Spotlight: Morgan O'Neill

I study the fluid dynamics of storms to better understand how severe weather and climate interact with each other given their vastly different scales in space and time. 

I primarily use computer models as a “lab” of sorts, but try whenever possible to test my findings against real observations.

I have always wanted to be a scientist. I think that’s pretty unusual among working scientists. For a brief time in third grade I wanted to be a marine biologist, but otherwise I always wanted to be an astrophysicist, specifically – up until junior year of college, when I learned about climate change. It is a scientific challenge that requires training in physics, among many other disciplines, and I realized I could still work on hard problems while doing something useful for my favorite planet.

I was never a straight-A student, I aimed for A-minuses (and got some B-pluses) and used that extra free time to pursue all kinds of things that were interesting to me. In graduate school I co-founded a company and volunteered on an ambulance. During my first postdoc, I applied to be an astronaut (they did not call me back). 

Constant interrogation about what makes a meaningful life, considering paths well outside of academia, allows me to affirmatively choose being a scientist year after year. I would recommend that people be flexible and open to surprising opportunities because there are many ways to live a full life.