Swatah joined the department in Fall 2023 after completing his PhD at Cornell University. Swatah’s PhD thesis involved reconstructing extreme precipitation and atmospheric rivers based on tree-ring based moisture proxies across the Western US and studying associated projected changes in patterns of atmospheric circulation under climate change in the context of past variability suggested by the paleo record. Swatah is a UVA Environmental Institute Climate Fellow co-advised by Prof. Kevin Grise and will work on a project aimed at characterizing hydroclimatic variability in the southeastern US as it relates to water availability and storage.