Robin M Kovach
(SCI. APP. PROGRAMMER)
| Email: | robin.m.kovach@nasa.gov |
| Org Code: | |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 610.1 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: | RSES |
Brief Bio
Robin Kovach, PMP, is a Senior Program Manager at Analytical Mechanics Associates (AMA), where she leads strategic initiatives supporting NASA’s Research, Science, and Engineering Services (RSES) contract. She brings nearly three decades of experience in Earth sciences and over 20 years supporting NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as a scientist, team lead, and program manager. Previously, she served as Vice President and Program Manager for the Support for Atmospheric Modeling and Data Assimilation (SAMDA) contract at SSAI. Robin has held leadership roles across multiple NASA contracts, including GMAO, HBG, and HBS, and earlier in her career contributed as a Chief Research Scientist in ocean modeling and data assimilation. She holds both a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology.
Positions/Employment
Program Manager
Analytical Mechanics Associates - NASA Langley Research Center
May 2024 - Present
Vice President, Program Manager - Support for Atmospheres, Modeling, and Data Assimilation (SAMDA)
SSAI - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
November 2021 - April 2024
Program Manager - Support for Atmospheres, Modeling, and Data Assimilation (SAMDA)
SSAI - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
March 2021 - October 2021
Deputy Program Manager - Hydrosphere, Biosphere, Geophysics (HBG)
SSAI - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
March 2020 - February 2021
Project Lead/Chief Research Scientist - Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO)
SSAI - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
August 2018 - February 2020
Deputy Project Lead/Chief Research Scientist - Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO)
SSAI - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
September 2017 - July 2018
Chief Research Scientist - Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO)
SSAI - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
February 2012 - August 2017
Senior Scientific Programmer/Analyst - NASA Seasonal to Interannual Prediction Project (NSIPP)
SAIC - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
September 2001 - January 2012
Research Associate
Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) - University of Miami, Key Biscayne, FL
1997 - January 2021
Education
M.S., Ocean Engineering, Florida Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), Melbourne, Florida, 1996
Thesis: Langenbach, R., (maiden), G. Rae, “Fuzzy Logic Docking Control for an Underwater Vehicle,” proceedings of the 9th International Symposium on Unmanned Untethered Submersible Technology.
B.S., Ocean Engineering, Florida Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), Melbourne, Florida, 1994
Awards
SSAI Leadership Award for “an employee who demonstrates exceptional leadership qualities and makes significant contributions to accomplishing SSAI objectives”, Jan. 2017.
The GMAO Outstanding Performance Award for “Team effort in preparing the ocean, sea-ice and land initial conditions for the GEOS-5 seasonal predictions and the decadal predictions for AR5”, Jan. 2012
The GMAO/SRT Outstanding Performance Award for “Outstanding Support in Ocean Observation Processing and Analysis in the GMAO”, Dec. 2005.
Selected Publications
Refereed
2020. "GEOS-S2S Version 2: The GMAO high resolution coupled model and assimilation system for seasonal prediction.", Journal of Geophysical Research, 125 (5): [10.1029/2019JD031767] [Journal Article/Letter]
2019. "Impact of Aquarius and SMAP Satellite Sea Surface Salinity Observations on Coupled El Niño/Southern Oscillation Forecasts.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 0 (0): [10.1029/2019JC015130] [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "The roles of climate change and climate variability in the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season.", Scientific Reports, 8 [10.1038/s41598-018-34343-5] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "GEOS-5 seasonal forecast system.", Climate Dynamics, [10.1007/s00382-017-3835-2] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "The 2015/2016 El Nino event in context of the MERRA-2 reanalysis: A comparison of the tropical Pacific with 1982/1983 and 1997/1998.", Journal of Climate, 30 (13): 4819-4842 [10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0800.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "Steric sea level variability (1993–2010) in an ensemble of ocean reanalyses and objective analyses.", Climate Dynamics, 1-21 [10.1007/s00382-015-2554-9] [Journal Article/Letter]
2014. "The impact of the assimilation of Aquarius sea surface salinity data in the GEOS ocean data assimilation system.", J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 119 (10): 6974-6987 [10.1002/2014JC010006] [Journal Article/Letter]
2008. "Error Covariance Modeling in the GMAO Ocean Ensemble Kalman Filter.", Mon. Wea. Rev., 136 (8): 2964-2982 [10.1175/2007MWR2243.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2007. "Comparison and Sensitivity of ODASI Ocean Analyses in the Tropical Pacific.", Mon. Wea. Rev., 135 (6): 2242-2264 [10.1175/MWR3405.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
Non-Refereed
2015. "MERRA-2: Initial Evaluation of the Climate.", NASA Technical Report Series on Global Modeling and Data Assimilation, 43 (NASA/TM–2015–10) 139 pp. [Report]