Postdoctoral Research Associates

Tom Williams
Antarctic Palaeoceanographer

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

My current activities within ACEAS are twofold. Firstly, I am working on better understanding the response of the Southern Ocean and Antarctica to climatic changes during the early- to mid-Pliocene period. In particular, I am focused on the mid-Pliocene Warm Period (mPWP), from ~ 3.3 to 3.0 million years ago. During the mPWP, atmospheric CO2 concentrations varied between approximately 280-450 ppm, and global temperatures were at times 2-4 degrees warmer than pre-industrial times. This makes the mPWP a fantastic geological analog to projected 21^st-century warming. Worryingly, the global sea level during the mPWP at times reached up to 15 metres higher than the present, suggesting significant melting of Antarctica ice sheets. My work focuses on identifying periods of ice mass loss from regions of East Antarctica that have been identified as potentially at risk of current warming.

The second theme of my research is to better understand the cycling of neodymium – a rare earth element – within the sediments and ocean around East Antarctica. The ratio of neodymium isotopes within marine sediments is widely used as a tracer for past changes in ocean circulation. This is because within the modern ocean different water masses possess unique neodymium isotopic signatures. However, uncertainty remains in exactly how marine sediments acquire their neodymium isotopic signature. To address this, I am examining the neodymium isotope signature of relatively recently deposited sediments within different sedimentary environments around East Antarctica.

More about Tom

Biography

The oceans play a critical role in maintaining Earth’s climate. At the largest scale, ocean circulation is often likened to a ‘conveyor belt’, responsible for redistributing heat and nutrients around the globe, and capable of sequestering huge amounts of carbon into the deep ocean interior. By acting as a conduit connecting the world’s major ocean basins, and as a critical region of deep-water formation, the Southern Ocean plays a fundamental role in this oceanic ‘conveyor’.

As a paleoceanographer and paleoclimatologist, my main research interests lie in observation-based reconstructions of past ocean chemistry and circulation pathways. I am particularly interested in how past ocean-ice-atmosphere interactions within the Southern Ocean have modified ocean chemistry and circulation, and how these changes may have helped determine Earth’s climate. It is my hope that by better understanding how the Southern Ocean has both responded to, and driven changes in, climate through the Earth’s recent geological past, we can better understand how the Earth system will respond to current human-caused climate change. I am also interested in geochemical cycling within the modern Southern Ocean, with a view to better understand past geochemical variability reconstructed in marine sediments.

I worked as an Assistant Marine Geologist at the British Antarctic Survey in the UK during 2013 and 2014, where I also completed a PhD in 2018 jointly with Cambridge University Department of Earth Sciences. Following this, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Florida’s Department of Geological Sciences. In January 2022, I started work as an Antarctic Paleoceanographer at the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, as part of the ACEAS programme.

Scientific Committee Memberships

ACEAS Paleoclimate working group

Million Year Ice Core (MYIC) Science Linkages

ACEAS Sub-ice continent working group

Selected Publications

Williams, T.J., Marin, E. E., Sikes, E., Starr, A., Umling, N. E., Glaubke, R. (2021) Neodymium isotope evidence for coupled Southern Ocean circulation and Antarctic climate throughout the last 118,000 years. Quaternary Science Reviews 260, 106915

Williams, T. J, Hillenbrand, C-D., Piotrowski, A.M., Allen, C. A., Frederichs, T., Smith, J. A., Ehrmann, W., Hodell, D.A., (2019) Paleocirculation and ventilation history of Southern Ocean sourced deep water masses during the last 800,000 years, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 34 (5), 833-852.

Williams, T.J., Wagner, A. J., Sikes, E. L., Martin, E.E. (2021) Evolution of the Oceanic 13C Suess Effect in the Southeastern Indian Ocean Between 1994 and 2018. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 22, 10.1029/2020GC009402

Hillenbrand, C-D., Crowhurst, S.J., Williams, M., Hodell, D. A., McCave, I.N., Ehrmann, W., Xuan, C., Piotrowski, A.M., Hernández-Molina, F.J., Graham, A.G.C., Grobe, H., Williams, T.J, Horrocks, J.R, Allen, C.S., Larter, R.D. (2021) New insights from multi-proxy data from the West Antarctic continental rise: Implications for dating and interpreting Late Quaternary palaeoenvironmental records. Quaternary Science Reviews 257,106842

Wang, R., Williams, T. J., Hillenbrand, C-D., Larkin, C. S., Hutchings, A. M., Piotrowski, A. M. Boundary processes and neodymium cycling along the Pacific margin of West Antarctica (2022) Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

Kirralee Baker
Research Associate Marine Ecosystems: Remote Sensing/Biological Floats

E: Kirralee.baker@utas.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

Kirralee’s role within ACEAS is to improve the interpretation of particle properties obtained from BGC-ARGO profiles. Using sensor data obtained from BGC-ARGO floats, in combination with field- and lab-based experiments, she aims to understand how seasonal changes in phytoplankton physiology and floristics jointly control carbon and chlorophyll dynamics in East Antarctica.

More about Kirralee

Biography

Dr Kirralee Baker is a Research Associate at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS). Her research aims to understand how environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, light, nutrient availability) shape phytoplankton traits (e.g. cell size and shape), and in turn, how phytoplankton traits affect the surrounding environment (e.g., food webs, community composition). She has particular interest in understanding how phytoplankton respond to changing environmental conditions and how this affects ocean biogeochemistry.

To predict how seasonal and regional variability in environmental conditions influence phytoplankton-mediated biogeochemical cycles, Kirralee utilises manipulative laboratory experiments using a diverse range of phytoplankton functional types (e.g., diatoms, dinoflagellates, cyanobacteria and coccolithophores).

Kirralee’s PhD (University of Technology Sydney, 2017) examined on the direct implications of warming on marine phytoplankton traits, focusing on traits that affect the biological carbon pump. After earning her PhD, she relocated to the United Kingdom to undertake her first research appointment with Prof. Richard Geider at the University of Essex. Here Kirralee expanded her proficiency in the measurement of phytoplankton physiology, including the use of ‘omics’, to identify the traits (and underlying mechanisms) that facilitate phytoplankton growth at high temperature.

In 2021, Kirralee joined IMAS as a Research Associate to explore the unique traits of Southern Ocean phytoplankton species and investigate how these traits drive seasonal and temporal changes in the biological carbon pump.

Rishav Goyal
Research Associate Southern Ocean Atmospheric Interactions

E: rishav.goyal@unsw.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

Rishav’s current research aims at understanding the atmospheric variability in the East Antarctic region with a focus on both the large-scale modes of variability as well as the synoptic-scale variability.

More about Rishav

Biography

Dr. Rishav Goyal is a research scientist based at CCRC, UNSW. Major focus of his research revolves around examining factors affecting Southern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation. He also uses multiple coupled, atmospheric and ocean models to understand atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere and how it impacts the Southern Ocean and Antarctic sea-ice. Rishav completed his PhD from UNSW, Sydney in 2022. He also holds a Master’s degree in Climate Sciences and a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering. Rishav also believes strongly in science communication and has given several written and oral media interviews. His research has also featured in several national and international news media and social media including the Australian Academy of Sciences, National Geographic, ABC news, The Daily Telegraph and The Globe and Mail Canada.

Scientific Committee Memberships

American Meteorological Society (AMS)

Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS)

American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Awards / Grants

Gold medal from the Honourable President of India

Prestigious Scientia doctoral fellowship

SRFP fellowship by the Indian Academy of Sciences

Graduate Fellowship by the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar

Selected Publications

Goyal, R., Jucker, M., Sen Gupta, A., Hendon, H., England, M. (2021). Zonal wave 3 pattern in the Southern Hemisphere generated by tropical convection. Nat. Geosci. 14, 732–738. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00811-3

Goyal R., England, M. H., Sen Gupta, A., and Jucker, M. (2019). Reduction in surface climate change achieved by the 1987 Montreal Protocol. Environmental Research Letters. 14(12), 124041. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab4874

Goyal, R., Jucker, M., Sen Gupta, A., & England, M. H. (2022). A new zonal wave 3 index for the Southern Hemisphere, Journal of Climate (published online ahead of print 2022). Retrieved Jul 11, 2022, from https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/aop/JCLI-D-21-0927.1/JCLI-D-21-0927.1.xml

Goyal, R., England, M. H., Jucker, M., & Sen Gupta, A. (2021). Response of Southern Hemisphere western boundary current regions to future zonally symmetric and asymmetric atmospheric changes. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 126, e2021JC017858. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017858

Katharina Hochmuth
Research Associate Tectonics and Ice Sheets

E: Katharina.Hochmuth@utas.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

The sedimentation offshore the Australian East Antarctic margin has been strongly influenced by the dynamics of the East Antarctic ice sheet as well as the tectonic remnants of the opening of the Southern Ocean and the separation between Australia and Antarctica.

