Derek Mallia is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Utah. He received  the Edward J. Zipser Outstanding Graduate Student Award in 2018, and the Columbia  Initiative on Extreme Weather and Climate Travel Award in 2017. His research interests  are the strong linkages to climate change and involve exchanges between the  atmosphere and land surface using atmospheric models to elucidate key processes  that drive wildfire behavior and smoke dispersion, and wind-blown dust. He received  his doctorate from the University of Utah.