William Daniels
Payne Institute Research Associate

Will Daniels is currently pursuing a PhD in Statistics at the Colorado School of Mines. He obtained a BS in Engineering Physics from Mines in 2019, graduating with the Physics Faculty Distinguished Graduate Award in 2019. His work in the Physics Department involved modeling and simulation of certain transient luminous events in the upper atmosphere. After graduating, he moved to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics where he primarily works on statistical inference problems related to large satellite data. Since the fall of 2019, he has been collaborating with scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) on predictive models that link aperiodic changes in the climate to atmospheric carbon monoxide concentrations via large burn events. These models have the potential to help countries prepare for unusually large fire seasons, such as the recent 2019/2020 Australia fires. Starting in the spring of 2020, he has been working with the Payne Institute for Public Policy on the Responsible Gas Initiative, which seeks to better understand the challenges and opportunities related to the future of natural gas in a low-carbon economy. He largely works on the analysis and verification of data and the development of statistical tools to better understand emissions. In his free time, Will enjoys biking, Nordic skiing, and reading.