Dr. Zaitao Pan, Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO. Dr. Pan earned his Ph. D. in Water Resources/Atmospheric Science from Iowa State University in 1996. After graduation, he worked as a research associate/scientist in the Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University. Since 2003 he has been on faculty in Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, St. Louis University. His research focuses on regional climate change, mesoscale phenomena, land surface processes, and ecosystem modeling. He has published more than 40 journal articles and 100 conference abstracts and presentations. He teaches climate change, land-atmosphere interaction, and cloud physics among other courses.  

Sara C. Pryor is a Professor of Atmospheric Science at Indiana University. Her research foci include assessment of climate variability, predictability and change at the regional scale in the context of historical and possible future climate states. She is currently chair of the Midwest Assessment Group for Investigations of Climate (MAGIC) and editor of the forthcoming book – Climate variability, predictability and change in the Midwestern USA. Her work linking climate and energy is currently funded by two grants from the National Science Foundation and one from the Nordic Energy Research Council.