Kevin Czajkowski

Professor - University of Toledo

Education

Barker Central School, NY

SUNY-Oneonta

Meteorology

University of Michigan

Atmospheric Science

Kevin Czajkowski is part of NASA's Science Activation Program (SciAct). SciAct has projects and NASA teams across the U.S. that are helping learners of all ages do science!

What first sparked your interest in science, technology, engineering, and/or math?

Kevin Czajkowski

I started to take an interest in weather when I was 10 years old growing up in a suburb of Buffalo, NY. In 1977, there was an incredible blizzard there. School was canceled for five days straight. I thought it was the best thing going.

Funny, though, that my love of missing school has kept me in school. I started to take snow observations for an observing network in Western New York and my parents got me a weather observing kit for my birthday. I ended up earning my Bachelors in Meteorology from State University of New York (SUNY) Oneonta and my Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Michigan.

What Science Activation project(s) are you affiliated with?

GLOBE Mission EARTH

The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program provides students and the public worldwide with the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to our understanding of the Earth system and global environment.

Tell us about your job. What do you do?

I'm a professor at the University of Toledo. I teach four or five classes a year: Weather and Climate, Remote Sensing of the Environment, etc. I advise several PhD students and am director of the Geographic Information Science and Applied Geographics (GISAG) Lab. I am PI for research and outreach grants that are funded by NASA, NOAA, NSF and state agencies in Ohio. I coordinate staff and graduate students to carry out the research and professional development for teachers. I am a subject matter expert for our outreach projects and advise K-12 teachers and students on doing project-based science projects using GLOBE and NASA assets.

What's one piece of advice you would give to someone interested in learning more about science?

Be curious. Studying science is about being curious about the world. If you are curious, you will look into why things are the way they are.

Who inspires you?

My Dad inspires me. I have always been amazed at his ability to stay calm in stressful situations.

What are some fun facts about yourself? (Hobbies, cool places you've been, personal anecdotes, etc.)

I have coached soccer for about 15 years and I never played soccer growing up. I played baseball, hockey, football and basketball growing up.

I love the Star Wars movies.

I build an ice rink in my backyard each winter so I can ice skate every day there is good ice.