People of PCHES: David Lafferty

David Lafferty is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests are centered around quantifying uncertainty in earth system models. Specifically, he is interested in understanding extreme climate events, our ability to simulate them, and their impacts on human systems.

David’s current project diagnoses the strengths and weaknesses of using statistically downscaled climate information to simulate agricultural yields.

Before joining the University of Illinois, David earned an M.Sc. in Physics from Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg in Germany, where his research focused on modeling the behavior of quarkonium at high-energy particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider. Although challenging and enjoyable work, David eventually decided that particle physics was too obscure for a career choice. David also holds a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Glasgow in Scotland, where he was born.

Outside of work, David enjoys running, reading, baking bread, drinking coffee, and playing and watching soccer.