Courtney M. L. Batterson
Research Scientist
Affiliation: Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (BAERI)
Division: Space Science and Astrobiology Division (ST)
Branch: Planetary Systems Branch (STT)
Email: courtney.m.batterson@nasa.gov
Phone: 650-604-0489
Personal Websites: GitHub | BAER Biography
Read Courtney Batterson‘s Interview
Professional Biography
I have been researching as a member of the Mars Climate Modeling Center (MCMC) at NASA Ames since 2016. My career has grown from an undergraduate internship under Dr. Melinda Kahre into a full-time position as a research scientist with the Mars Climate Modeling Center (MCMC) at Ames. I graduated from Creighton University in 2017 with a B.S. in Environmental Science and have since earned an M.S. in Meteorology at SJSU under Drs. Alison Bridger (SJSU) and Melinda Kahre (NASA). My work is two-fold: my research concerns the physics and dynamics of Martian dust storms, and my technical work includes co-developing the Community Analysis Pipeline (CAP), a software tool for working with output from the NASA Ames Mars Global Climate Model (MGCM), and model development for the MGCM. In my free time, On the weekend, you can find me golfing along the California coast with my lifelong partner, Alex, or snuggling up with my dog, Mabel, and a good book.
Education
M.S. Meteorology, San Jose State University 2021 (Thesis: Observational Analysis and Modeling of the “B” Regional Dust Storm on Mars)
B.S. Environmental Science, Creighton University 2017 (Minors: Communication, Meteorology)
Research Interests
Planetary atmospheres, Mars dust storms, numerical modeling, and software development
Select Publications
Kahre, M.A., Haberle, R.M., Wilson, R.J., Urata, R.A., Steakley, K.E., Brecht, A.S., Bertrand, T., Kling, A.L.M., Batterson, C.M.L., Hartwick, V., Harman, C.E., & Gkouvelis, L. (2023). The NASA Ames legacy Mars global climate model: Radiation code error correction and new baseline water cycle simulation. Icarus, 400. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115561
Batterson, C.M.L., Kahre, M.A., Bridger, A.F.C., Wilson, R.J., Urata, R.A., & Bertrand, T. (2023). Modeling the “B” regional dust storm on Mars: Dust lofting mechanisms predicted by the new NASA Ames Mars GCM. Icarus, 400. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115542
Kahre, M.A., Haberle, R.M., Wilson, R.J., Urata, R.A., Steakley, K.E., Brecht, A.S., Bertrand, T., Kling, A.L.M., Batterson, C.M.L., Hartwick, V.L., & Harman, C.E. (2023). The NASA Ames legacy Mars global climate model: Radiation code error correction and new baseline water cycle simulation. Icarus, 400. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115561
Batterson, C.M.L. (2021). Observational analysis and modeling of the “B” regional dust storm on Mars. Master’s Theses, SJSU Scholarworks, 5174. doi:https://doi.org/10.31979/etd.tfdn-ykx7
Batterson, C.M.L. (2015). “Feminism” and feminism: A rhetorical criticism of Emma Watson’s address to the United Nations. Quest: A Journal of Undergraduate Research, 5. pp. 1-12. doi:10.17062/qjur.v5.i1.p1
Technologies & Software
NASA Ames Mars Climate Modeling Center. (2024, December 6). Ames Mars GCM (Version 3.2) [Computer software]. NASA GitHub. https://doi.org/10.25966/ty4s-w176
NASA Ames Mars Climate Modeling Center. (2024, January 17). Ames Mars GCM (Version 3.1) [Computer software]. NASA GitHub. https://doi.org/10.25966/ty4s-w176
NASA Ames Mars Climate Modeling Center. (2023, November 29). Ames Mars GCM (Version 3.0) [Computer software]. NASA GitHub. https://doi.org/10.25966/ty4s-w176
NASA Ames Mars Climate Modeling Center (2025). Community Analysis Pipeline (Version 4.0) [Computer software]. NASA Planetary Science GitHub. https://github.com/NASA-Planetary-Science/AmesCAP/releases
NASA Ames Mars Climate Modeling Center. (2024, August 14). Data Portal Web Interface [Web tool]. NASA Ames Research Center, NASA. https://data.nas.nasa.gov/mcmc/portals/web-interface/
Seminars and Conference Talks
Speaker at the NASA AMES Space Science & Astrobiology Division Open Science Workshop, “Open Science Initiatives by the Mars Climate Modeling Center.” Sep. 2024
Speaker at the NASA/AMES Mars Global Climate Model (GCM) and Community Analysis Pipeline (CAP) Tutorial, “CAP Exercises.” Nov. 2023
Invited speaker at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Annual Fall Meeting, “Modeling the B regional dust storm on Mars: Observations and simulated dust plumes.” Dec. 2022
Speaker at the 7th International Workshop on the Mars Atmosphere: Modelling and Observations, “The B regional dust storm in the NASA Ames Mars GCM.” Jun. 2022
Speaker at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Annual Fall Meeting, “Modeling the B regional dust storm on Mars.” Dec. 2021