Davis, Michael A.

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, I have found my way to Kutztown shortly after I defended my dissertation. I have always been intrigued and fascinated by weather and climate going back to my elementary school days of chronicling weather in a notebook for science class. I went to college as an undeclared, but I knew I wanted to get involved with a science or math field. I went to Kent State for my undergraduate and studied under Tom Schmidlin and Scott Sheridan. I had all intentions of going into the National Weather Service to forecast weather, but I needed my masters degree for that so I went to Ohio State University. I studied under Jeff Rogers and Jay Hobgood while at Ohio State for my masters. I chose to stay at Ohio State and was approached by my eventual PhD advisor, Jialin Lin, to research atmospheric moisture representation in global climate models while I worked toward my PhD.

My main interests are climate change, weather forecasting, climate modeling, and ways to get students more engaged in geography through gaming.

I currently live in the Lehigh Valley with my wife, Heather, and my two children, Noah and Robyn. We have two cats named Rossby (after Carl Gustaf Rossby) and Bentley (after Wilson Bentley). In my spare time, I like playing Dungeons and Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, anything nature, camping, and baking. I serve as the faculty advisor to the Anime Club and the Boxing Club.

GEG 10 - Planet Earth Users Guide: An Introduction to Physical Geography
GEG 204 - Meteorology w/Lab
GEG 304 - Weather Analysis w/Lab
GEG 322 - Climatology
GEG 323 - Global Warming and the Science of Climate Change
ENV 380 - Environmental Science Senior Seminar
FYS 100 - Exploring Your World And Others

B.A. Geography (Kent State University) - 2006
Minor - Climatology
Minor - Geographic Information Systems

M.S. Atmospheric Sciences (Ohio State University) - 2008
Thesis: Analysis of United States Mean Seasonal Air Temperatures

Ph.D. Atmospheric Sciences (Ohio State University) - 2011
Dissertation: Cloud-radiation Feedback and Ocean-atmosphere Feedback in the Southeast Pacific in IPCC Global Climate Models

Feedback Loops
Cloud Microphysics
Physical Geography
Air-Sea-Land Interactions
Climate Modeling
Weather Forecasting
Climate Change
Gaming Geography
Geography Education

Clark, M.A. and M.A. Davis, 2023: Climate Change as a Perspective: Looking Through the Lens of High School Teachers within Berks County, PA. Accepted to The Middle States Geographer.

Andrews, T.R. and M.A. Davis, 2022: Shifts in Thunderstorm Occurrence and Spatial Synoptic Air Mass Classifications in the Mid-Atlantic United States, 2003-2012. The Middle States Geographer. 54, 10-18

Davis, M.A., 2022: An Overview of Environmental Themes in the Video Game Industry. The Geographical Bulletin. 63 (2), 97-108

Davis, M.A., 2021: So An Air Parcel Walks Into the Nearest Isobar... In: Vaidya K. (eds) Teach Geography with a Sense of Humor: Why (and How to) Be a Funnier and More Effective Geography Teacher and Laugh All the Way to Your Classroom. The Curious Academic. Ebook.

Davis, M.A., 2019: Learning Geography Through Mobile Gaming. In: Brunn S., Kehrein R. (eds) Handbook of the Changing World Language Map. Springer, Cham.

Gaspich, A.M. and M.A. Davis, 2017: Variability in Pennsylvania Snow Totals, 1980-2010. The Pennsylvania Geographer. 55 (2), 6-23.

Davis, M.A., 2017: Ingress in Geography: Portals to Academic Success? Journal of Geography. 116, 2, 89-97.

Davis, M.A., K.M. Cunningham, and K.A. Soisson, 2016: Extreme Temperature and Precipitation Trends in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Geographer. 54 (1), 41-61.

Term	Days	Start Time	End Time	Course	Location
Fall 2023	M	1:00PM	2:50PM	GEG 204 010	AF200
Fall 2023	MWF	9:00AM	9:50AM	FYS 100 3540	OM287
Fall 2023	MWF	3:00PM	3:50PM	GEG 10 020	BH262
Fall 2023	W	1:00PM	2:50PM	GEG 204 011	GC1