Michael Ragauskis

I am a second year graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the advisement of Professor Francina Dominguez. I completed by undergraduate degree here as well, where I double-majored in Atmospheric Sciences and Economics. My research consists of using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to retrospectively analyze historically significant precipitation events that led to severe flooding in the city of Chicago. This research, in collaboration with the UIUC Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, brings together state-of-the-art weather and urban hydrologic/hydraulic modeling to forecast and communicate flood risk at the household, neighborhood and community scales. Our goal is to enable vulnerable Chicago communities and hydraulic infrastructure managers to develop effective strategies for flood preparedness and increase community resilience. Outside of meteorology, I enjoy gardening, reading, music, hiking, and sports.