Lectures, Colloquium, Colloquy
ASRC has held lectures and other events since its founding to educate the public about atmospheric science and connect with the community.
The Falconer Lecture Series topics range from renewable energy, climate change and extreme weather, to ecological restoration, electric bicycles and more. Watch previous lectures on YouTube.
ASRC hosts two lecture series annually, in spring and summer.
Spring lectures are held Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. in the ETEC building, located at 1220 Washington Avenue, Room 149A/151A, Albany, NY 12226.
Summer lectures are held Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. at ASRC’s Whiteface Mountain Field Station located at 110 Marble Lane, Wilmington, New York 12997. Visit their Falconer Lecture page for more details.
Spring Falconer Lectures
Free to the public, evenings at 7 p.m. in the ETEC building, located at 1220 Washington Avenue, Room 149A/151A, Albany, NY 12226 (free parking). See each speaker detail below for lecture dates as well any updated lecture location information!
Can't make it in person? Join us via Zoom. Zoom links listed for each event below.
Here is the schedule for the Spring 2026 Ray Falconer Natural History Lecture Series:
For past Raymond Falconer Natural History Lectures, see Lecture Archives
2026 Lectures
2026 Lectures
Topic: “Weather or Not? How Forensic Meteorology Is Helping Resolve Insurance Claims, Lawsuits, and Homicide Trials”
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 - 7 p.m.
Location: 1st Floor in ETEC, 1220 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12226, Room 149A/151A
Howard Altschule, CEO & Certified Consulting Meteorologist
Forensic Weather Consultants
Howard Altschule, a 1995 UAlbany alum, is the CEO and Certified Consulting Meteorologist of Forensic Weather Consultants, one of the largest weather expert firms in the country. Using numerous types of weather records and high-resolution Doppler radar data, Howard (aka “The Weather Detective”) and his team determine what the past weather conditions were at specific property or accident locations that are the subject of insurance claims, lawsuits, or criminal cases. He and his team have worked on 10,000 claims and lawsuits around the country ranging from hail and windstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes, to slip and falls on snow/ice,scaffolding collapses, boating accidents and even double homicide trials. Howard’s presentation will take a deep dive into how meteorology intersects with insurance claims, lawsuits, and even criminal cases.
Zoom Link: https://albany.zoom.us/j/87685540997?pwd=bpVCagy wagzQ1aJRJzgcuOpklDbcNa.1
Meeting ID: 876 8554 0997
Passcode: 418064
Topic: “How the NYS Mesonet Protects New York: A Modern Early-Warning Weather System”
Thursday, March 12, 2026 - 7 p.m.
Location: 1st Floor in ETEC, 1220 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12226, Room 149A/151A
Junhong Wang, Director of New York State Mesonet
Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, University at Albany
The New York State Mesonet (NYSM), headquartered at the University at Albany, is the nation’s most advanced and extensive early‑warning weather detection network, standing out among roughly 40 Mesonet systems across the United States. This lecture will provide an overview of the NYSM’s history and its first decade of service, highlighting how the network supports a wide range of sectors — from assisting emergency managers with critical decision‑making to delivering real‑time, neighborhood‑level weather information to the public.
Zoom Link: https://albany.zoom.us/j/87395056722?pwd=FbLLQt8uYqzDUhVwr2dJHLAcxL3Bb8.1
Meeting ID: 873 9505 6722
Passcode: 181368
Topic: “How bad can it get? Characterizing the 100 year storm when we only have 10 years of data.”
Thursday, March 26, 2026 - 7 p.m.
Location: 1st Floor in ETEC, 1220 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12226, Room 149A/151A
Daniel Kirk Davidoff, Assistant Professor, Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, Maryland Energy Innovation Institute
High quality reanalysis data sets have revolutionized climate science. We can grab 70+ year time series of hourly weather data for any place on earth and have reasonable confidence that they represent the real weather with useful accuracy. But some variables have higher quality than others, and some of the ones with low quality are really important for many practical purposes. In this talk I'll discuss an effort to improve the quality of data on wind gusts from what's available from reanalysis data sets.
Zoom Link: https://albany.zoom.us/j/89074619365?pwd=xszH5ejasjFW9V24h7oCDMhjmAVFGm.1
Meeting ID: 890 7461 9365
Passcode: 495206
Topic: TBD
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 - 7 p.m.
TBD, PhD, Professor at ...., University
The Falconer Lecture Series topics range from renewable energy, climate change and extreme weather, to ecological restoration, electric bicycles and more
Topic: TBD
Thursday, April 16, 2026 - 7 p.m.
TBD, PhD, Professor at ...., University
The Falconer Lecture Series topics range from renewable energy, climate change and extreme weather, to ecological restoration, electric bicycles and more
The ASRC/DAES Joint Colloquium Series
The colloquium series hosts visiting scientists and allows them to share their research or work with the department. The events are typically held on Mondays at 11:30 a.m.
DAES/ASRC Joint Colloquium Schedule
Spring 2026 Schedule
Spring 2026 Schedule
Spring 2026 ASRC/DAES Joint Colloquium Schedule
For more information about each speaker, click in the link associated with the speaker's name.
February 2
Wuyin Lin, Atmospheric Scientist, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Host: Jie Zhang, ASRC
February 9
Jianxi Gao, Associate Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Host: Junhong Wang, ASRC - NYS Mesonet
February 23
Abby Frazier, Assistant Professor, Clark University
Host: Oliver Timm, DAES
March 2
Umberto Ciri, Assistant Professor, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
Host: Jorge González-Cruz, ASRC
March 9
John Peters, Assistant Professor, Pennsylvania State University
Host: Jake Mulholland, DAES
March 23
Qiang Fu, Professor, University of Washington
Host: Aiguo Dai, DAES
March 30
Maria Molina, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland
Host: Brian Horan, ASRC Graduate Student (Sulia)
April 6
Andrew Winters, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado - Boulder
Host: Ross Lazear, DAES
April 13
Trey Alvey, Assistant Scientist, Hurricane Research Division - NOAA
Host: Brian Tang
April 20
Minghao Qiu, Assistant Professor, Stony Brook University
Host: Xueying Yu, ASRC
April 27
Pengfei Zhang, Professor, Pennsylvania State University
Host: Zheng Wu, DAES
May 4
Bronwen Konecky, Associate Professor, Washington in Saint Louis
Host: Aubrey Hillman, DAES
Fall 2025/ Spring 2026 series
Contact Information
- Brian Horan ([email protected]), Jake Mulholland ([email protected]) and Jie Zhang ([email protected])
All Events
- The ASRC/DAES Joint Colloquium Series
- NYS Mesonet Forum
- Ray Falconer Natural History Lecture Series
- Friday Colloquium Series
- NYS Mesonet Annual Symposium