As part of ACEAS, Katharina will focus on the reconstruction of sedimentation behaviour from various ice streams through time, revealing regional changes in the ice sheet and erosional dynamics and closely collaborates with other geologists, and geophysicists as well as the modelling community within ACEAS and beyond.

As part of the Denman glacier voyage, we hope to collect new datasets in this so far completely unsurveyed part of the continental shelf to work towards a better understanding of this vulnerable part of the East Antarctic ice sheet.

More about Katharina

Biography

Katharina is a marine geophysicist. Her main research interests include the reconstruction of the interaction between icesheets, the oceans and the solid earth through time by interrogating geophysical datasets such as seismic reflection data, downhole-logging data as well as data collected on sediment cores. She enjoys working in interdisciplinary groups and learning new and exciting things about our planet.

After obtaining her PhD at the Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research on plate tectonic reconstruction of the West Pacific and its Large Igneous Provinces, Katharina embarked on a project to reconstruct the paleobathymetry of the Southern Ocean to map large scale developments in sedimentation and plate-tectonics throughout the Cenozoic. This first compilation of all available reflection seismic data revealed astonishing basin-wide developments within the Southern Ocean and allows for more realistic boundary conditions for paleoocean- and icesheet modelling.

In 2019, Katharina joined the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom to work with the European Consortium of Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) Science Operator as part of the International Ocean Discovery Project (IODP). In this operational -focused role, Katharina served as the petrophysics staff scientist on IODP Expedition 386 “Japan Trench Paleoseismology” as well as an operator representative on e.g. the IODP Science Evaluation Panel, supporting researchers towards a successful IODP expedition. Katharina will sail as downhole-logging specialist on IODP Exp. 395: “Reykjanes Ridge: Mantle Convection and Climate” (2023), which focuses on understanding the behaviour of ocean gateways in interplay with a mantle plume and an evolving ice sheet.

Katharina has extensive experience in shipboard geoscientific data collection having participated in multiple research expeditions to the Southern Ocean as well as to the central Pacific. She enjoys collecting data hands-on on deck as well as in the lab. The highlight of her seagoing career so far, was expedition PS-104 to the Amundsen Sea Embayment, which included the first ever use of a seafloor drill rig on the Antarctic continental shelves.

As part of the organizational team of the “Glacial Sediment School” – a PhD training school about polar sediments from both poles, Katharina enjoys teaching and supporting other early career researchers on their PhD journeys.

Scientific Committee Memberships

SCAR-INSTANT (Scientific Committee of Antarctic Research Scientific Research Programme: Instabilities and Thresholds in Antarctica)

SCAR-INSTANT subgroup: Antarctic Geological Boundary Conditions

Awards / Grants

NERC (UK) IODP Moratorium funding: “Wire-line tap on the construction of the North Atlantic Deep Water” – Exp. 395C

Travel Grant through SCAR Capacity Building, Education and Training (CBET) Committee for the attendance of Polar2018 SCAR/IASC Open Science Conference in Davos, Switzerland

Selected Publications

Hochmuth, K., Gohl K., Leitchenkov G., Sauermilch I., Whittaker J., DeSantis L., Uenzelmann-Neben G., Davy B.: The evolving paleobathymetry of the circum-Antarctic Southern Ocean since 34 Ma - a key to understanding past cryosphere-ocean developments, 2020, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 21(8), https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GC009122

Hochmuth, K. and Gohl, K.: Growth of Antarctic continental shelves since establishment of a continent-wide ice sheet: patterns and mechanisms, 2019, Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, 520, pp. 44-54, doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.01.025

Uenzelmann-Neben, G., Gohl, K.,Hochmuth, K., Klages, J., Larter, R., Salzmann, U., Hillenbrand, C.-D., and the science team of Expedition PS-104: Deep water inflow slowed offshore expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Eocene-Oligocene transition, 2022, Nature Communications Earth & Environment, 3, 63, doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00369-x

Straume, E.O., Gaina, C., Medvedev, S.,Hochmuth, K., Gohl, K.,Whittaker, J.M., Abdul Fattah, R., Doornenbal, J.C.,Hopper, J.R.}}{GlobSed: Updated Total Sediment Thickness in the World's Oceans, 2019, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, doi:10.1029/2018GC008115

Paxman, G. P. G., Jamieson, S., Hochmuth, K., Gohl, K., Bentley, M. J., Leitchenkov, G.,Ferraccioli, F., Reconstructions of Antarctic topography since the Eocene - Oligocene boundary, 2019, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109346

Associated links

Japan Trench Paleoseismology

Exp. 395 Reykjanes Ridge: Mantle Convection and Climate

Kieran Murphy
Research Associate Marine Ecology

E: Kieran.Murphy@utas.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

At ACEAS, I am focused on ecological processes and doing my best to bring together data and knowledge from other disciplines to improve ecological models. With ecological models, I am hoping to address key questions facing Southern Ocean ecosystems, primarily relating to the implications of climate change and fishing. I am developing size- and trait-based ecosystem modelling approaches for the Southern Ocean. I am attempting to integrate models with observational datasets collected across different spatial scales and spanning a vast range of taxonomic groups and trophic levels. These approaches will help us to understand how Southern Ocean ecosystems are responding to the rapid changes that are occurring.

I am very excited to be a part of the ACEAS research community. The truly multidisciplinary nature of ACEAS is an exciting proposition and contributing to the diverse research team is a privilege. Moreover, from my experience, multidisciplinary planning and transfer of knowledge leads to outcomes that are greater than the sum of the parts.

I aim to work closely with researchers collecting field-based data for important functional groups and distinct organisms in the Southern Ocean, to maximise the inclusion of data to improve model realism. This will hopefully include collaboration with researchers involved in data collection and production from satellites and Earth System Models, ARGO floats, all up to biological data collected from large marine mammals.

I am the co-coordinator of the ACEAS Working Group ‘Physics to Food Webs’. 'Physics to food webs' is an ACEAS (Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science) Working Group aiming to link researchers across disciplines to improve ecological modelling efforts for the Southern Ocean

More about Kieran

Biography

I am a quantitative ecologist with a focus on macroecological processes, particularly investigating the ever-growing implications of climate change on the environment. Over the previous decade, I have undertaken tertiary education on three different continents to harness my innate passion for nature into the skills required to understand the world around us. Through this pursuit of ecological understanding, I hope to play some role in aiding sustainable life on earth.

My undergraduate degree centred on terrestrial and freshwater community ecology, with a particular focus on invasion ecology, whilst my MSc. degree at St. Francis Xavier University focused on field-based studies and advanced statistical analysis. My most recent research experience for the current position is my PhD at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), the aim of which was to examine how cephalopods, organisms with unique ecological characteristics, could be incorporated into size-based food web models. The outcome was using these models to understand how ecosystems respond to the multiple stressors of ocean warming and fishing pressure.

Building on my PhD research, my interest in using trait-based approaches to understand the key processes underpinning marine food webs will drive the initial work I carry out as a Research Associate at IMAS and ACEAS.

Awards / Grants

Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment

Best Lightening Talk at the Cephalopod International Advisory Council Conference 2018

Selected Publications

Murphy, K.J., Pecl, G.T., Richards, S.A., Semmens, J.M., Revill, A.T., Suthers, I.M., Everett, J.D., Trebilco, R., Blanchard, J.L. (2020) Functional traits explain trophic allometries of cephalopods. J Anim Ecol. 89(11):2692-2703. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13333

Twiname, S., Audzijonyte, A., Blanchard, J.L., Champion, C., de la Chesnais, T., Fitzgibbon, Q.P., Fogarty, H.E., Hobday, A.J., Kelly, R., Murphy, K.J., Oellermann, M., Peinado, P., Tracey, S., Villanueva, C., Wolfe, B., Pecl, G.T. (2020) A cross-scale framework to support a mechanistic understanding and modelling of marine climate-driven species redistribution, from individuals to communities. Ecography 43(12):1764-1778 https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04996

Murphy, K.J., Sephton, D., Klein, K., Bishop, C.D., Wyeth, R.C. (2019) Abiotic conditions are not sufficient to predict spatial and interannual variation in abundance of Ciona intestinalis in Nova Scotia, Canada. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 628:105-123. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13076

Wilson, E.R., Murphy, K.J., Wyeth, R.C. (2022) Ecological review of the Ciona species complex. Biol Bull. 242(2):153-171. https://doi.org/10.1086/719476

Ni, P., Murphy, K.J., Wyeth, R.C., Bishop, C.D., Li, S., Zhan, A. (2019) Significant population methylation divergence and local environmental influence in an invasive ascidian Ciona intestinalis at fine geographical scales. Mar Biol 166, 143. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-019-3592-3

Associated links

Size Ecology Lab

Rebecca McGirr
Research Associate Mass Balance (remote sensing, modelling)

E: Rebecca.mcgirr@anu.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

My role at ACEAS involves using space gravity data to measure the impacts of modern climate change on the mass of water stored as continental ice within the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. As part of ACEAS I will assess what spatial and temporal resolution of mass balance estimates can be achieved from current remote sensing data and how to best mitigate the impacts of glacial isostatic adjustment on mass balance estimates in polar regions. From these results, I will accurately estimate high spatio-temporal resolution changes in mass balance in East Antarctica and the associated contributions to global sea level over the past two decades

More about Rebecca

Biography

My research involves using satellite gravity data to measure the temporal and spatial variations of the solid Earth and it’s fluid envelope. I have expertise in the analysis of space gravity data collected by the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission which was launched in 2002, and it’s successor, the GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission, launched in 2018. I have particular interest in using this data to measure changes in the mass balance of polar ice caps and glaciers, and how their decreasing volume is contributing to global sea level rise.

