James Frech

James Frech is a faculty assistant at the University of Maryland working for NOAA/NCEI's Satellite Oceanography group through the CISESS/ESSIC cooperative institute. He got his start with NOAA through the William M. Lapenta Summer Internship program and transitioned to full time after his graduation from the University of Maryland in the fall of 2022. As a faculty assistant, his work focuses on the development of the NOAA's Blended Seawinds product and the extrapolation of surface wind speeds to the heights of wind turbines and also on helping out with studies on the impacts and variability of aerosols. In addition to his work, he is working towards a master's degree in machine learning at the University of Maryland and plans to graduate in Spring 2025. In his free time, he enjoys playing guitar, rock climbing, skiing, hiking and much more.