Dedication and Acknowledgements from Daddy's Thesis

DEDICATION

To Savannah, for your tireless support and encouragement (and English tutoring),

to Timmy, for being my side-kick, from our one-bedroom apartment to the farm,

and

to Jeremy, for sending me off every morning with a smile.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

            Like every campaign, great or small, futile or destined, there is no single individual to whom credit for completion of this dissertation is owed.  Instead, the chorus, sometimes cacophonic and sometimes harmonic, provided the foundation, background, fuel, and (sometimes, though only when appropriate) friction guiding its path.  I beg the reader’s patience, as a non-traditional student like myself owes much to many.  Among all of those below, however, I am particularly grateful to the dedicated, my wife Savannah and sons Timmy and Jeremy, and to my advisor of these past 4 ½ years, Nilton Rennó.

            The passing phrase, “I think I’d like to give a Doctoral program a try,” turned into a half-decade of research, toil, failure, and success because of the encouragement and oft-drawn-upon excitement of my wife, Savannah.  Since then, we’ve seen two Army deployments together, occupied five different places we’ve called “home,” raised two fantastic boys, and built stability among the chaos of it all, and none of it would have been possible without Savannah’s love.  At the many points where I wished to quit, and the two or three moments when I was dedicated to doing so, Savannah gave me what I needed to continue.  Usually it was a hopeful glance at the not-too-distant future, but at the more difficult times, it was a harsh reminder of the consequences to the boys of leaving that encouraged me to continue.  It is in deep gratitude of this, and acknowledging completion of this degree as not an individual, but a family accomplishment, that I dedicate this dissertation to her.

            Of everyone to whom I owe thanks, only one has been with me in person from the beginning to the end.  Timmy and I began this trek together, in a tiny, one-bedroom apartment, managing the stress of a full, graduate-level course load while coping with Mommy’s deployment to Iraq.  We carried on through the qualification exam and candidacy, reminding each other along the way (though always by subtle means) that there were more important things to worry about than a poor exam grade or not getting a favorite toy at daycare.  Timmy’s love of family before toys, of hugs before cartoons, drove me to, more than once, think, “what the hell am I doing?” before putting down my lab book at home and sharing an episode of Spongebob.

            Of course, this chapter (both literally, the text, and figuratively, the past 5 years) would not be complete without Jeremy, my smile-out-the-door every morning before braving rush-hour traffic.  Usually that smile comes from a happy 2-year-old, excited that another day will bring him something new to see.  Sometimes, the smile is amusement at a random antic to wear pajamas all day.  Either way, Jeremy’s hugs and kisses have a way of saying, “Don’t worry about that poor paper review, you’ll figure it out and be just fine.”  It’s this psychological safety net provided by my two boys that I must admit I’ve relied upon many times, and I hope I reciprocate.

            Without a doubt, the most significant professional influence in this dissertation and professional support through the past 5 years has been from my advisor, Nilton Rennó.  Nilton gave me a wide berth to plan, lead, and conduct the ACI project, giving me his trust that, at the time, was in a relatively unknown student.  More than the educational freedom and funding to grow into an independent research, though, Nilton provided me what others could not-  honest, unabashed (though always constructive) criticism.  Within my desk drawer sit three finished, but unpublished papers from my early days within the Ph.D. program.  To each, Nilton opined, “This will not be published.”  As I progressed through my research and wrote other papers that were (eventually) published, I would take a glance through that drawer, and month by month, my appreciation for Nilton’s candid opinions of my writing grew.  Without his advice and counsel, this dissertation would have taken much longer to finish, if it were ever to be completed.  Thank you, Nilton.

            I’m deeply grateful for the professional support I’ve been given from inside and outside academia.  Thank you, ACI team, Steve Musko, Robb Gillespie, Curt Cooper, and my driving buddy, Ron Rizor.  Thank you, too, to my predecessors, Manish Mehta and Jasper Kok, my Ann Arbor colleagues, Shaneen Braswell, Harvey Elliott, German Martinez, and Eric Fisher, my Flint colleagues, Randy Repic and Laura Binder, and a special thanks to Bill Kuhn, who listened patiently to my gripes more than once.  Thank you, Mark Torregrossa, Glenn Willey, and Todd Borek for teaching me everything I know about being a weatherman.  And, of course, I owe deep thanks to my doctoral committee, Frank Marsik, John Barker, Marty Kaufman, and Nilton Rennó, for reading, commenting, and signing (since these acknowledgements are published) my dissertation! 

            I would also like to acknowledge the support I received through the past five years from the support staff in the Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences department.  Thank you, Margaret Reid, Marti Mood, Sandra Pytlinski, Bryan White, and Katie Abdou!  I also owe thanks to the University of Michigan’s administrative staff for their extraordinary efforts to speed along the paperwork allowing the ACI project to be deployed to the field.  Thank you, Katie Abdou, Judith Kirkdorffer, and Timothy Slottow. 

            Any achievement in our family is a family achievement, and in that theme, I would also like to thank my parents, whom I relied upon frequently for emotional support and (quite often) daycare.  I never asked unless I really needed it, but when I asked, you bent over backward to help me, Savannah, Timmy, and Jeremy.  Thank you, too, to my parents-in-law, John and Laura, for supporting my family through the past 5 years, whether with babysitting, the lake house, or just an ear to hear Savannah and me complain.  I’m also very grateful for the support my sister, Beth and her family gave to mine.  Coincidence brought you to live near us, but your kindness took care of us when we really needed a hand.  Thank you, too, to my brother, Tom, and sister, Kelly, to Bill, Adam, Sami and Laura, also my grandma, Arla, whose letters were a reminder that the world doesn’t revolve around Ann Arbor, my grandpa, Ernie, my uncles, Mike, Dave, Duane, Danny, Mike, and Dave and my aunts, Geri, Barb, Kathy, Annette, Pam, my godfather, Brian, my godmother, Carol, my legion of cousins, nieces, and nephews, and Mrs. Joan Metzger, for taking my side in every complaint I had.

            I would also like to acknowledge the patience and support I received from my military family.  My doctoral studies were interrupted by a 12-month deployment to the middle-east, and through the support of my commanders and soldiers, I was able to make the transition back to research smoothly afterward.  Thank you, Lt. Col. Dawn Dancer, Majors Rob Frazer and John Hall, Captains Matt Sawyer, Arnold Williams, Myron Bishop, Lieutenant Takura Nyamfukudza, Master Sergeant Tony Saladine, Sergants First Class Derren Mazza and Colin Mullins, the soldiers of the 126^th Press Camp Headquarters, and my soldiers of 2^nd Platoon, B-Battery, 1/182^nd Field Artillery.

            Finally, I would like to thank my friends and colleagues who have been my academic companions through all my years at Michigan.  Thank you, Mike Boguth, Noelle Grulke, Bridget DeRosa, Nicole Shevsky, and Michael Jankowski!