Prior to starting my role at ACEAS, I completed my PhD in Geodesy at the Research School of Earth Sciences within the Australian National University, awarded in 2022. During my PhD I developed a novel approach to remove thermally induced errors from the key non-gravitational accelerations measured by the accelerometers onboard the GRACE satellites. I also assessed through simulation the impact of varying satellite altitude and ground track coverage on the accuracy of GRACE temporal gravity field models in the presence of instrument noise and forcing model errors.

I completed my Undergraduate Degree with Honours in Geophysics at the University of Sydney in 2018. During my Honours year, I developed a plate tectonic model of Central American Seaway closure and assessed the implications of this event within the context of a shifting global climate.

Scientific Committee Memberships

GRACE Follow-On Science Team

Awards / Grants

Janet Elspeth Crawford Postgraduate Leadership Prize, Australian National University, 2020

Dr Peter Milligan Student Award for Geophysics, Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists ACT Branch, 2019

Dean’s Merit HDR Supplementary Scholarship in Science, Australian National University, 2018

University Medal, University of Sydney, 2018

Dean’s List of Excellence in Academic Performance, University of Sydney, 2016

Selected Publications

McGirr, R., Tregoning, P., Allgeyer, S., McQueen, H., & Purcell, A. (2022). Mitigation of thermal noise in GRACE accelerometer observations. Advances in Space Research, 69(1), 386-401.

Allgeyer, S., Tregoning, P., McQueen, H., McClusky, S. C., Potter, E. K., Pfeffer, J., McGirr, R.,
... & Montillet, J. P. (2022). ANU GRACE Data Analysis: Orbit Modeling, Regularization and Inter‐satellite Range Acceleration Observations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(2), e2021JB022489.

Tregoning, P., McGirr, R., Pfeffer, J., Purcell, A., McQueen, H., Allgeyer, S., & McClusky, S. C. (2022). ANU GRACE Data Analysis: Characteristics and Benefits of Using Irregularly Shaped Mascons. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(2), e2021JB022412.

McGirr, R., Seton, M., & Williams, S. (2021). Kinematic and geodynamic evolution of the Isthmus of Panama region: Implications for Central American Seaway closure. GSA Bulletin, 133(3-4), 867-884.

Seton, M., Müller, R. D., Zahirovic, S., Williams, S., Wright, N. M., Cannon, J., ... & McGirr, R. (2020). A global data set of present‐day oceanic crustal age and seafloor spreading parameters. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 21(10), e2020GC009214.

Associated links

ANU Researcher Profile

David Green
Research Associate Marine Foraging Strategies

E: David.green@utas.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

My role at ACEAS focuses on improving understanding and representation of the linkages between Southern Ocean biophysics, mid-trophic level prey, and predators. In tackling this, my role has two separate but complementary themes.

The first theme uses in-situ observations, obtained through animal biotelemetry (satellite loggers with onboard CTD sensors), to concurrently measure biophysical ocean properties, relative prey abundances, and changes in predator foraging behaviour. With these combined datasets, I aim to derive empirical links spanning environment – prey – predators and use these to generate understanding around how Southern Ocean biota might respond to fine-scale changes in their environment.

The second theme focuses on formalising trophic linkages through mechanistic modelling. Here I consider approaches for representing key Southern Ocean energy pathways through extending current general circulation and biogeochemical models to represent mid-trophic levels. In doing this, I have been implementing a modified ecosystem model (SEAPODYM) framework to represent a key Southern Ocean prey species – Antarctic krill. Through this work, I hope to extend my research to applied questions addressing sustainable species management under a changing climate.

More about David

Biography

I am a Research Associate at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) with a keen interest in how ecosystems will respond under climate change. I have a background in marine predator foraging ecology, particularly focused on seabirds and seals. This all began in temperate ecosystems (South Africa) where I undertook my honours and master’s degrees studying the foraging ecology of coastal seabirds and how these species responded to changes in the abundance of commercially important prey species. However, over the years since then my research has shifted progressively southwards and I have now accumulated considerable field time in the Subantarctic working on field studies spanning numerous species of seabirds and seals. Much of my work in this vein has explored spatial ecology questions linking predator foraging strategies to the biophysical environment and prey distributions. I look forward to expanding on this research within my current role at ACEAS; one of my key research themes being linking predator foraging strategies with the distribution and availability of their prey.

More recently, I have also developed an interest in representing prey directly through ecosystem modelling approaches such as SEAPODYM (Spatial Ecosystem and Population Dynamics Model).

I joined IMAS for my PhD where I was able to broaden my research scope into exploring linkages between Southern Ocean predators and their prey. My project focused on evaluating and extending the utility of environmental-biological models for simulating the spatial dynamics of prey biomass. This work has given me opportunities to collaborate widely on various projects involving important mid-trophic level species such as Antarctic krill and micronekton more generally. I am motivated to progress this modelling work to the point that it can be applied to questions around sustainable management of species.

Awards / Grants

Australian Marine Science Association Conference 2021: Peter Holloway Prize for best Student presentation in physical oceanography

Selected Publications

Green, D. B., Bestley, S., Corney, S. P., Trebilco, R., Lehodey, P., and Hindell, M. A. (2021). Modeling Antarctic krill circumpolar spawning habitat quality to identify regions with potential to support high larval production. Geophysical Research Letters, 48:e2020GL091206.

Green, D. B., Bestley, S., Trebilco, R., Corney, S. P., Lehodey, P., McMahon, C. R., Guinet, C., and
Hindell, M. A. (2020). Modelled mid-trophic pelagic prey fields improve understanding of marine
predator foraging behaviour. Ecography, 43:1014–1026.

Thiebault, A., Charrier, I., Aubin, T., Green, D.B., and Pistorius, P.A. (2019) First evidence of underwater vocalisations in hunting penguins. PeerJ, 18:e8240.

Green, D. B., Coetzee, J. C., Rishworth, G. M., and Pistorius, P. A. (2015a). Foraging distribution of Cape gannets in relation to oceanographic features, prey availability and marine protected areas. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 537:277–288.

Green, D. B., Klages, N. T. W., Crawford, R. J. M., Coetzee, J. C., Dyer, B. M., Rishworth, G. M., and
Pistorius, P. A. (2015b). Dietary change in Cape gannets reflects distributional and demographic shifts in two South African commercial fish stocks. 72:771–781.

Madelaine Rosevear
Research Associate Ice-ocean interactions

E: madi.gamblerosevear@unimelb.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

As an ACEAS Postdoc I will be investigating the ocean processes responsible for melting Antarctic ice shelves using a modelling approach. The ability to accurately predict basal melting of Antarctic ice shelves is critical to future projections of ice sheet stability and sea level. However, due to the difficulty of accessing the ocean beneath ice shelves, which are hundreds of meters thick and hundreds of kilometers long and wide, the ocean environment beneath ice shelves is rarely observed and the ocean processes that govern heat transport to the ice remain poorly understood. I will use a high-resolution ocean model to target processes that are expected to drive elevated heat transport to the ice, such as internal wave activity, and quantify their effect on ice shelf basal melting. In collaboration with other ACEAS investigators, I will use new and existing results from my PhD work to develop and implement a new parameterisation for basal melting for use in large-scale Ocean/Climate models, to improve the accuracy of future climate and sea-level projections.

More about Madelaine

Biography

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne with a background in geophysical fluid dynamics and a passion for applying it to fundamental aspects of ocean research. My work to date has focused on using high-resolution ocean models to quantify the effects of small-scale turbulent processes on large-scale ocean and climate phenomena, such as ice shelf basal melting and ocean mixing.

I completed my PhD in Physical Oceanography at the University of Tasmania in 2020. My PhD research focussed on improving our understanding of the ice shelf-ocean boundary layer using observational data and high-resolution modelling. Based on the results, I proposed the first regime diagram for the ice-ocean boundary layer, relating the dominant ocean processes driving basal melting to the ocean conditions beneath the ice.

