Isabel L. McCoy
My research focuses on understanding the processes driving aerosol-cloud-precipitation-radiation interactions and how they influence the Earth system. I utilize a combination of in situ and remote sensing observations; coarse and high-resolution simulations; and statistical methods including machine learning.
Contact Information
Department of Atmospheric Science
Colorado State University
1371 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1371
isabel.mccoy at colostate.edu
Current Research Interests
Radiative properties of smoke plume evolution — utilizing aerosol retrievals from geostationary satellites and machine learning
Variation in precipitation efficiency of marine clouds across pristine and polluted aerosol states — using in situ observations and high-resolution simulations
Contribution of low cloud mesoscale organization to feedback and forcing — using remote sensing observations and machine learning
Education
Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science (2020) — University of Washington, Seattle, WA
M.S. in Atmospheric Science (2017) — University of Washington, Seattle, WA
B.S. in Physics with Atmospheric Option and Mathematics Minor (2014) — New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM
Select Professional Experience
Research Scientist II (2025-present) — Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Research Scientist I & II (2022-2025) — Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder in the Clouds, Aerosol & Climate Group at the NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO
NOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow (2020-2022) — Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL