#disaster science

[theenglishnook]

A pyroclastic flow is a deadly avalanche of superheated gas, ash, and rock from a volcano, traveling over 700 km/h at temperatures above 1,000°C, obliterating everything in its path within seconds.

PYROCLASTIC FLOW

[pinoyscientists]

Meet Irene Crisologo:

1) What do you do?

My main research interest is weather radars, specifically those we have in the Philippines. My goal is to develop a processing workflow-- from reading the data to removing errors, estimating rainfall, and providing the final output-- using an open-source environment. 

Some of you may have already seen the outputs of these attempts when you look at the Doppler Radar images of rainfall and typhoons in the Project NOAH website.

2) Where do you work? 

I am working towards my Ph.D. degree in the Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Potsdam, Germany.

3) Tell us about the photos! 

[Left:] Christmas Day 2015. I was not able to go home for Christmas that year, so I visited friends in Switzerland over the holidays. We took a train to France to spend Christmas day with their friend's family in Aix-les-Bains. After several hours of eating (following French tradition) we took a break and went to a hill to have this nice view of the lake.

[Right:] Manning the booth during the DOST National Science and Technology Week 2014 with BA Racoma. We were there to present our work on ClimateX, where we highlighted the advantages of having weather radars to monitor weather.

4) Tell us about your academic career path so far. 

I graduated from Philippine Science High School, which nurtured my interest in Physics. I went on to take a BS Physics degree at the National Institute of Physics in UP Diliman.

I thought I didn't want to study anymore after that, so I got a job at an IT company. Not a year later I was back in UP to study again because I missed it so much, so I went for an MS Degree in Geology at the National Institute of Geological Sciences in UP Diliman. Studying Geology opened up the doors to traveling-- I got to see so much of the Philippines through fieldwork trips.

One day, I was sent to a workshop to learn about weather radars. There, I said to myself "This is it! This is what I want to do.". I worked on that topic for my MS thesis, and applied for a PhD scholarship so I can continue working on it.

5) Anything else you’d like to share? 

If I was not doing Science, I would probably be in the food industry. I LOVE cooking (and eating) and enjoy experimenting in the kitchen.