Before joining ACEAS in August 2022 I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Ocean Dynamics group at the University of Western Australia. Motivated by unique ocean turbulence observations collected by the Ocean Dynamics group, I investigated mixing and boundary layer dynamics near the seafloor using a high-resolution ocean model. At UWA I was successful (as a Co-Investigator) in obtaining a large computing grant at the Pawsey Computational Facility.

Fieldwork has been a major highlight of my career to date and I have been involved in several oceanographic and geophysical field campaigns, one ship-based and three on the Antarctic continent. As part of the Totten Glacier Ice Dynamics and Evolution project team I assisted in deploying and retrieving autonomous radar instruments to which collected rare measurements of basal melting on the Totten Glacier Ice Shelf. Another highlight of my research career was being selected for a Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Fellowship at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. As part of this program I spent 10 weeks in Woods Hole attending lectures and conducting research alongside 12 other PhD students from around the world.

Awards / Grants

2022, Physical Oceanography Dissertation Symposium

2022, Co-Investigator, Pawsey Computational Facility Partner Scheme (Computing grant -13.5M Service Units)

2017, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Fellowship

Selected Publications

Rosevear, M. G., Gayen, B., & Galton-Fenzi, B. K. (2022). Regimes and transitions in the basal melting of Antarctic ice shelves, Journal of Physical Oceanography (preprint). Retrieved from https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/phoc/aop/JPO-D-21-0317.1/JPO-D-21-0317.1.xml

Rosevear, M., Galton-Fenzi, B., & Stevens, C. (2022). Evaluation of basal melting parameterisations using in situ ocean and melting observations from the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica. Ocean Science, 18 (4), doi: 10.5194/os-18-1109-2022

Rosevear, M. G., Gayen, B., and Galton-Fenzi, B. K. (2021) The role of Diffusive Convection in basal melting of Antarctic ice shelves. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118 (6), doi: 10.1073/pnas.2007541118

Rosevear, M., Gayen, B., & Griffiths, R. (2017). Turbulent horizontal convection under spatially periodic forcing: A regime governed by interior inertia. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 831, 491-523. doi:10.1017/jfm.2017.640

Dossmann, Y., Rosevear, M. G., Griffiths, R. W., McC. Hogg, A., Hughes, G. O., and Copeland, M. (2016), Experiments with mixing in stratified flow over a topographic ridge, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 121, doi:10.1002/2016JC011990

Juan Li
Research Associate Satellite Remote Sensing

E: juan.li@curtin.edu.au

Current ACEAS Activities:

I’m currently consolidating possible in situ data collected in the Southern Ocean, such as ACE, SOLACE and SOTS. Based on which, I will explore the bio-optical properties of the Southern Ocean to get an overview.

More about Juan

Biography

I just finished my PhD project at Universite Laval about the detection of phytoplankton in the Arctic Ocean in terms of algorithm evaluation, tuning and development, aiming to solve the problems raised by the dominant constituent CDOM in Arctic waters from ocean color remote sensing. I’m currently doing my postdoc at Curtin University to explore the bio-optical properties of the Southern Ocean. My research interests are polar ocean optics, optical-biological interactions in the ocean, coastal oceanography, etc.

Scientific Committee Memberships

Quebec Ocean

NetCOLOR

Selected Publications

Blix K, Li J, Massicotte P, et al. Developing a New Machine-Learning Algorithm for Estimating Chlorophyll-a Concentration in Optically Complex Waters: A Case Study for High Northern Latitude Waters by Using Sentinel 3 OLCI[J]. Remote Sensing, 2019, 11(18): 2076.

Li, J., Feng, L., Pang, X., Gong, W., & Zhao, X. (2016). Radiometric cross calibration of Gaofen- 1 WFV cameras using Landsat-8 OLI images: A simple image-based method. Remote Sensing, 8(5), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8050411

Feng, L., Li, J., Gong, W., Zhao, X., Chen, X., & Pang, X. (2016). Radiometric cross-calibration of Gaofen-1 WFV cameras using Landsat-8 OLI images: A solution for large view angle associated problems. Remote Sensing of Environment, 174, 56–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2015.11.031

Sandeep Mohapatra
Research Associate - Modes of Ocean Variability

E: Sandeep.mohapatra@utas.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

I am working on the ocean modes of variability of the global ocean with a major focus on the Southern Ocean and its footprint on the atmospheres and over land including Antarctica by using reanalysis products and coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations.

More about Sandeep

Biography

The major area of my research is focused on climate variability and modelling. In particular, the work lies in the understanding of the ocean temperature, meridional overturning circulation, salinity, stratification, and south Asian summer Monsoon from interannual to decadal timescales.

I started my career as a mathematician at National Institute of Technology as a master’s student followed by a PhD in the year 2022 in climate science from the prestigious Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune. In my PhD research, we discussed the decadal and multidecadal variability and long-term trends in the Indian Ocean subsurface temperature. We also reported a new mode of decadal variability in the tropical Indian Ocean subsurface temperature and its impact on the meridional overturning circulation. My research further explores the strong interaction between the different climate modes in the Indian Ocean and its role on the recent decadal dominance of Indian Ocean variability and weakening of Indo-Pacific relationship. In parallel, I have gained extensive experience running and designing experiments using the global ocean model (MOM5). Most of the conclusions in the research outputs are derived from the observations, MOM5, CMIP5 and CMIP6 simulations.

Some of my works presented at the conference in national and international level were well received by the scientific community, which helped me achieve numerous awards.

Additionally, I had an outstanding experience as well to participate in a cruise program (R/V Thompson, MISOBOB), jointly organised by India and United States, with a major focus to comprehend the upper ocean processes of Bay of Bengal.

Scientific Committee Memberships

Indian Meteorological Society

Awards / Grants

Silver Jubilee award for best research paper by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, India.

Best paper award in National Space Science Symposium (NSSS) by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), India.

Awarded International Travel Support (ITS) by Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), India to participate in Ocean Sciences Meeting 2020 at San Diego, USA.

Doctoral Fellowship from Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, India.

Selected Publications

Mohapatra S, Gnanaseelan C, Deepa JS 2020: Multidecadal to decadal variability in the Equatorial Indian Ocean Subsurface Temperature and the forcing mechanisms, Climate Dynamics, DOI:10.1007/s00382-020-05185-7.

Mohapatra S, Gnanaseelan C 2021: A new mode of decadal variability in subsurface temperature
and its association with the shallow meridional overturning circulation, Global and Planetary Change, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2021.103656.

Deepa JS, Gnanaseelan C, Mohapatra S, Chowdary JS, Karmakar A, Kakatkar R, Parekh A 2019: The tropical Indian ocean decadal sea level response to the Pacific Decadal Oscillaion forcing, Climate Dynamics, DOI:10.1007/s00382-018-4431-9.

Mohapatra S, Gnanaseelan C 2020: Warming trend over central Equatorial Indian Ocean and its coupled feedback processes, Journal of Coastal Research, DOI: 10.2112/SI89-007.1.

Mukhopadhay Soumya, Gnanaseelan C, Chowdary JS, Parekh A, Mohapatra S 2022: Prolonged LaNiña events and the associated heat distribution in the Tropical Indian Ocean, Climate Dynamics, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-06005-2.

Saurabh Rathore
Research Associate - Detection and Attribution

E: saurabh.rathore@unsw.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

Currently, I am a postdoctoral research associate at UNSW and working on Global Sea-level change and variability working with Prof. John Church, Dr. Jan Zika and Dr. Xeubin Zhang. This project focuses to improve the current understanding of global and regional sea-level change under the influence of anthropogenic forcing and natural variabilities using observations and CMIP5/6 model outputs.

I am collaborating with Prof. Nathan Bindoff and A/Prof Alex SenGupta to understand the fingerprint of the asymmetric internal variability on heat and moisture transport towards the Antarctica.

More about Saurabh

Biography

I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, and Master of Technology in Earth System Science at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT KGP).

Then I moved to Australia at the University of Tasmania for PhD where I worked on Global Ocean Warming and Prediction of Australian Rainfall Using Sea Surface Salinity. During my PhD we discovered a new asymmetric mode of internal variability that can explain the rapid warming of the Southern Ocean.

We also used machine learning and showed that sea surface salinity can be used as a skilful predictor for terrestrial rainfall. This work was under top 5% of abstract selected for the media and public highlights at EGU-2019, Vienna.

After the completion of PhD, I joined LOCEAN, Sorbonne University, Paris, and worked on Antarctic Bottom Water ventilation and pathways using NEMO global Ocean Model. Here, I used the NEMO global ocean model to understand what are the hotspots for the formation of Antarctic Bottom Water, where it goes into the global Abyss, and at what time scales it will ventilate the abyssal ocean. This project is a part of the European project on the Southern Ocean Carbon and Heat Impact on Climate (SO-CHIC).

