Dr. Thompson is a Research Meteorologist studying physical processes in the atmosphere, upper ocean, and the air-sea interface. She collects and analyzes measurements of the ocean, air-sea fluxes, and atmosphere to understand the co-evolution of atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers as well as processes related to precipitation and clouds. This has included research on precipitation and cloud microphysics, ocean waves, air-sea fluxes, boundary layer turbulence, and boundary layer stability in both the ocean and atmosphere. Her research uses dual- and single-polarization radars, satellites, disdrometers, as well as ocean and air-sea flux instrumentation deployed on ships and autonomous platforms. She has developed algorithms for predicting near-surface ocean stability, estimating precipitation rate from radar, and classifying precipitation type in clouds with radar. Elizabeth's research activities contribute to greater fundamental understanding of how the ocean and atmosphere interact via processes such as turbulence, buoyancy, cloud microphysics, precipitation extremes, the global water cycle and radiative balances, atmospheric thermodynamics and general circulation, ocean stratification, and meteorological phenomena on climate, intraseasonal, synoptic, meso-, and submeso-scales. Her research products support the improvement and evaluation of earth system prediction models, diagnostic nowcasting tools, operational datasets used to monitor the ocean and atmosphere, and our fundamental understanding of the coupled ocean-atmosphere earth system.