrain from 2019-2023. He is now Postdoctoral Scholar at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland.
	Ashley Broadbent Dr. Ashley Broadbent was a Postdoctoral Scholar in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at ASU, and worked on regional climate modeling of urban environments and renewable energy applications with Dr. Georgescu between 2018-2021. He is now Climate Scientist at Earth Sciences New Zealand (formerly National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research).
	Michelle Stuhlmacher Michelle Stuhlmacher was a PhD student and obtained her doctorate from the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at ASU, working with Profs. Georgescu and Bill Turner III on the use of satellite systems to quantify the extent and form of urban area growth, between 2016-2020. She is now Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and GIS at Depaul University (IL).
	Nazli Uludere Nazli Uludere was a PhD student and obtained her doctorate from the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at ASU, working with Profs. Georgescu and Michael Hanemann at the intersection of land use change, energy, food and water systems between 2015-2020. She is now Research Scientist in the Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, at the University of Montana (MT).
	Scott Krayenhoff Dr. Scott Krayenhoff was a Postdoctoral Scholar in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at ASU, and worked on regional climate modeling of urban environments with Dr. Georgescu from 2017-2019. He is now Associate Professor in the School of Environmental Sciences at Guelph University.
	Vishesh Gupta Vishesh Gupta was a BASIS High School student enrolled in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning Internship program, and worked on analysis of regional climate modeling output with Dr. Georgescu between 2017-2018. He graduated from Stanford University and is now Software Engineer at Crusoe.
	Meng Wang Meng Wang was a PhD student and obtained her doctorate from the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at ASU, working with Profs. Georgescu and Yiannis Kamarianakis from 2013-2018. Dr. Wang is currently Modeling Manager at Discover Financial Services in Greater Phoenix, AZ.
	Jeffrey Milne Jeffrey Milne was an Undergraduate student at Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University, working with Dr. Georgescu in 2014-2015. Dr. Milne is now Postdoctoral Researcher at the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research Operations.
	Valeria Benson-Lira Valeria Benson-Lira was a Masters student and obtained her M.A. from the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University (ASU) in 2014-2015, working with Dr. Georgescu. She is now Associate Professor of Earth Science and Geography at Oakton College (IL).
	Danielle Lorenz Danielle Lorenz was an Undergraduate student at Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University (ASU), and worked with Dr. Georgescu from 2013-2014.

Last Updated: September 26, 2025