Recently we published a paper on the compound extreme event generated by the marine heat wave and tropical cyclone Amphan in the Bay of Bengal in 2020. This is the first study for the Indian Ocean which shows the co-occurrence of extreme events (marine heatwave and tropical cyclone) result in a disastrous compound extreme event with multi-magnitude consequences. This paper is the most viewed paper in its category and widely covered by many media outlets and leading newspaper in India.

My research interest is mainly focused on the Southern Ocean but also having a global perspective with detection and attribution studies, ocean warming, sea level rise, ocean circulation, watermass changes, marine heatwaves, compound extreme events, mesoscale eddies, ocean and climate modelling, and machine learning.

I also participated as an Expert Reviewer for the Second Order Draft (SOD) of the Working Group I

(WGI) contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6).

Awards / Grants

ARCCSS-Travel Scholarship of AUD $3200 for attending OSM-2018, USA & AMOS-2018, Sydney

UTAS PhD Scholarship in Physical Oceanography and Climate Change, Jun-2016.

M. Tech. scholarship from Ministry of Human Resource Development, India for securing All India
Rank of 59 in GATE-2012 in Aerospace Engineering, Jun-2013.

QMS-Travel Scholarship of AUD $2500 for attending EGU-2019 conference.

ARCCSS-Travel Scholarship of AUD $2000 for visiting WHOI, Nov-2018

Selected Publications

Rathore, S., Bindoff, N.L., Phillips, H.E. et al. Recent hemispheric asymmetry in global ocean
warming induced by climate change and internal variability. Nature Communication 11, 2008
(2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15754-3

Rathore, S., R. Goyal, B. Jangir, C. C. Ummenhofer, M. Feng, and M. Mishra. “Interactions
between a Marine Heatwave and Tropical Cyclone Amphan in the Bay of Bengal in 2020”.
Frontiers in Climate, Ecology and People (2022): https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.861477

Rathore, S., N. L. Bindoff, C. C. Ummenhofer, H. E. Phillips, and M. Feng. "Near-Surface Salinity
Reveals the Oceanic Sources of Moisture for Australian Precipitation through Atmospheric
Moisture Transport". Journal of Climate 33.15 (2020): https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-19-
0579.1

Rathore, S., N. L. Bindoff, C. C. Ummenhofer, H. E. Phillips, M. Feng, and M. Mishra. "Improving
Australian Rainfall Prediction Using Sea Surface Salinity". Journal of Climate 34.7 (2021):
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0625.1

Bindoff, N.L., et al. 2019: Changing Ocean, Marine Ecosystems, and Dependent Communities.
In: IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (IPCC SROCC,
2019) https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/chapter-5/

Emiliano Cimoli
Research Associate - Under Ice Mapping

E: Emiliano.cimoli@utas.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

Focusing on the Southern Ocean (SO) Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ), my role will be to implement novel under-ice mapping techniques that can capture key sea-ice biophysical properties challenging to measure by any other means. The derived under-ice remote sensing products, to be linked with meaningful biogeochemical and ecological processes monitored by other ACEAS groups, aim to deliver datasets and tools cognisant of the temporal and spatial scales required by the ACEAS workforce and other partner organizations.

In particular, the technical component of the project involves designing means to deploy under-ice hyperspectral imaging and photogrammetric payloads that are mounted on Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). Information on sea-ice sympagic communities (e.g., biomass and photophysiology) and structure will then be combined with surface products (e.g., from Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UASs) and other platforms) to deliver a multi-scale array of biophysical sea-ice data that can be assimilated with known information in the region.

Through the analysis of new and existing bio-optical under-ice data, the project ultimately envisions the delivery of new monitoring tools and algorithms that can provide support for modelling efforts and reveal complex biophysical processes under a changing Antarctic sea ice.

More about Emiliano

Biography

Optical remote sensing in polar regions has been at the core of Emiliano’s work over the last nine years. His research has focused on the development and application of hyperspectral and RGB imaging payloads equipped onto unmanned aerial or underwater platforms to map biophysical properties of both marine and terrestrial vegetated landscapes. He is particularly interested in retrieving dynamic fine-scale biophysical traits of complex systems and how these influence larger-scale ecosystem processes.

Dr. Emiliano Cimoli completed his PhD at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) of the University of Tasmania (UTAS) working on the development of underwater and under-ice hyperspectral imaging and digital photogrammetry to map keystone Antarctic ice algal ecosystems and their environment.

Following his PhD, Emiliano pursued a postdoctoral research fellowship at the TerraLuma research group as part of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery project “Ultrahigh-resolution remote sensing for assessing biodiversity hotspots”. Within TerraLuma, a world-leading group in the field of remote sensing from Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UAS), he has honed his skills in a range of terrestrial applications at the forefront of sensor and algorithm development for hyperspectral image georectification and plant biodiversity monitoring.

Before joining the University of Tasmania, Emiliano consolidated a strong civil and environmental engineering background through both his BSc (University of Padua, Italy) and MSc (Technical University of Denmark) to then specialize in the fields of optical remote sensing and geomatics. He has worked considerably in both the Arctic and Antarctic and several other remote locations providing him also an enhanced logistics and engineering background. His experiences range from technical equipment design and set-up, data acquisition, data processing and analysis up to workflow implementation and academic and public dissemination.

Awards / Grants

Most Inspiring PhD Thesis – IMAS, University of Tasmania (2021)

Best student poster - IGS, International Symposium on the Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (2017)

Bank of Greenland funding for research in Greenland - GrønlandsBANKEN (2015)

Commitment scholarship for Arctic fieldwork - Society for Arctic Research and Technology (SAFT) (2015)

Arctic Field Grant (AFG) - Norway Research Council (2014)

Selected Publications

Cimoli, E. et al. “Mapping the in situ microspatial distribution of ice algal biomass through hyperspectral imaging of sea-ice cores” in Nature Scientific Reports, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79084-6

Cimoli, E.; Meiners, K.M.; Lucieer, A.; Lucieer, V. “An Under-Ice Hyperspectral and RGB Imaging System to Capture Fine-Scale Biophysical Properties of Sea Ice” in Remote Sensing, 2019. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11232860

Cimoli, E.; et al. “Towards improved estimates of sea-ice algal biomass: Experimental assessment of hyperspectral imaging cameras for under-ice studies” in Annals of Glaciology, 2017 https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.6

Cimoli, E.; Meiners, K.M.; Lund-Hansen, L.C.; Lucieer, V. ”Spatial variability in sea-ice algal biomass: An under-ice remote sensing perspective” in Advances Polar Sciences, 2017. http://www.aps-polar.org/paper/2017/28/04/A180508000001/full

Verhaegen G.; Cimoli E.; Lindsay D. Life beneath the ice: jellyfish and ctenophores from the Ross Sea, Antarctica, with an image-based training set for machine learning. Biodiversity Data Journal, 2021 9: e69374. https://bdj.pensoft.net/article/69374/

Zhi Li
Research Associate Southern Ocean Processes

E: zhi.li4@unsw.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

My current activities within ACEAS are to investigate Southern Ocean ventilation and water-mass formation, as well as the heat uptake and redistribution by Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW) and Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) in driving Southern Ocean warming. I have been looking at the formation and variability of SAMW and AAIW in the Southern Ocean, by reconciling their volume changes with formation mechanisms of subduction and water-mass transformation. I am currently working at investigating the ocean heat uptake and redistribution by SAMW and AAIW formation for understanding Southern Ocean warming, and more broadly, global warming.

More about Zhi

Biography

A major challenge confronting the climate research community is that despite the dramatic acceleration in global ocean warming, it remains unclear how this heat uptake is distributed by basin and across water masses, and the associated physics of the processes regulating formation of, and heat uptake in, distinct water masses. Two particular water masses of note in this challenge are mode and intermediate waters in the subtropical and Southern Ocean, given their key role in the uptake and redistribution of heat over the past 50 years. Understanding the processes controlling variability and heat uptake of Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW) and Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) is thus critical for understanding Southern Ocean and global warming.

While my PhD research work investigated the physical mechanisms driving the geographic and seasonal variability in the formation of SAMW and AAIW (Li et al. 2021; Li et al. 2022), as well as how much heat uptake is stored within the mode and intermediate waters (Li et al. 2022, under review), there is still much to learn about the physical processes controlling the uptake and redistribution of heat and carbon by SAMW, AAIW, and other mode and intermediate waters. Opportunities for future research here at the UNSW node of the ACEAS, include a focus on the uptake and redistribution of heat in the Southern Ocean and in the global ocean, building upon the topics covered in my PhD work.

Publications

Li, Z., M. H. England, S. Groeskamp, I. Cerovečki, and Y. Luo, 2021: The Origin and Fate of Subantarctic Mode Water in the Southern Ocean. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 51, 2951–2972, https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-20-0174.1.

Li, Z., S. Groeskamp, I. Cerovečki, and M. H. England, 2022: The Origin and Fate of Antarctic Intermediate Water in the Southern Ocean. Journal of Physical Oceanography, in press.

