Dr. Ashton Robinson Cook is a weather forecaster, research, and innovator. He is a Research Affiliate with the University of Oklahoma South Central Climate Science Center and meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. He provides daily forecasts of high impact weather (severe, winter, and fire) for the continental U.S. Additionally, he conducts research and software development to improve seasonal severe weather forecasts, to identify severe weather outbreaks in model data, and to better understand severe storm impacts and risk using Python and GIS. In December 2014, Ashton earned a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology, becoming the first African-American male to graduate with such a distinction.
Away from his forecast and research, Ashton is an avid football fan (and champion!) and sports enthusiast.
More about Ashton:
Ashton became the first African-American in the world to study tornadoes for his dissertation research…
A discussion of Ashton’s research (media interview)…
Ashton’s resume for federal employment
Online biography at the Storm Prediction Center
A feature in “I’M Meteorology” – highlighting accomplishments from alumni of the OU School of Meteorology