Chris received his B. S. in physics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1985, and his Ph. D. in meteorology from MIT in 1990 for a thesis entitled "Cyclogenesis Diagnosed with Potential Vorticity". In the fall of 1990, Chris began post-doctoral study in the Advanced Studies Program at NCAR. In January, 1992, he became a Scientist I with a joint appointment with the Mesoscale Microscale Division and Research Applications Program of NCAR.
Chris’s work has concentrated on mesoscale and synoptic-scale phenomena such as extratropical cyclones, tropical cyclones, mesoscale convective systems, and terrain-induced flows. Work on extratropical cyclones has interpreted observed cyclone development in terms of theoretical models using potential vorticity as a diagnostic tool. Work on mesoscale convective systems has focused on mesoscale vortices produced by long-lived systems, and the possible role such vortices might have in causing subsequent heavy rainfall. Chris was co-science coordinator for the recent Bow-echo and MCV Experiment (BAMEX), a major component of which was to obtain unprecedented observations within and near mesoscale convective systems and remnant mesoscale convective vortices (MCVs) to understand their evolution and the subsequent redevelopment of rainfall.
Chris has sought new methods of evaluating short-range numerical forecasts that are objective, yet feature-based. He has also contributed to new verification methods for tropical cyclone forecasts. Chris’s other research on tropical cyclones has focused on mechanisms of mesoscale vorticity organization in the early stages of these storms and on influences of disturbances from the extratropics on this organization. He was a co-organizer of the PREDICT field campaign in 2010 to study hurricane formation in the Atlantic Ocean.
In much of his work, Chris has consistently bridged theoretical and applied research through a combination of numerical simulation and observational analysis. He has published more than 130 refereed scientific articles.
From 2010-2015, Chris directed NCAR's Advanced Study Program (ASP). Since 2015, he has been Director of the Mesoscale and Microscale Laboratory of NCAR. In August of 2020, he became chair of the World Weather Research Programme Science Steering Committee within WMO.
