People

Cassie is a PhD student in Geography, Environmental Science and Policy. She got her BS in meteorology and a minor in environmental science from Florida Institute of Technology in 2022. There, she did a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) with Columbia University, investigating short and medium term anticipatory action and policy development in climate security and food systems in Mozambique. From this, this ignited her passion for research in the cross section between the social sciences and meteorology. She was also part of her American Meteorological Society student chapter, holding officer positions including the inaugural social media manager, vice president, and president.

She got her MS in rural sociology from Auburn University in 2024, where her thesis was on Alabama agricultural stakeholders perceptions of weather and climate based information and their influence on decision making. She was part of an NRCS project examining the barriers to adoption of climate-smart agriculture in row crop producers in Alabama. She was part of an NSF Traineeship in climate resilience during her time at Auburn as well.

She is a co-chair of the American Meteorological Society Board on Student Affairs Student Outreach and Engagement committee, helping to provide professional development information for students and celebrating students milestones. At USF, she hopes to take her meteorology and sociology knowledge from her other degrees to do research on severe weather perceptions in Floridians and how they make decisions in the event of weather events such as tornadoes and hurricanes.

In her free time, Cassie likes going to Disney, playing video games, and watching TV.