Anthony Guillory is an Airborne Science Project Manager for NASA. He is stationed at the Goddard Space Flight Center Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia. Anthony currently manages a fleet of research aircraft for NASA including the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Aerosonde. He is author or co-author of over 25 articles and conference presentations.
Beginning at age 12, Anthony was keenly aware of thunderstorms and hurricanes that passed through or near his coastal Louisiana hometown of Kinder. In 1978 tropical storm Deborah hit and spawned a tornado near his home. This was the event that clinched Anthony’s interest in meteorological science. He knew then that he wanted to be a meteorologist and study hurricanes.
Throughout middle school and high school Anthony read every science book he could find. Not only did he learn about weather, but biology, chemistry, physics and space. He built a weather station in his back yard and collected weather data daily throughout high school.
In college, Anthony earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in Atmospheric Sciences from Northeast Louisiana University and went on to earn a master of science degree in Meteorology from Florida State University.
After earning his degree from FSU he began working with Robbie Hood (Mission 2 Host Researcher) at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center where he studied rainfall in hurricanes. He used visible, infrared, microwave data from satellite and aircraft sensors to complete his research. Anthony spent 14 years at NASA Marshall. While there he used planes like the ER-2 to collect the data for his studies.
In 2004 Anthony and another colleague at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center were awarded NOAA’s 2003 Environmental Hero Award. The award recognized Anthony’s contribution of his own time and money to implement a network of weather stations in the area of northern Alabama. With his colleague he selected the sites for the stations, then assembled and installed the eight weather stations for gathering meteorological data.
Anthony soon received a promotion at NASA and was brought to NASA headquarters in Washington D.C. In 2005 Anthony was assigned to manage research aircraft, including NASA’s use of Aerosonde and other aerial vehicles at the Wallops Flight Facility.
When presented with a mission for NASA and cooperating agencies like NOAA, Anthony uses his expertise in meteorology and atmospheric science to help assign the right aircraft to the mission. Currently, he is working with researchers who are exploring the arctic regions as well as hurricanes.
Anthony’s advice to students is to “absorb everything they can” in science and math.