Dr. Justin Stachnik

Dr. Justin Stachnik is an Associate Program Scientist and serves as a dual role member of the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere within the Earth System Science Research Program at NASA Headquarters. Specifically, Justin helps co-manage the Atmospheric Dynamics (Atmosphere) and Precipitation Science (Hydrosphere) research areas. His primary duties include supporting Sphere Program Managers, leading and assisting review panels, managing existing awards, and interacting with PIs and science teams. He also coordinates the Headquarters effort for the Weather and Atmospheric Dynamics thematic area within the interagency Satellite Needs Working Group among other efforts. 

Justin came to NASA Headquarters after more than seven years on the faculty at the University of Kansas. There he led the Clouds, Climate, and Precipitation group where he and his students researched tropical weather and climate variability using remote sensing and complementary datasets. Specific expertise includes the dynamics and variability of the large-scale Hadley circulation and Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), convectively coupled and tropical easterly waves, diabatic heating from low-latitude cloud and precipitating systems, and the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO). 

He returned to NASA in 2024 after having previously completed a joint postdoc with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and University of California, Los Angeles. His training is in meteorology and atmospheric science with a BS (2005) and MS (2007) from Purdue University and PhD (2013) from Texas A&M University. As a former professor, Justin is passionate about science education and a strong proponent for emphasizing the broader impacts of basic and applied scientific research.