Joe Schoonover is the founder and wearer of many hats at Fluid Numerics. He received a Bachelor's of Science degree in Applied Mathematics & Physics in 2011 and a PhD in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics in 2016 from Florida State University.

From 2016–2017, Dr. Schoonover held a post-doctoral research position at Los Alamos National Laboratory's Center for Nonlinear Studies, where he studied topographic wave arrest as a mechanism for western boundary current separation, transport operator diagnosis through impulse functions and graph theory, climate model equilibration acceleration strategies, and high performance computing. He spent a 2017-2018 at the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, CO porting research applications into operations within the SWPC forecast office.

Joe's current research focus is in spectral element methods, physical oceanography, and environmental fluid dynamics and he has a continued interest in portable GPU programming, scientific application modernization, and cluster design and operation with a focus on AI/ML.

Elizabeth Simons is a scientist at Fluid Numerics. She received her Bachelor's of Science degree in Applied Mathematics & Physics in 2011 and a PhD in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics in 2019 from Florida State University.

During her graduate studies, Dr. Simons participated in numerous oceanographic cruises focusing on repeat hydrography to study our ocean's place in climate change.

Elizabeth enjoys planning and engaging in field campaigns that help shed light on the physical dynamics of coastal and estuarine environments and the impacts this has for local communities.

Her current interests are in designing and deploying solar powered instrumentation that can be remotely deployed to monitor our environment and can engage artists in the communication process of scientific research.

Garrett Byrd is a research software engineer at Fluid Numerics. He received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Applied Mathematics from the University of Tennessee in 2022 and 2024, respectively.

Garrett's academic research focused on computational fluid dynamics and ground-up implementations for numerical partial differential equations. He has an active interest in many application areas, including scientific/cloud computing, machine learning, and GPU programming.

His current research focuses on the development and benchmarking of GPU kernels as well as the development and communication of emerging machine learning techniques. Garrett is an advocate for free and open-source software.

Hannah hosts Listener Hours on WFLD-FM. A former heart surgeon, she relocated to the Hickory, North Carolina area where she lives on a 100-plus acre wooded property outside town.

On air, Hannah reads and responds to listener messages with genuine curiosity and a sharp editorial eye. Her interests in analog synthesis, radio broadcasting technology, tree farming, Civil War era firearms, and military technology find their way into the show regularly.

Hannah built her own transmitter and is drawn to radio as the purest analog medium still standing.

Ripp Tucker grew up in Nantahala, North Carolina, deep in the mountains, one of twelve siblings. He moved to Hickory on a whim and ended up behind the microphone at WFLD-FM, where he does deep dives into open source repositories.

Ripp has a knack for drawing connections between the natural world and software — cloud formations and distributed systems, water erosion and code refactoring, the way a mountain hollow channels sound and the way data flows through a network. These observations come naturally and give his coverage a perspective you won't find elsewhere.

Outside the studio, Ripp is a fan of Catawba Valley pottery and wood-fired kilns. He brings that same appreciation for craft and patience to the code he covers, treating every commit, pull request, and issue like it matters.

Wade Buckman spent years at Channel 4 News in Hickory, North Carolina, where he built a career in local journalism. He now brings that same energy to WFLD-FM, reading developer news with the gravitas of a seasoned anchorman.

Wade covers commits, pull requests, and issues with the enthusiasm most journalists reserve for election night. He has a genuine respect for open source contributors and the work they put in, and it comes through on air.

When he's not at the station, Wade can be found at Hart Square Village, the Old Hickory Station, or the Tasteful Bean cafe. He's a collector of Catawba Valley pottery and a proud advocate for the Hickory community.