GRI Employee Spotlight
Louis Wasson
Title:
Senior Extension Associate
Time at GRI:
23 Years
Hometown:
Kosciusko, MS
Q: What is your academic background?
B.S. in Geography, M.S. in Climatology with an emphasis in severe weather.
Q: What are your job interests?
As an Extension Associate my job focuses on helping the people of Mississippi
understand and use a variety of unmanned aerial technology and remote sensing
applications.
Q: Who inspired you to pursue the career you have today?
The person who inspired me would be Dr. Charlie Wax. Dr. Wax was my major advisor and is an Emeritus Professor of Meteorology in the Department of Geosciences at MSU and served as head of the Department of Geosciences from 1989 – 2001.
Q: What has been your favorite project while working at GRI?
My favorite project while at GRI would have to be the WISDOM project with NOAA. This was a two-year project where we launched hurricane tracking balloons all along the east and gulf coast, as well as places like Morocco along the African coast. Overall, we launched 88 balloons, 57 of them around Hurricane Paloma. Through this project I met some great (smart) people and made some really good friends.
"Working at GRI is great! Some of the best parts of being at GRI is being able to collaborate with other researchers and learning and working with new technologies."
Q: What is something most people don’t know about you?
Most people don’t know that I love working on cars and am a certified
high-performance driver.
Q: What kinds of hobbies and interests do you have outside of work?
I love anything to do with astronomy and spaceflight. I’m also a member of the
Space Camp Alumni Association.