Tamsitt, V., S. Bushinsky, Z. Li, M. du Plessis, A. Foppert, S. Gille, S. R. Rintoul, E. Shadwick, A. Silvano, A. Sutton, S. Swart, B. Tilbrook, and N. L. Williams, 2021: The Southern Ocean, in “State of the Climate in 2020”, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 102, S341-S345, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0081.1.

Gabriel M. Pontes
Research Associate - Palaeo Ocean Modelling

E: g.pontes@unsw.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

At ACEAS, my goal is to understand how meltwater discharge events from the Greenland Ice Sheet affect the high latitude Southern Hemisphere Climate, in particular the Eastern Antarctic Ice Sheet. Freshwater discharge into the North Atlantic Ocean have the potential to greatly weaken, or even shut down, the main pathway by which the ocean transports heat poleward: the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Such change would have an impact in the global climate, cooling the Northern Hemisphere and affecting tropical rainfall patterns. Nonetheless, little is known about how AMOC weakening would affect the high latitude regions in the Southern Hemisphere. To accomplish this, I combine numerical experiments using climate models to evidence from past events in the Earth’s history as inferred from proxy data.

More about Gabriel

Biography

I am a research scientist at the Climate Change Research Centre (CCRC) and at the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Sciences (ACEAS) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

I’ve completed my Phd in Physical Oceanography at the Oceanography Institute of the University of São Paulo in early 2022 and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Atmospheric Sciences of the same Institution.

My work resolves around the oceans' role in the climate system, how oceans had been affected by ice sheets, carbon dioxide and solar radiation in the past and what we can learn from that to inform the future of the oceans. To achieve this, I perform simulations with global climate models. Recently, I've been focusing on the ocean's response to ice sheet melting and how it impacts global and regional climate.

I have a wide range of research interest including:

Oceanic and atmospheric teleconnections between tropical and polar regions
Factors affecting High Latitude Southern Hemisphere Climate
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)
Modes of climate variability. In particular, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
The impact of high latitudes changes on tropical rainfall

Awards / Grants

2022, Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Sciences Post-Doctoral Fellowship

2022-2022, Post-Doctoral Fellowship from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP-Brazil)

2016 - 2021, PhD Scholarships from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP-Brazil)

Selected Publications

Pontes, G. M., Taschetto, A. S., Sen Gupta, A., Santoso, A., Wainer, I., Haywood, A. M., Chan, W.-L., Abe-Ouchi, A., Stepanek, C., Lohmann, G., Hunter, S. J., Tindall, J. C., Chandler, M. A., Sohl, L. E., Peltier, W. R., Chandan, D., Kamae, Y., Nisancioglu, K. H., Zhang, Z., … Oldeman, A. M. (2022). Mid-Pliocene El Niño/Southern Oscillation suppressed by Pacific intertropical convergence zone shift. Nature Geoscience 2022, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00999-y

Pontes, G. M., Wainer, I., Taschetto, A. S., Sen Gupta, A., Abe-Ouchi, A., Brady, E. C., Chan, W.-L., Chandan, D., Contoux, C., Feng, R., Hunter, S. J., Kame, Y., Lohmann, G., Otto-Bliesner, B. L., Peltier, W. R., Stepanek, C., Tindall, J., Tan, N., Zhang, Q., & Zhang, Z. (2020). Drier tropical and subtropical Southern Hemisphere in the mid-Pliocene Warm Period. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 13458. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68884-5

Pontes, G. M., Gupta, A. Sen, & Taschetto, A. S. (2016). Projected changes to South Atlantic boundary currents and confluence region in the CMIP5 models: the role of wind and deep ocean changes. Environmental Research Letters, 11(9), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/9/094013

Sen Gupta, A., Stellema, A., Pontes, G. M., Taschetto, A. S., Vergés, A., & Rossi, V. (2021). Future changes to the upper ocean Western Boundary Currents across two generations of climate models. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 9538. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88934-w

Pontes, G. M., Wainer, I., Prado, L., & Brierley, C. (2020). Reduced Atlantic variability in the mid-Pliocene. Climatic Change, 160(3), 445–461. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02675-9

Pauline Latour
Reserach Associate - Ocean-ice Biogeochemistry

E: pauline.latour@utas.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

As an ACEAS postdoc, I will investigate the role of trace metals originating from the cryosphere in stimulating surrounding primary productivity. Using a combination of field- and lab-based experiments, I will look at the cycle of sea ice trace metals in East Antarctica and study the impact of their speciation and limitation on phytoplankton physiology.

More about Pauline

Biography

I am a Research Associate at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) studying trace metal biogeochemistry in both sea-ice and seawater and their interaction with phytoplankton. After 3 years of study mostly directed toward marine biology, I did a Master in marine chemistry at the European Institute for Marine Studies (IUEM) in Brest (France) where I developed a keen interest in the coupling between these 2 disciplines. Specifically, I am very interested in knowing how tiny organisms such as phytoplankton can impact global biogeochemical cycles.

My PhD research focussed on manganese biogeochemistry in the Southern Ocean. This project combined analytical chemistry to look at the extremely low Southern Ocean trace metal concentrations as well as field experiments investigating how manganese control phytoplankton growth in this region. I also performed lab-based experiments looking at the effect of manganese limitation on phytoplankton physiology across several phytoplankton species.

I have worked as a laboratory technician on phytoplankton physiology and trace metal interactions as well as on thorium analyses in seawater samples, expanding my analytical skills.

Awards / Grants

L&O Letters Early Career Publication Honor (2022)

IMAS Student Research Support Scheme (2019)

Selected Publications

Latour, P., Wuttig, K., van der Merwe, P., Strzepek, R.F., Gault-Ringold, M., Townsend, A.T., Holmes, T.M., Corkill, M. and Bowie, A.R. (2021). Manganese biogeochemistry in the Southern Ocean, from Tasmania to Antarctica. Limnology and Oceanography, 66: 2547-2562. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11772

Latour, P., Strzepek, R. F., Wuttig, K., van der Merwe, P., Eggins, S., Bach, L. T., Boyd, P. W., Ellwood, M. J., Pinfold, T. L. and Bowie, A.R. (2022). Seasonality of phytoplankton growth limitation by iron and manganese in subantarctic waters. Earth and Space Science Open Archive (ESSOAr). https://doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10511502.1

Hong, W., Latour, P., Sauer, S., Sen, A., Gilhooly, W. P., Lepland, A. and F. Fouskas. (2020). “Iron Cycling in Arctic Methane Seeps.” Geo-Marine Letters 40 (3): 391–401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-020-00649-5

Tagliabue, A., Bowie, A. R., Holmes, T., Latour, P., van der Merwe, P., Gault-Ringold, M., Wuttig, K. and Resing, J. A. (2022). Constraining the contribution of hydrothermal iron to Southern Ocean export production using deep ocean iron observations. Frontiers in Marine Science, 9. Doi: 10.3389/fmars.2022.754517.

Wuttig, K., Townsend, A. T., van der Merwe, P., Gault-Ringold, M., Holmes, T., Schallenberg, C., Latour, P. et al. (2019). “Critical Evaluation of a SeaFAST System for the Analysis of Trace Metals in Marine Samples.” Talanta 197 (May): 653–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2019.01.047.

Tamara Schlosser
Research Associate - Marine Ecosystems Remote Sensing

E: tamara.schlosser@utas.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

As part of ACEAS, I am investigating the environmental drivers that control the onset of the Southern Ocean spring bloom. I work with biogeochemical Argo (BGC-Argo) float data from the Southern Ocean, in combination with other data streams (satellite, model outputs, reanalysis products), and one-dimensional turbulence modelling. By understanding how the Southern Ocean primary productivity is dependent on the physical environment, we can better predict future ecosystem changes and the resulting biogeochemical fluxes.

More about Tamara

Biography

As a sea-going oceanographer with a strong background in physical oceanography, I want to elucidate the biophysical interactions that support our ecosystems and investigate the significant challenges facing our marine environments. My research aims to understand to the connections between atmospheric forcing, stratified ocean processes, and the resulting environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, light, nutrient availability) to phytoplankton variability. To achieve this, I supplement field-based observations with idealised and one-dimensional numerical modelling to further understand the dynamical connections.

I completed an undergraduate degree in environmental engineering at the University of Western Australia (UWA) before working for three years at an engineering consultancy. I then returned to UWA to complete a PhD on the internal wave dynamics on the Tasmanian continental shelf and the resulting impact on phytoplankton variability via the varying advective and diffusive nutrient fluxes. I then moved to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where I continued researching biophysical interactions, but primarily from the perspective of light availability. I investigated the connections between monsoon-modulated subsurface light availability in the Bay of Bengal and primary productivity. I also investigated how the changing phytoplankton concentrations may influence upper ocean heat budgets.

Returning to Australia as a Research Associate part of the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) and ACEAS, I continue to investigate connections between light availability and primary productivity but in the unique Southern Ocean environment.

