overview

• Dr. Thomas (Tom) Rickenbach received his B.S. degree in engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in atmospheric science at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colorado.
  Dr. Thomas (Tom) Rickenbach is a professor of atmospheric science in the Department of Earth, Environment, and Planning at East Carolina University. His research investigates the linkages between precipitation systems and regimes of regional climate - today and in the future. His current work centers on understanding the mechanisms and timing of the seasonal transition of precipitation regimes in the southeastern United States, which may shed light on changing precipitation patterns in a warming world. He has played leadership roles in NASA-sponsored field programs to investigate tropical weather systems and to calibrate satellite observations of tropical rainfall. His research has been supported by NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Science Foundation.
  Dr. Rickenbach has over thirty years of experience in environmental research, teaching, consulting, and community outreach. His research has been published in leading journals including Journal of Climate, Journal of Atmospheric Science, Journal of Geophysical Research, International Journal of Climatology, Monthly Weather Review, and the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Prior to entering academia, Dr. Rickenbach spent eight years as a research meteorologist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. In 2018, Dr. Rickenbach was honored with East Carolina University's Scholar-Teacher Award.
  Dr. Rickenbach has appeared frequently on television, radio, and in print media discussing issues from local weather phenomena to the regional impacts of climate change. He has spent time on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. as a resource for Congressional staff on climate-related issues and impacts. He has participated in various university and industry panels on climate change science.
  In 2026 he published a textbook, Science, Culture, and Climate: Navigating Change(Elsevier/Academic Press), an interdisciplinary overview of humanity's deep connection to climate, from the tentative rise of the human species to the climate crisis accelerated by the energy choices of 8 billion of us today. The book explores how solutions to the climate crisis require real understanding of the process of science, weaved with discussion of the forces, social constructs, and history that inform and drive how societal change is accomplished generally.
  Learn more at https://people.ecu.edu/rickenbacht/