Thea Spigarelli

Summer 2026

I’m Thea Spigarelli and I’m an undergraduate studying physics and astronomy at Brigham Young University. I am here at Brookhaven National Labs working on performance testing of their new convection cloud chamber, Nephos with Arthur Sedlacek, Fan Yang, and a fellow intern, Derek Hillman Girod.

We are trying to understand more properties of clouds based on the temperature conditions and aerosols, tiny particles suspended in the atmosphere. Specifically, I have been looking at the liquid water content, a key factor in clouds affecting precipitation, cloud lifetime, and reflectivity. The cloud chamber allows us to create a controlled atmosphere-in-a box where we can study particular conditions of clouds that we that are very difficult to study in the field. Once a plane or an instrument goes into a cloud, the cloud has been altered so cloud chambers, such as Nephos, give us the opportunity to learn more than we could otherwise.

I have loved the sky since I was little, whether it was the stars, clouds, rainbows, or snowstorms and I plan to attend graduate school to get a master’s in atmospheric science and then a Ph.D. in cloud physics. My mom taught me the importance of science and education, and I hope to apply what I learn and what I study to improve our understanding and ability to predict the weather as it affects everyone.