Awards / Grants

UC Ship Funds Program (2022), Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. Awarded ship time to pursue independent research and instruction at sea aboard Scripps ships following a competitive peer-review process.

RBR Cohort (2020), RBR Ltd. Awarded to applicants undertaking innovative new research.

Robson and Robertson Award (2017), Ocean Graduate School, University of Western Australia. Awarded as an outstanding young scholar undertaking exciting and innovative oceans research.

Selected Publications

Schlosser, TL, Jones, NL, Musgrave, RC, Bluteau, CE, Ivey, GN, and Lucas, AJ, 2019, “Observations of Diurnal Coastal-Trapped Waves on the Tasmanian Continental Shelf”. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 49 (7), 1973-1994.

Schlosser, TL, Jones, NL, Bluteau, CE, Alford, MH, Ivey, GN, and Lucas, AJ, 2019, “Generation and Fate of Near-Inertial Waves in a Baroclinic Current on the Tasmanian Shelf”. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 49 (10), 2653-2667.

Schlosser, TL, Lucas, AJ, Jones, NL, Ivey, GN, and Nash, JD, 2022, “Local winds and encroaching currents drive summertime subsurface blooms over a narrow shelf”. Limnology & Oceanography, 1-15.

Shroyer, E, et al., Schlosser, TL, et al., 2021, “Bay of Bengal Intraseasonal Oscillations and the 2018 Monsoon Onset”. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 1-44.

Ghisalberti, M. and Schlosser, TL, 2013, “Vortex generation in oscillatory canopy flow”, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 118 (3), 1534-1542.

Kaihe Yamazaki
Research Associate Physical Oceanography

E: Kaihe.Yamazaki@utas.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

I will quantify the fine-scale structure of velocity and water mass properties across the Southern Ocean from existing observations to examine the processes that regulate heat, freshwater and other tracers across Southern Ocean fronts, with a particular emphasis on the East Antarctic margin. This work will include analysis of high-resolution model simulations (e.g. MITgcm and ACCESS-OM2-01) to test their ability to represent these processes. I will also participate in marine science voyage to the Denman Glacier.

More about Kaihe

Biography

I am a physical oceanographer interested in the Southern Ocean circulation. My studies have been involved with in-situ ocean measurements (ship, Argo floats, biologging), remote sensing, numerical simulations, and theoretical physics. I am keen to comprehend complex ocean phenomena (e.g., eddies and air-sea interaction) into a reductive idea, enhancing our knowledge of climate change. I am also interested in how to maintain the ocean monitoring system, in which utilization of new technologies such as gliders and AUVs must be substantial.

Awards / Grants

2022–2024 Japan Society for Promotion of Science, Postdoctoral Research Fellow (362,000 JPY/mo), Special Research Fellowship (4,420,000 JPY/3yrs; Grant number: 22J00870)

The 8th Matsuno Environmental Science Award (Hokkaido University)

Selected Publications

Yamazaki, K., Aoki, S., Katsumata, K. Hirano, D., Nakayama, Y. (2021). Multidecadal poleward shift of the Southern Boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current off East Antarctica. Science Advances, 7, 24. 10.1126/sciadv.abf8755

Yamazaki, K., Aoki, S., Shimada, K., Kobayashi, T., Kitade, Y. (2020). Structure of the subpolar gyre in the Australian‐Antarctic Basin derived from Argo floats. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125, e2019JC015406. 10.1029/2019JC015406

Aoki, S., Yamazaki, K., Hirano, D., et al. (2020). Reversal of freshening trend of Antarctic Bottom Water in the Australian-Antarctic Basin during 2010s. Scientific Reports, 10, 14415. 10.1038/s41598-020-71290-6

Associated links

https://kaiheyamazaki.github.io/

Tobias Stål
Research Associate Computational Geophysics

E: tobias.staal@utas.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

I study how Antarctica's response to the changing climate depends on solid Earth properties and processes. In my role at ACEAS, I investigate new ways to gain insight into how geology interacts with ice sheets and glaciers. Such insights are derived from geophysical and geological data using novel computational and statistical tools. Integrating data from satellites, airborne instruments, and seismology with qualitative observations in glaciology and geology provide technical as well as semantic challenges. Those challenges can be addressed with the broad expertise in ACEAS; multivariate questions call for interdisciplinary efforts.

I am based at the University of Tasmania School of Natural Sciences, Physics. In this environment, I have the opportunity to get inspired by colleagues using relevant and advanced analytical and computational tools to address similar problems in different settings.

Currently, I am working on instrumentation and field preparations to study the ice-bedrock interface as well as deeper structures. I am also developing new methods to study the large-scale tectonic configuration of the Antarctic interior and derive implications for subglacial heat and glacial isostatic adjustment.

More about Tobias

Biography

There is a complex and heterogeneous continent beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. The crust and mantle properties of this continent shape how the ice sheet responds to warming oceans and changing climate. I am interested in how deep Earth, ice sheets and glaciers interact and how we can better understand this complex system by developing new computational methods and data applications.

Some of my work has been focusing on geothermal heat, how we can better model and map its distribution at the base of the ice sheet, and how it impacts the ice sheet's stability. Antarctica provides some special challenges due to the limited data available; however, some aspects of Antarctica are not unique; for robust geothermal heat flow models, we need to consider how heat transfer works in other regions and what limitations and biases might confuse the interpretation in Antarctica.

I am also interested in structural geology and large-scale tectonics, the extent of crustal blocks in the Antarctic interior. Antarctica was formed from old cratonic crust and tectonic accretion during the formation of supercontinents Rodina and Gondwana; however, the extent of mobile belts and basins is not resolved for the Antarctic interior. We have no direct observations, but geostatistical methods can help us develop robust suggestions.

I earned my Bachelor's and Master's degrees in geology and geophysics at the University of Copenhagen and The University Centre in Svalbard. I studied sedimentology, geomorphology, and reflection seismology, particularly the properties of carbonate rocks. My PhD project at the University of Tasmania focused on multivariate methods and introduced me to Bayesian statistics and information theory as useful tools to understand Earth systems and processes.

Before geology and geophysics, I worked in music and stage art, mainly as a light and sound designer and sometimes as a musician and actor. I studied at the Music Conservatory of Piteå in Sweden and VGIK in Moscow, Russia. I also have some experience in welding, plumbing and in shipyards. I do love old boats.

Scientific Committee Memberships

Co-chair of the Subcommittee for Antarctic Heat flow under The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) The INStabilities and Thresholds in ANTarctica (INSTANT) Scientific Research Programme

Member of Lithosphere of East Antarctica Coordinating Committee under the International Lithosphere program

Leader of ACEAS Autonomous integrated remote instrumentation working group

Member of ACEAS Sub-ice continent working group

Member of Technical Committee for Antarctic and Southern Ocean Forum (ASOF) 2021

Co-convener of the session Polar Geothermal Heat Flow: Estimation and Ice Sheet Interactions at AGU Fall Meeting 2021

Member of organising committee of the 2022 meeting for the Specialist Group in Tectonics and Structural Geology (SGTSG) of the Geological Society of Australia

Awards / Grants

The paper Antarctic geothermal heat flow model: Aq1. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (Stål et al (2021)) was highlighted as editor's choice in the AGU journal Eos, 1 2021.

Department of Natural Sciences award for PhD Award for Outstanding Performance during Postgraduate Studies (2021), UTAS.

Selected Publications

Antarctic geothermal heat flow model: Aq1 (Stål et al., 2021, GGG)

A multivariate approach for mapping lithospheric domain boundaries in East Antarctica (Stål et al., 2019, GRL)

Antarctic geothermal heat flow and its implications for tectonics and ice sheets (Reading, Stål, et al., 2022, NREE)

Properties and biases of the global heat flow compilation (Stål et al, 2022, Frontiers in Earth Science)

PetroChron Antarctica: A geological database for interdisciplinary use (Sanchez et al., 2021, GGG)

Matthis Auger
Research Associate Ocean Modelling

E: matthis.auger@utas.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

I am a postdoctoral research associate at UTAS working on Southern Ocean modelling with Dr. Paul Spence. A major part of my activities is to conceal ocean modelling and satellite altimetry observation to uncover physical processes in the subpolar Southern Ocean, such as Dense Water overflows or ocean-sea ice interactions.

I will also be involved in the development of regional Pan-Antarctic models and in-situ observations studies in the Southern Ocean.

More about Matthis

Biography

I completed my Master of sciences and engineering degree at ENSTA Bretagne / Université de Bretagne Occidentale in Brest (France) in 2018. I moved to the LEGOS in Toulouse for my Master degree thesis to work with Dr. Rosemary Morrow on the temperature trends in the Southern Ocean from a 25-years repeated XBT section between Australia and Antarctica. This study was published later during my PhD and allowed me to have my first fieldwork in Antarctica deploying these XBTs a few years later in 2021.

