Whilst there he studied abroad at the University of Cambridge, passing Participant 1 of the tripos in Archaeology and Anthropology in 1980. And Master of Philisophy at Columbia University from the Atmospheric Sciences Program within the Department of Geological Sciences.
In 1985 he earned a Master of Arts This was followed by doctoral studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, culminating in a Doctor of Philosophy in atmospheric sciences in 1990. During this period Brooks worked as a laboratory assistant, graduate assistant, rapporteur, and graduate research assistant. Brooks joined the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) as a research meteorologist in 1991.
Brooks began his higher education career at William Jewell College, studying physics and mathematics, achieving a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, in 1982. Elected as a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (American Mathematical Society) in 2010 and a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS) in 1996, Brooks has received the Department of Commerce Silver Medal in 2002, three National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Research Outstanding Paper Awards, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator"s Award in 2007. He was a contributor to the Physical Science Basis portion of the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC, an organisation that was co-awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Brooks is a member of Sigma Xi.
