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EPOCH Meet the Team

Amber Emory, PhD, is the EPOCH Principal Investigator (PI) and overall lead. Her primary responsibility is to guide the team and ensure that all science objectives are met. A central focal point to the wider Earth Science community, the PI implements the scientific content of the project by working directly with the Project Manager (PM), the Systems Engineer (SE), the Instrument teams, and the Global Hawk team. She is a scientist assigned to the Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Laboratory (Code 612) at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

Alfred Fordan is the EPOCH Project Manager (PM) and is responsible for overall project management and planning. He developed the Project Plan and the Integrated Master Schedule, and has helped guide the project through the NASA Project Life Cycle and its associated reviews in accordance with NPR 7120.5. He is a project manager assigned to Code 840, Range and Mission Management Office, at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Moses Adoko is the project’s Training Coordinator (TC). Since EPOCH is part of the HOPE (Hands On Project Experience) program, training is its primary objective. Moses ensures that team members benefit from receiving targeted and comprehensive training and development. He is a Knowledge Management Specialist assigned to the Office of the Director (Code 100) at Goddard Space Flight Center.  

Giovanni DeAmici is the project’s Systems Engineer (SE). He ensures that the system technically fulfills the defined needs and requirements and that a proper systems engineering approach is being followed. He is the author of the Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) and ensures its proper execution throughout the project life cycle. Giovanni is assigned to the Microwave Instruments Technology Branch (Code 555) at Goddard Space Flight Center.  

Joe Faunteroy is EPOCH’s Resource Analyst (RA). He is responsible for managing all project financial accounts and for all financial reporting. Joe is assigned to the Administration & Resources Management Office (Code 603) at Goddard Space Flight Center.

Deanna Adamczyk is a Business Management Officer in the Administration & Resources Management Office (Code 603) at Goddard Space Flight Center. She provides mentoring to the RA and provides financial assistance when necessary.

Matt McLinden is a Co-Investigator (Co-I) and is the EXRAD lead. He has overall responsibility for the EXRAD instrument. He ensures all required testing is satisfactorily performed and that EXRAD is properly integrated onto the Global Hawk aircraft. In addition, Matt is one of the mission scientists. He is assigned to the Microwave Instruments Technology Branch (Code 555) at Goddard Space Flight Center.    

Mathias Schreier is a Co-Investigator (Co-I) and is the HAMSR lead. He is responsible for the successful integration and operation of the HAMSR instrument. Mathias is also one of the mission scientists. He is assigned to the Atmospheric Physics and Weather Department (Code 329E) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Gary Wick is a Co-Investigator (Co-I) and is the AVAPS instrument lead. He is responsible for the successful integration and operation of the AVAPS instrument. He is the PI for the NOAA UAS field program and is also one of the EPOCH mission scientists. He is with NOAA and is assigned to its Earth System Research Laboratory’s Physical Sciences Division in Boulder, Colorado.

Steve Guimond is the lead for running EXRAD performance simulations. He is also one of the mission scientists. Steve is a scientist assigned to the Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Laboratory (Code 612) at Goddard Space Flight Center.

Michael Coon is an engineer responsible for integrating EXRAD onto the Global Hawk. He is assigned to the Microwave Instruments Technology Branch (Code 555) at Goddard Space Flight Center.   

John Bichell is a technician assigned to the Microwave Instruments Technology Branch (Code 555) at Goddard Space Flight Center. He is responsible for performing EXRAD thermal vacuum testing.

Isaac Ramos is an RF Microwave Engineer assigned to Code 382G at JPL. He will be assisting Mathias Schreier on integrating and operating the HAMSR instrument for the EPOCH flight campaign.

Mark Hodge is the Global Hawk Project Manager and is located at Armstrong Flight Research Center. He is the primary point-of-contact between the EPOCH project and the Global Hawk Project Office. He is responsible for coordinating and providing all Global Hawk support for the project.

Mark Buschbacher is the Global Hawk Chief Engineer and is located at Armstrong Flight Research Center. He is responsible for ensuring that EPOCH instruments are properly designed and functionally able to interface and operate with the Global Hawk aircraft and its flight environment.

Dale Zimmerman is the Global Hawk Project’s Operations Engineer. He is located at Armstrong Flight Research Center and is responsible for ensuring the aircraft is ready to support the EPOCH project for integration, testing, and operations. During the flight campaign, he is responsible for ensuring successful operations.

Richard Weaver is responsible for System Safety for the Global Hawk aircraft. He is located at Armstrong Flight Research Center and is responsible for ensuring all required safety analyses are successful completed. This is a necessary prerequisite for EPOCH operations.

Kirsten Fogg is the project’s Payload Manager. Her primary responsibility is to ensure interfaces for the three EPOCH instruments are compatible with the Global Hawk platform. The instrument leads will report to her during instrument installation and integration onto the Global Hawk aircraft. She is an aerospace engineer assigned to the Operations Engineering Branch at Armstrong Flight Research Center.

Jason Dunion is a meteorologist at NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division in Miami, Florida. He is one of the mission scientists and represents NOAA as a mission partner for that agency to conduct additional science flights under the EPOCH project. He is the Deputy PI for the NOAA UAS field program.

Pete Black is a scientist in NOAA’s UAS Program Office working as a contractor with Cherokee Nation Technologies in Salinas, California. Like Jason, he is one of the mission scientists and represents NOAA as a mission partner for that agency to conduct additional science flights under the EPOCH project. He was involved in both the HS3 and SHOUT field campaigns, which were predecessor missions to EPOCH.