As atmospheric sciences students we always talk about extreme weather. In my case, growing up in Puerto Rico, Tropical Cyclones were the form of extreme weather we experienced. We learned about them in classes, read articles about them, and followed them as they developed from satellite and models. But, how about having a one-to-one experience? How about using airplanes to measure them? Although there have been plenty efforts to study and understand hurricane cloud microphysics, there are still many questions unanswered. With the emerging technology and new remote sensors, airplanes provide an excellent platform to measure this system and try to fulfill the existing gaps.

Here I present my experience as part of the microphysics team at the NASA Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) field campaign and the NCAR Ice in Clouds Experiment – Tropical (ICE-T). GRIP was conducted during the months of August and September of 2010 with the main objective of identifies the precursors that contribute to tropical cyclones formation and how they develop into major hurricanes. The main scientific goal of ICE-T (July, 2011) was to show that under given conditions, aerosols have an important role as ice nuclei in first ice formation and also to study how this affect cloud development and precipitation processes in tropical environment. As part of ICE-T, I participated in two educational outreach activities: the Puerto Rico C-130 Tour (for high school students, college students and general public) and NOAA –Puerto Rico Weather Camp (for high school students). In this presentation, I share my experiences with the audience on the science and education aspects of the field campaigns and how they may shape my PhD dissertation and future career.