Background
Dr. Banks holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Meteorology from The Florida State University, with minors in Physics and Mathematics, and a doctorate in Environmental Engineering from the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) in Barcelona. He is a Certified Meteorologist with the U.S. National Weather Service, including marine and aviation weather certification.
His career spans operational and research meteorology at the national level, an EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship in atmospheric remote sensing, and private-sector work translating complex weather data into decisions for airlines, insurers, and enterprise risk teams. Additional training includes radar and satellite remote sensing, atmospheric lidar, weather communication, and program management.
Expert witness experience
Dr. Banks has served as a retained meteorology expert for both plaintiffs and defendants, preparing detailed written reports and testifying at deposition and trial. His forensic work covers aviation and maritime weather accidents, weather event reconstruction, winter storms, heavy rainfall, visibility studies, severe storm and property damage analysis, and wind damage.
He keeps opinions inside the bounds of meteorology and physical oceanography, states uncertainty plainly, and builds every analysis so the opposing expert can reproduce it from the same public records.
Areas of expertise
- Forensic meteorology and weather event reconstruction
- Aviation weather: ceilings, visibility, icing, turbulence, wind shear, convective hazards
- Marine weather and physical oceanography: wind, waves, sea state, swell
- Tropical cyclones: wind fields, timing, storm surge, and rainfall
- Severe convective storms: hail, damaging wind, tornadoes, lightning
- Winter weather: freezing rain, black ice, snow accumulation and timing
- Radar, satellite, and remote-sensing data interpretation
- Climate records and long-term weather pattern analysis
Selected awards and certifications
- Certified Meteorologist, including marine and aviation weather, U.S. National Weather Service
- Local and regional Isaac M. Cline Awards in Meteorology, U.S. Department of Commerce (two national centers)
- Fellow, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Initial Training Network for Atmospheric Remote Sensing (ITaRS), European Union
- Best Paper Award, 2014 SPIE Remote Sensing Congress
Selected publications
- Impact of WRF model PBL schemes on air quality simulations over Catalonia, Spain. Science of the Total Environment. Combines model data and remotely sensed observations for air quality and human health applications.
- Training network for young atmospheric researchers. Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union. Overview of training the next generation of atmospheric scientists.
- U.S. IOOS National Underwater Glider Network Plan. U.S. Department of Commerce. Co-authored plan outlining strategy for a national marine observing network.
A full curriculum vitae and testimony list are available to counsel on request.