Leila Carvalho

I am a Professor of Meteorology and Climate Sciences in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. I obtained my B.Sc., M.Sc., and PhD in Atmospheric Sciences (Meteorology) from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. I was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of São Paulo from 2000 to 2008 and began my career at UCSB in 2009.
My research interests span multiple spatial and temporal scales and focus primarily on monsoon systems, extreme weather, mountain weather and climate, fire weather, and wildfires. A significant part of my work is dedicated to understanding and predicting conditions conducive to firestorms, particularly those associated with mountain windstorms. Among these fire weather systems, I am especially interested in Sundowner winds, Santa Ana winds, and other windstorms affecting the western United States, as well as similar mountain windstorms worldwide. I am also interested in understanding and modeling fire behavior. My research integrates observations and modeling across multiple scales.