Dr. Katelyn Dean (O'Dell)

Kate O'Dell Kate O'Dell

- Basic Information -

Time in Larsen Lab: 2012-2016
Basic Project Description: Studied an extremely wide range of topics. Spent most of her time on sampling considerations in radar meteorology, super- and sub-terminal raindrops, disdrometer site characterization, and a variety of other problems.

- Dissemination Based on work in Larsen Lab -

- Peer-Reviewed Journal Papers -

M.L. Larsen and K. O'Dell (2016). Sampling variability effects in drop-resolving disdrometer observations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 121, 11777--11791. doi: 10.1002/2016JD025491.

- Professional Conference Presentations -

M.L. Larsen, J.C. Harris, R. Lemasters, K. O'Dell, and J. Teves (2013). Development of a site to investigate rainfall accumulation and drop size distribution variability on small spatio-temporal scales. 38th Annual Meeting of the National Weather Association. North Charleston, SC. October 12-17, 2013.

K. O'Dell and M.L. Larsen (2015). A study of realistic sampling-variability effects on precipitation measurements. 2015 Fall AGU Meeting. San Francisco, CA. 14-18 December 2015.

K. O'Dell and M.L. Larsen (2016). Investigating a new disdrometer sampling method to reduce measurement variability. 17th International Conference on Clouds and Precipitation. Manchester, UK. 25-29 July, 2016.

M.L. Larsen, R. Lemasters, K. O'Dell, and J.B. Teves (2016). Development of a new theoretical framework for the analysis of disdrometer data. 17th International Conference on Clouds and Precipitation. Manchester, UK. 25-29 July, 2016.

M.L. Larsen, K. O'Dell, and J. Niehaus (2018). Sampling considerations associated with the interpretation of disdrometric data. 15th AMS Conference on Cloud Physics. Vancouver, Canada. July 9-13, 2018.

B. Ierace, M.L. Larsen, K. O'Dell, and A.B. Kostinski (2020). Exploring the possible origins of raindrops falling at non-terminal fallspeeds. 202 Fall AGU Meeting. Online Everywhere/San Francisco, CA. December 1-17, 2020.

M.L. Larsen, B. Ierace, K. O'Dell, and A.B. Kostinski (2021). Investigations into rain droplet fall velocity variability. International Conference on Clouds and Precipitation (ICCP 2021). Pune, India. August 2-6, 2021.

- Student Research Presentations -

J.C. Harris, K. O'Dell, J.B. Teves, and M.L. Larsen (2013). Radar-inferred rain accumulation variability. Celebration of Summer Scholars. College of Charleston, August 19, 2013

K. O'Dell and M.L. Larsen (2013). Establishing a site-specific Z-R relationship for Dixie Plantation. Celebration of Summer Scholars. College of Charleston, August 19, 2013

K. O'Dell and M.L. Larsen (2013). Developing and evaluating a site-specific Z-R relationship. College of Charleston Physics Department Colloquium. October 3, 2013

J.C. Harris, K. O'Dell, J.B. Teves, and M.L. Larsen (2013). Investigation of radar-inferred rain accumulation variability. 38th Annual Meeting of the National Weather Association. North Charleston, SC. October 12-17, 2013

K. O'Dell and M.L. Larsen (2014). Development of a Z-R relationship for a local automated weather station. Annual Meeting of the South Carolina Academy of Science. Trident Technical College, April 5, 2014

K. O'Dell and M.L. Larsen (2014). Using automated weather station to validate an existing site-specific Z-R relationship. 26th Annual College of Charleston Scientific Research Poster Session. April 17, 2014

K. O'Dell and M.L. Larsen (2015). Exploration of non-terminal drop velocity on size determination in impact disdrometers. Annual Meeting of the South Carolina Academy of Sciences. Furman University, April 11, 2015

K. O'Dell and M.L. Larsen (2015). Erroneous drop sizing in impact disdrometers: Possible effects of Z-R relationships. 27th Annual College of Charleston Scientific Research Poster Session. April 16, 2015

K. O'Dell and M.L. Larsen (2015). A study of realistic sampling variability effects on precipitation measurements. Celebration of Summer Scholars. College of Charleston, August 24, 2015

K. O'Dell and M.L. Larsen (2015). Sampling variability as it influences rain moment estimators. Department of Physics and Astronomy Departmental Colloquium. College of Charleston. September 17, 2015

K. O'Dell and M.L. Larsen (2016). Reduction of measurement variability in precipitation events with uniform sampling. NCUR 30th Annual Conference. University of South Carolina at Asheville. April 7-9, 2016

K. O'Dell and M.L. Larsen (2016). Investigation of a new sampling methodology to improve accuracy of Z-R relationships. 28th Annual College of Charleston Scientific Research Poster Session. April 14, 2016

K. O'Dell and M.L. Larsen (2016). Reduction of measurement variability in precipitation events with uniform sampling. College of Charleston Physics and Astronomy Department Research Award Nominee Talks. April 21, 2016

- Awards won while working in Larsen Lab -

2013 Horatio Hughes Summer Research Award

2014 Harry Ricker, Jr., Endowed Award

2015 Winner of the $\Sigma \Xi$ award for Outstanding Student Research at the South Carolina Academy of Science Annual Meeting (1st Place in Earth Science)

2015 College of Charleston Research Presentation Grant

2016 Department of Physics and Astronomy Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award in Physics

2016 Department of Physics and Astronomy Outstanding Graduate Award

- Post-Graduation Activities and Current Status -

The summer after graduating, Kate stuck around and we wrote a couple of papers together and went to the Cloud and Precipitation Physics Conference in Manchester, UK. Upon returning, Kate started a Ph.D. program in Atmospheric Science at Colorado State.

Since heading to Colorado, Kate finished her Masters, picked up a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Award, and in June of 2021 completed her Ph.D. on "Health-relevant pollutants in US landscape fire smoke: Abundance, health impacts, and influence on indoor and outdoor air quality" under Jeff Pierce and Emily Fischer.

After her Ph.D., she completed a postdoctoral appointment at George Washington University in the Environmental and Occupational Health Department.

After this postdoc, she joined the Department of Energy as an American Association for the Avancement of Sciences Science and Technology Policy Fellow. After that position, she took a position as an energy and market analyst with the US DoE's office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). There, she conducted energy market, policy, and emissions research for a variety fo advanced clean energy technologies.

Most recently, Kate serves as a Senior Research Lead at EFI (Energy Futures Initiative) Foundation. She was married in 2025 and currently lives in Washington, DC. In early 2025 she was kind enough to guest lecture (virtually) in my Air Pollution class. There have been stretches where I saw Kate fairly often at conferences, but she has kind of weaved in and out of the science and policy spaces.
updated: 27 June 2026