Jeff Brunskill completed his PhD in Geography in May 2005. His dissertation was titled, “Conceptual Models of Atmospheric Space: A Study of Knowledge and Concepts Derived from Direct and Indirect Experience of Atmospheric Dynamics.” He is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Geography at Middlebury College.
He graduated with a B.S. in Meteorology and Marine Meteorology from North Carolina State University in 1999. In 2001, he completed a M.A. in Geography at the University at Buffalo on the topic of atmospheric cognition. The research explored cognitive reference frames as a basis for distinguishing multiple-scale representations of atmospheric space. This research explores qualitative differences between conceptual models of atmospheric space and terrestrial space, as well as the relative importance of spatial and temporal properties in identifying atmospheric phenomena as defined by the mode of knowledge acquisition.
Current research interests include the classification/representation of large-scale atmospheric phenomena in Geographic Information Systems. Particularly, the relationship between common, or perhaps naïve, concepts of the weather (sometimes referred to as weather folklore) derived from direct experience and contrary domains such as expert weather knowledge or large-scale representations of the atmosphere that build upon, or extend, the individual’s perceptual experience.