Personal profile
Education
- Ph.D. in Meteorology, The University of Oklahoma, 1994
- M.S. in Meteorology, Texas A&M University, 1989
- B.S. in Agriculture/Atmospheric Science, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1985
Personal profile
Dr. Trapp is the Director of the School of Earth, Society and Environment, and Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Before joining Illinois in 2014, he was a Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Purdue University from 2003-2014, and a research scientist with the National Severe Storms Laboratory (through the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies) in Norman, Oklahoma from 1996-2003. Four years of his tenure with NSSL were spent as a visiting scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.
Dr. Trapp conducts research on severe convective storms, including their dynamics and attendant hazards, and their connection with climate change and variability. He is also the author of the textbook “Mesoscale-Convective Processes in the Atmosphere,” published by Cambridge University Press.
Dr. Trapp received his B.S. degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, M.S. degree from Texas A&M University, and Ph.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma. He was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow.
Office Address
3062 Natural History Building
Office Phone
+1.217.300.0967
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Future Climate Projections of Hazardous Convective Weather Using an Ensemble of Environment-Informed, Convection-Permitting Dynamical Downscaling Simulations
Wang, S., Trapp, R. J., Allen, J., Gopalakrishnan, D. & Robinson, E., Apr 16 2026, In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 131, 7, e2025JD045354.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
A Comprehensive Evaluation of Biases in Convective Storm Parameters in CMIP6 Models over North America
Gopalakrishnan, D., Cuervo-Lopez, C., Allen, J. T., Trapp, R. J. & Robinson, E., Feb 2025, In: Journal of Climate. 38, 4, p. 947-971 25 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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A Storyline Climate-Change Attribution Study of a High-Impact Hailstorm in Switzerland
Trapp, R. J., Lasher-Trapp, S. G., Claybrooke, R. D. & Romppainen-Martius, O., Sep 28 2025, In: Geophysical Research Letters. 52, 18, e2025GL117142.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Characteristics of Tornadic and Nontornadic QLCS Mesovortices Observed Using Radar and Pod Data from PERiLS
Blind-Doskocil, L., Trapp, R. J., Nesbitt, S. W., Parker, M. D., Kosiba, K. A., Wurman, J., Aikins, J. & Robinson, P., Oct 2025, In: Weather and Forecasting. 40, 10, p. 2179-2197 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Improved Understanding of How Kinematic and Thermodynamic Environmental Changes Impact Modeled Overshooting Top Characteristics
Berman, M. T., Trapp, R. J., Nesbitt, S. W. & Di Girolamo, L., Nov 16 2025, In: Geophysical Research Letters. 52, 21, e2025GL117993.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access
Datasets
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tornado-PGW
Trapp, R. (Creator), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Jun 1 2023
DOI: 10.13012/B2IDB-4479773_V1
Dataset
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Radar analyzed quasi-linear convective system mesovortices during the Propagation, Evolution, and Rotation in Linear Storms (PERiLS) Project
Blind-Doskocil, L. (Creator), Trapp, R. (Creator) & Nesbitt, S. (Creator), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Oct 15 2025
DOI: 10.13012/B2IDB-3906187_V2
Dataset