Helen Greatrex

Hello!  I'm an assistant professor in Remote Sensing and Geospatial analysis, co-hired between the departments of Geography and Statistics.  I am also a co-hire of Penn State's Institute for Computational and Data Sciences. 

My research focuses on how rainfall is measured and used for decision-making—moving from hazard, through exposure and vulnerability to impact.  I use a variety of tools to explore this topic, from the geostatistical analysis of satellite rainfall estimates, to mixed methods research on weather impacts.   

Recent examples include: 

• Working alongside the humanitarian and insurance sectors to explore how tailored weather information can be better used to trigger action and prevent disasters in Somalia.
• Mixed methods research on the causal chain from weather hazard to impact.
• Assessing how satellite rainfall estimates can be used to reduce basis risk in index insurance. 
• Creating geostatistical validation metrics and spatially correlated ensemble estimates of uncertainty for satellite rainfall estimates.
• Understanding how rainfall impacts a variety of other sectors, from forecasting infant hydrocephalus in Uganda, to assessing weather impacts on pollinators.
   

Finally, I very much enjoy teaching courses such as GEOG-364 (Spatial Analysis) and STAT-462 (Applied Regression Analysis).