Dr. Esther Mullens
Assistant Professor
she/her/hers
ORCID: 0000-0002-4370-6375
Affiliate Member
UF Water Institute
University of Oklahoma South Central Climate Adaptation Center
Focus Areas
Research Statement:
My research interests surround precipitation variability – in particular in its extremes (drought, floods), as well as climate dynamics, and climate adaptation. My other joys are in mentoring undergraduate research, supporting stakeholder science through assisting with climate data interpretation, and assisting in a recent early-career workshop facilitated by CS-CASC. I had the privilege of co-authoring the Southern Great Plains Chapter of the National Climate Assessment (NCA4). At the University of Florida, I will be expanding the meteorological teaching and research within the department of Geography. I will also continue to work with colleagues at OU on the PRES2iP project, which aims to improve our understanding and prediction of heavy precipitation at seasonal to sub-seasonal lead times.
Recent Funded Projects
NSF-AGS Physical and Dynamic Meteorology 2021-4 (PI: $294,440) Thermodynamic Modification of Winter Storms
Recent Publications
Williamson, M., K. Ash, M. Erickson, and E. Mullens, 2023. Damages associated with Excessive Rainfall Outlooks (EROs) and missed flash floods. Weather and Forecasting., 38, 971-984.https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-22-0035.1
Mullens, E.D., and McPherson, R.A 2023. The changing nature of hazardous weather and implications for transportation: Example from Oklahoma, USA. MDPI Climate, 11, https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11020032
Rogério de S. Nóia Júnior, Luc Olivier, Daniel Wallach, Esther Mullens, Clyde W. Fraisse, Senthold Asseng, 2023. A simple procedure for a national wheat yield forecast, European Journal of Agronomy,148,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2023.126868
VanBuskirk, O, P Ćwik; R A. McPherson; H Lazrus; E Martin; C Kuster and E Mullens. 2021. Listening to Stakeholders: Initiating Research on Sub-seasonal to Seasonal Heavy Precipitation Events by First Understanding What Users Need. Bull. Amer. Met. Soc., https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0313.1. Impact factor: 8.766
Mullens, E.D., 2021: Meteorological Cause and Characteristics of Widespread Heavy Precipitation days in the Texas-Gulf Watershed 2003-18. International J. Climatology. http://doi.org/10.1002/joc.7046
Rosendahl, D., McPherson, R.A., Wootten, A., Mullens, E.D., Blackband, J., and Bryan, A. 2019. Building Practitioner Confidence in Working with Uncertainties in Future Climate Projections, EOS, 100, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EO136493. Impact factor: 0.545
Mullens, E.D., & McPherson, R.A. 2019. Quantitative Scenarios for Future Hydrologic Extremes in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. International J. Climatology. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.5979
Mullens, E.D., and McPherson R.A, 2017: A Multi-algorithm reanalysis-based freezing precipitation dataset for climate studies in the South-Central U.S. J. Appl. Meteor. Clim, 56
Mullens, E. D., L. M. Leslie, and P. J. Lamb, 2016: A synoptic climatology of ice and snowstorms in the Southern Great Plains 1993-2011. Weather and Forecasting, 31, 1109-1136
Mullens, E. D., L. M. Leslie, and P. J. Lamb, 2016. Impact of Gulf of Mexico SST anomalies on Southern Plains freezing precipitation: WRF-ARW sensitivity study of the January 28-30 2010 winter storm. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology
Chen S., J. Zhang, E. Mullens, Y. Hong, A. Behrangi, Y. Tian, X-M. Hu, J. Hu, Z. Zhang, and X. Zhang, 2015: Mapping the precipitation type distribution over the contiguous United States using NOAA/NSSL National multi-sensor mosaic QPE. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 53, 4434-4443.
Chen, S., H. Liu, Y. You, E. Mullens, J. Hu, Ye. Yuan, M. Huang, L. He, Y. Luo, Zeng, G. Tang, and Y.Hong, 2014: Evaluation of high-resolution precipitation estimates from satellites during July 2012 Beijing flood event using dense rain gauge observations. Plos One
Mullens, E.D., 2014: Moisture and thermal characteristics of Southern Plains ice storms: insights from a regional synoptic climatology and high-resolution WRF-ARW sensitivity study. PhD Dissertation, Dept. Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.
Mullens, E, D, M. Shafer, and J. Hocker, 2013. Trends in Heavy Precipitation in the Southern United States. Weather, 68, 311-316
Educational Background
- PhD in Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, 2014
- B.Sc. in Meteorology, University of Reading, 2007
Current Graduate Students
PhD
Master’s
Alumni Graduate Students