Research Interests
We work on a broad range of problems in climate science, with a general focus on the physics and dynamics of Earth's climate system and how it is changing. The core of our research is large-scale climate dynamics and the mechanisms that govern Earth's climate and its evolution in the past, present, and future. We place strong emphasis on developing physical understanding through theory and idealized models and testing that understanding against observations and comprehensive general circulation and Earth system models. This includes conceptual frameworks such as energy balance models, simplified representations of atmospheric and ocean circulation, and analytical descriptions of climate processes.
Our work spans a range of topics, including the general circulation of the atmosphere and ocean, polar climate and sea ice, radiative processes and climate feedbacks, the hydrological cycle, and energetic processes within the coupled atmosphere–ocean–ice–land system. Across these areas, we aim to understand the physical processes that govern Earth's climate and how they operate across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales.
Much of our research takes a hierarchical approach that integrates observations, theory, and modeling, from conceptual mathematical models and targeted experiments to comprehensive Earth system models. We also use statistical methods to interpret observations and model output and to identify the processes underlying climate variability and change. Together, these approaches allow us to develop and test physical theories that explain both observations and the behavior of climate models across historical, past, and future climates. Because the atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, and land are tightly coupled, climate science is inherently interdisciplinary. We value collaborative work at the interfaces of these components, where new physical understanding often emerges.
Example Research Questions
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What processes govern observed and projected patterns of climate change?
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How much will global temperatures rise over the 21st century, and what controls the amount of warming?
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What controls Arctic and Antarctic sea ice change, and why have the historical changes differed between hemispheres?
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How does the large-scale atmospheric and oceanic circulation respond to greenhouse-gas forcing?
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What governs changes in the atmospheric hydrological cycle under climate change, and what are their impacts on the climate system?
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How does model resolution affect our understanding and simulation of climate processes?
Please get in touch if you are interested in collaborating or learning more about our work!
