On Dec. 6, 2016, David “Alex” Burrows, Ph.D. successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at Cornell University in the field of Atmospheric Sciences. Burrows is a 2006 graduate of the Fayetteville-Manlius School District.

Burrow’s dissertation, “Midlatitude Extreme Weather in an Idealized Changing Climate,” involves improving and expanding the computer models used to predict extreme weather events as impacted by changing climate conditions. For the short-term, Burrows will continue with post-doctoral research at Cornell working with Dr. Toby Ault in the Atmospheric Science and Agriculture departments.

Burrows received his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at Castleton University in Vermont and studied Meteorology at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, Colorado.  In 2014 he received his Master of Science from Cornell in Atmospheric Sciences. In his dissertation, Burrows acknowledges his 12th grade AP Calculus teacher, Chuck Stedman, for sparking his interest in math and science.