Faculty and Staff
The faculty of Valparaiso University’s geography and meteorology department bring extraordinary commitment and expertise to ensuring students’ success. Every professor in the geography and meteorology program at Valpo holds the highest degree in his or her field.
Teresa Bals-Elsholz, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology and Chair, Department of Geography & Meteorology teresa.bals-elsholz@valpo.edu 219.464.6003 Dynamic and synoptic meteorology, tropical systems, Southern Hemisphere weather, CoCoRaHS.
Bart Wolf, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology bart.wolf@valpo.edu 219.464.5136 Large- and small-scale forecasting, severe storms, thermodynamics.
Michael Longan, Ph.D. Professor of Geography mike.longan@valpo.edu 219.464.6874 Cultural geography, urban geography and planning, communication geography, rural geography, landscape, neighborhood and community activism, cyberspace, East Asia.
Craig Clark, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology craig.clark@valpo.edu 219.464.5523 Boundary layer meteorology, climatology, lake effect snow.
Bharath Ganesh Babu, Ph.D. Professor of Geography bharath.ganeshbabu@valpo.edu 219.464.6984 Globalization and the Environment, Remote Sensing and GIS for Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, Cartographic Design.
Kevin Goebbert, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology kevin.goebbert@valpo.edu 219.464.5517 Synoptic Meteorology and Forecasting, Numerical Weather Prediction, and Meteorological Computer Applications, Climate Change.
Jon Paul McCool, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Geography jonpaul.mccool@valpo.edu (Pronouns: he/him/his) 219.464.5139 Geoarchaeology, Soils, Biorhexistasy Theory, African Humid Period, Sudan, North Africa, Geographic Information Systems, Earth Systems Science, Fluvial & Aeolian Sediment Transport, Anthropogenic Modification of Soil & Sediment Systems.
Leanne Blind-Doskocil Staff Meteorologist leanne.blinddoskocil@valpo.edu 219.464.5157 Meteorological Instrumentation, Severe Convection, RADAR Meteorology, Forecasting, and Mesoscale Meteorology
Adam Stepanek, Ph.D. Adjunct Assistant Professor of Meteorology adam.stepanek@valpo.edu 219.464.5472 Aviation meteorology, Synoptic-dynamic meteorology, Mesoscale meteorology, Weather forecasting problems, Operational meteorology, Meteorological computing, Space weather, Military meteorology.
Administrative Assistant for Geography and Meteorology 219.464.5140
Jon Kilpinen, Ph.D. Former Professor of Geography and Former Dean, College of Arts & Sciences American historical geography and environmental history, Europe, political geography, GIS. Dean Kilpinen is now Provost at Black Hills State University in South Dakota. Please contact the department chair if you would like to contact him.