Dr. John M. Lanicci

Dr. Lanicci joined the Embry-Riddle faculty in 2006, after completing a 27-year career in the United States Air Force. Among his military assignments were two staff tours at the Pentagon; two tours as a weather forecaster and chief of model development at A.F. Global Weather Central (now the A.F. Weather Agency); an assignment as a research scientist and project manager at the A.F. Research Laboratory; a detachment command at Shemya AFB, Alaska; and a squadron command at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. His last duty assignment prior to retirement was as Commander of the Air Force Weather Agency, where he was responsible for a 1,100-person weather center with 14 worldwide operating locations providing weather support to the Department of Defense and the national intelligence community, and overseeing weather technology development and acquisition programs worth $850M. 

In addition to his USAF command and staff experience, Dr. Lanicci spent three years on the faculty at Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, where he was also the college's Chief Information Officer, and six years as an adjunct assistant professor with Embry-Riddle's Worldwide campus program. Dr. Lanicci has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in synoptic and mesoscale meteorology, weather analysis and forecasting, aviation meteorology, and environmental security. 

Dr. Lanicci received a B.S. degree (summa cum laude) in physics from Manhattan College, Bronx, New York, in 1979; a B.S. degree (with highest distinction) in meteorology from Penn State University in 1980, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in meteorology from Penn State in 1984 and 1991 through Air Force Institute of Technology sponsorship. His research interests include the integration of weather information into aviation decision-making, central Florida severe-storms, and the effects of climate change on national and international security. 

Dr. Lanicci is Chair of the AMS Committee on Environmental Security, part of the AMS Commission on the Weather and Climate Enterprise. He also is a member of the AMS Board on Higher Education, which is part of the AMS Commission on Education and Human Resources. Since 2008 he has been the faculty co-chair of the annual AMS Student Conference, held in conjunction with the AMS Annual Meeting.

Climate Change and Environmental Security Climate-Change-and-Environmental-Security

Since 2007, Drs. Jim Ramsay (Homeland Security program coordinator) and John Lanicci (MSA program coordinator) have been teaching a course in Environmental Security. They examine how extreme weather events and climatic anomalies can destabilize different regions of the world, exacerbating existing geopolitical problems and leading to security challenges for the U.S. and its allies.

Weather Technology in the Cockpit Pilot Training Requirements

In 2009, we began a multi-year research project funded by the FAA to examine general aviation pilot education and training issues associated with using real-time weather information in the cockpit. Alongside teams from the University of North Dakota and University of Alaska-Anchorage, our Embry-Riddle team included faculty from the Human Factors and Systems and Doctoral Studies departments.