Purdue PhD student earns NASA FINESST fellowship to unravel the mysteries of extreme heatwaves
08-29-2025
Yanjun Hu, a PhD student in Purdue University's Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, has been awarded a NASA Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) fellowship to study the factors that drive heatwaves across the United States.
This award, led by Hu and advisor Lei Wang, assistant professor in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) at Purdue, was one of only 54 selected by NASA's Earth Science Division from more than 500 proposals. The project has been recognized with three years of funding at $50,000 annually, supporting Hu's work in Purdue's Weather and Climate Dynamics Laboratory.
Hu’s research focuses on how interactions between soil moisture and the atmosphere influence the severity and duration of heatwaves. "There are various reasons for the formation and intensification of heatwaves," Hu explained. "From a large-scale view, circulation patterns like atmospheric blocking can impose high pressure over a region and raise temperatures. From a local view, soil moisture plays a critical role because evaporation provides cooling. Without enough soil moisture, the cooling is limited, and surface temperatures rise sharply."
Hu aims to quantify how soil moisture, atmospheric circulation, and their interactions work together to fuel extreme heat by combining her hydrology background with advanced climate modeling, "I hope to better understand the relative importance of soil moisture, large-scale circulation patterns, and their feedbacks in regulating heatwaves across the U.S. This knowledge could help improve predictions and our ability to respond to extreme heat events," Hu said.
For Hu, the award marks a personal milestone. "The questions proposed in this project have puzzled me for several years, ever since my master’s studies, when I was focused on hydrology," Hu said. "I felt that land processes alone were not enough to explain heatwaves, and I wanted to look for answers in the atmosphere. I'm most excited that this award affirms the value of the questions I've been asking, and that it allows me to integrate my background in hydrology with my current research."
The project builds on Purdue's strengths in atmospheric science, data analysis, and high-performance computing. The team relies on resources from Purdue's Rosen Center for Advanced Computing to analyze global datasets spanning thousands of years. Hu also credits the collaborative environment in the department for sharpening Hu’s work. "We have a great research environment in EAPS, with seminars, colloquiums and journal clubs where we can share ideas and discuss our work among different majors," Hu said.
Lei Wang, Hu's advisor, has high praise for Hu’s accomplishments. “I am very proud of Yanjun’s selection,” Wang said. “Yanjun is an amazing junior scientist. Since she arrived at Purdue last Fall and started her graduate program here, she has worked on multiple research projects with us and made significant progress on several fronts. This award is highly competitive, with a selection rate of less than 10%, and is widely considered one of the most prestigious recognitions for a graduate student's scientific promise and demonstrated strength, as evidenced by their proposal. Since my group started a few years ago, Yanjun is the second student in my group who received this award, and the first one was Zhaoyu Liu’s FINESST selection in 2023.”
Alongside this fellowship, Hu is also investigating how synoptic eddies contribute to atmospheric blocking, another factor linked to extreme heatwaves. She has already prepared preliminary datasets for the NASA project and plans to apply statistical analyses to uncover soil moisture patterns linked to past heatwaves.
Ultimately, Hu hopes that her work will contribute to improving the way we prepare for the climate extremes ahead. "Climate is a complex and chaotic system. We're still in the early stages if we define the 'final stage' as a world where we can 100% accurately model the weather and climate system," Hu said. "What excites me most is the potential to improve the predictability of heatwaves through our discoveries."
Hu also expressed appreciation for the support of her lab group, including Valentina Castañeda, Zhaoyu Liu, Kaying Ho, Zach Holder, Yuanbing Zhao, and Zehao Song.
About the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University
The Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) combines four of Purdue's most interdisciplinary programs: Geology & Geophysics, Environmental Sciences, Atmospheric Sciences, and Planetary Sciences. EAPS conducts world-class research, educates undergraduate and graduate students, and provides our college, university, state and country with the information necessary to understand the world and universe around us. Our research is globally recognized, our students are highly valued by graduate schools, employers, and our alumni continue to make significant contributions in academia, industry, and federal and state government.
Written by: David Siple, communications specialist, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) at Purdue University.