William H. Beasley

Professor of Meteorology

B.S., 1967; M.S., 1969, Rice; Ph.D. 1974, U.T. Dallas.

Email:

Phone: (405) 325-3440

Dr. Beasley teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in physical meteorology and atmospheric physics, including Atmospheric Electrodynamics and Cloud and Precipitation Physics. His principal research interests are in the physics of lightning. His publications include articles on the electromagnetic fields and optical emissions of cloud-to-ground lightning flashes and other electromagnetic phenomena in storms such as X-ray emissions, and "green thunderstorms." Recently he has been involved in investigations relevant to the question of how lightning is initiated. He is Principal Investigator (P.I.) or Co-P.I. on several grants in support of his research. He is a co-inventor of a new low-cost, low-maintenance electric-field meter (patent pending), suitable for deployment on solar-powered remote meteorological stations such as those in the Oklahoma Mesonet. Under a license agreement with OU, Campbell Scientific, Inc. is producing and marketing the new instrument. During 2004, Dr. Beasley spent six months on sabbatical at Los Alamos National Laboratory, working with Dr. Robert Roussel-Dupre on problems involving lightning, X-rays, and electron runaway processes.

His contributions to educational activities in the atmospheric sciences include the creation of a radio series known as "WeatherWhys" and the organization of and participation in summer youth academies and teacher institutes in the College of Geosciences . He has been P.I. or Co-P.I. for three National Science Foundation (NSF) grants for Research Experiences for Undergraduates. Before coming to OU, Dr. Beasley served as Associate Program Director for Meteorology and Program Manager for NCAR, in the Division of Atmospheric Sciences of the NSF, and served briefly as a Senior Staff Officer for the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the National Research Council. He came to OU in 1989 to be Deputy Director for Operations of the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms, an NSF STC. He became Director of the School of Meteorology in 1991. As Director he initiated an external advisory board for the SOM and contributed substantially to the recruitment of women and other underrepresented groups for the graduate program. After stepping down from the Directorship in 1996 he served as Graduate Liaison for several years and also as chairman of the Graduate Studies Committee and member of Committee A. He has served on numerous national committees of the American Geophysical Union (Committee on Atmospheric and Space Electricity, Secretary and Program Committee of the Atmospheric Sciences Section, Editor Search Committees, Committee on Education and Human Resources), the American Meteorological Society (Member, and Chair, of the AMS Scientific and Technical Affairs Committee on Atmospheric Electricity), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Secretary of Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Sciences section). He has served on numerous review panels for the NSF for SBIR/STTR, IGERT, and PYI proposals and for Graduate Research Fellowships. His avocational interests include music, photography, and gardening.