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.
Jon Kilpinen, Ph.D. Professor of Geography and Dean, College of Arts & Sciences jon.kilpinen@valpo.edu American historical geography and environmental history, Europe, political geography, GIS.
Bart Wolf, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology bart.wolf@valpo.edu Large- and small-scale forecasting, severe storms, thermodynamics.
Michael Longan, Ph.D. Professor of Geography mike.longan@valpo.edu 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 Boundary layer meteorology, climatology, lake effect snow.
Bharath Ganesh Babu, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Geography bharath.ganeshbabu@valpo.edu Globalization and the Environment, Remote Sensing and GIS for Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, Cartographic Design.
Kevin Goebbert, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Meteorology kevin.goebbert@valpo.edu Synoptic Meteorology and Forecasting, Numerical Weather Prediction, and Meteorological Computer Applications, Climate Change.
Jon Paul McCool, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Geography jonpaul.mccool@valpo.edu (Pronouns: he/him/his) 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.
Adam Stepanek, Ph.D. Adjunct Assistant Professor of Meteorology adam.stepanek@valpo.edu Aviation meteorology, Synoptic-dynamic meteorology, Mesoscale meteorology, Weather forecasting problems, Operational meteorology, Meteorological computing, Space weather, Military meteorology.
Rusta Ault Administrative Assistant rusta.ault@valpo.edu 219.464.5140 Computer programming, Departmental data management, Budget management, Student support.
John Lawson, Ph.D. Staff Meteorologist john.lawson1@valpo.edu Meteorology, Predictability and Chaos, Information Theory, Complexity Science.