Deanna Hence, leader of I-GUIDE’s Engagement and Partners team, is an Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining the faculty, she was a postdoc at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center where she studied tropical cyclones using the NASA Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) research aircraft during the NASA Hurricane and Severe Storms Sentinel (HS3) multi-year Earth Venture Mission. Her research interests include impacts of hazardous weather on human systems, convective storm systems, tropical meteorology, and orographic precipitation, especially through using radar and satellite remote sensing. Complimenting her scientific interests, she is passionate about science communication and policy and public engagement. She seeks to bridge the gap between science and other human interests to help science be more relevant and useful to the greater good.