My PhD focused on the variability and changes of the subpolar Southern Ocean from Satellite Altimetry, a project co-funded by CNES (Centre National des Etudes Spatiales) and CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellite) and under the supervision of Dr. Jean-Baptiste Sallée and Dr. Pierre Prandi. I spent my first PhD year at CLS with the AVISO Team to develop a multi-mission satellite altimetry dataset of the sea level including the ice-covered parts of the subpolar Southern Ocean. I then moved to the LOCEAN in Paris (Sorbonne Université) to work on the exploitation of this dataset. We were able to uncover the seasonal cycle of the large scale subpolar Southern Ocean circulation and its drivers. We also investigated the mesoscale activity and were able to highlight interactions between ocean eddies, background circulation, winds, and sea ice using those satellite observations.

After my PhD, I kept working on the exploitation of the dataset as a postdoctoral researcher at the LOCEAN for a few months, before starting as a Research Associate at the University of Tasmania as part of the ACEAS project.

My research interests are mainly focused on the subpolar Southern Ocean circulation, air-ocean-sea ice interactions, ocean modelling, and satellite altimetry.

Awards / Grants

Prize of the scientific Publication – Fondation de la Mer (2500€)

Selected Publications

Auger, M., Sallée, J.-B., Prandi, P. & Naveira Garabato, A. C. Subpolar Southern Ocean Seasonal Variability of the Geostrophic Circulation From Multi-Mission Satellite Altimetry. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 127, e2021JC018096 (2022).

Auger, M., Prandi, P. & Sallée, J.-B. Southern ocean sea level anomaly in the sea ice-covered sector from multimission satellite observations. Scientific Data 9, 70 (2022).

Auger, M., Morrow, R., Kestenare, E., Sallée, J.-B. & Cowley, R. Southern Ocean in-situ temperature trends over 25 years emerge from interannual variability. Nature Communications 12, 514 (2021).

Yuhao Dai
Research Associate Marine Biogeochemistry

E: yuhao.dai@anu.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

I am currently investigating the carbon cycle in the Southern Ocean during the Miocene, the last time the atmospheric CO₂ level is comparable to the present. I will use stable isotopes and trace elements of microfossils to reconstruct Southern Ocean seawater chemistry in the past. Based on these reconstructions, I will try to understand the feedback between CO₂ and the Southern Ocean phytoplankton productivity in a warm climate. I hope this work can provide insights into responses of the Earth’s climate to future atmospheric CO₂. I will also investigate modern Polar Southern Ocean biogeochemistry using samples from upcoming Antarctic research voyages.

More about Yuhao

Biography

I am a paleoclimatologist who uses palaeoceanographic proxies to investigate past changes in the marine carbon cycle during various time intervals. My main expertise lies in analyses of trace elemental and isotopic composition of marine microfossils, especially boron isotopes in foraminifera and silicon isotopes in biogenic silica. I am interested in carbon and silica cycle changes spanning the last glacial cycle through to the Early Eocene.

Selected Publications

Dai, Yuhao, et al. "Deglacial Subantarctic CO2 outgassing driven by a weakened solubility pump." Nature Communications 13.1 (2022): 5193.

Dai, Yuhao, Jimin Yu, and Patrick A Rafter. "Deglacial ventilation changes in the deep Southwest Pacific." Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 36.2 (2021): e2020PA004172.

Dai, Yuhao, et al. "Influences of temperature and secondary environmental parameters on planktonic foraminiferal Mg/Ca: A new core‐top calibration." Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 20.9 (2019): 4370-4381.

Dai, Yuhao, Jimin Yu, and Heather JH Johnstone. "Distinct responses of planktonic foraminiferal B/Ca to dissolution on seafloor." Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 17.4 (2016): 1339-1348.

Yu, J, L Menviel, ZD Jin, DJ Thornalley, S Barke, G Marino, EJ Rohling, Y Cai, F Zhang, X Wang, Yuhao Dai. Sequestration of carbon in the deep Atlantic during the last glaciation. Nature Geoscience 9.4 (2016):319-24.

Daniel Richards
Research Associate Ice Sheet Modeler

E: Daniel.richards@utas.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

Since joining the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS) as a Research Associate in March 2023, my primary focus has been on investigating ice fabric evolution and developing reliable fabric models for large-scale ice sheet models. I am working on incorporating viscous anisotropy into ice sheet models, which is crucial for improving our understanding of ice flow behaviour and ice sheet dynamics.

In addition to my research, I actively collaborate with fellow ACEAS researchers to advance knowledge in Antarctic science and climate research. Together, we are working on addressing some of the most pressing questions related to Antarctic ice dynamics and the impacts of climate change.

As part of my role within ACEAS, I also dedicate time to developing and presenting research findings at conferences and workshops. This allows me to contribute to the wider scientific community and ensure that our research reaches a broader audience.

Moreover, I am committed to mentoring and collaborating with students and early-career researchers in the field of glaciology and ice dynamics. I believe that fostering the growth and development of the next generation of scientists is essential for the continued advancement of our understanding of Antarctic ice and its role in global climate systems.

More about Daniel

Biography

I am Daniel Richards, a Research Associate at the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS) at the University of Tasmania. My research focuses on glaciology and ice dynamics, with a particular interest in the evolution of ice fabrics and viscous anisotropy. I combine mathematical approaches with numerical modelling to better understand ice flow processes and develop accurate numerical models for ice dynamics. Over the years, I have published my work in renowned journals and presented at prestigious conferences. My most notable publication is “The evolution of ice fabrics: A continuum modelling approach validated against laboratory experiments" (2021). I hold completed my PhD in 2021 at the University of Leeds, where I specialized in modelling ice fabric evolution and its effect on viscous anisotropy. Now at ACEAS, I continue to explore these research interests and contribute to advancing our understanding of Antarctic ice dynamics.

Awards / Grants

Selected Publications

Mareen Lösing
Research Associate - Antarctic Crustal Geophysics and Bed Evolution

E: mareen.loesing@uwa.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

The sub-glacial geology of the Antarctic continent is of fundamental importance to understanding ice sheet dynamics. Topography, composition, and properties of the bedrock control how fast the ice sheet slides and interacts with the underlying terrain. Additionally, areas with high heat producing rocks can contribute to increased geothermal heat flow, leading to basal melt and affecting the overall stability and flow dynamics of the ice sheet.

Mareen’s research will focus on advancing our understanding of subglacial geology in the Wilkes Land area. Her aim is to provide new interpretations to characterise the ice sheet bed and constrain conditions that influence glacial processes.

To achieve this, she will analyze geophysical data including gravity, magnetic and radar data. This will potentially generate information on bed-characteristics, which in collaboration with ACEAS, can be linked to ice sheet and ocean science outcomes.

More about Mareen

Biography

Mareen is a geophysicist interested in Antarctic geothermal heat flow and ice sheet dynamics. In 2022, she completed her Ph.D. at Kiel University, Germany, focusing on analyzing satellite and airborne data, employing machine learning techniques, and utilizing Bayesian and joint inversion methods.

Participating in several expeditions on German research vessels, she gained valuable field experience, including leading the heat flow working group during the PS134 expedition in the Bellingshausen Sea aboard the RV Polarstern.

Her interests lie in understanding the impacts of solid earth-ice sheet interactions on potential sea level changes and using geophysical data to improve our understanding of the basal conditions and sliding behaviour of the ice sheet.

Scientific Committee Memberships

SCAR-INSTANT subgroup: Antarctic Geothermal Heat Flux

Selected Publications

Reading, A. M., Stål, T., Halpin, J. A., Lösing, M., Ebbing, J., Shen, W., ... & Hasterok, D. (2022). Antarctic geothermal heat flow and its implications for tectonics and ice sheets. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00348-y

Lösing, M., Moorkamp, M., & Ebbing, J. (2023). Joint inversion based on variation of information—a crustal model of Wilkes Land, East Antarctica. Geophysical Journal International, 232(1), 162-175. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggac334

Colgan, W., Wansing, A., Mankoff, K., Lösing, M., Hopper, J., Louden, K., ... & Løkkegaard, A. (2022). Greenland geothermal heat flow database and map (version 1). Earth System Science Data, 14(5), 2209-2238. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2209-2022

Lösing, M., & Ebbing, J. (2021). Predicting geothermal heat flow in Antarctica with a machine learning approach. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 126(6), e2020JB021499. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB021499

Lösing, M., Ebbing, J., & Szwillus, W. (2020). Geothermal heat flux in Antarctica: Assessing models and observations by Bayesian inversion. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, 105. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00105

Associated links

INSTANT Antarctic Geothermal Heat Flux

UWA Profile

Taimoor Sohail
Research Associate - Thermodynamic Constraints on Changes in the Antarctic

E: t.sohail@unsw.edu.au

Social Links

Current ACEAS Activities:

I am currently working on understanding how and where ocean heat reaches the Antarctic margins, and the flow-on effects on basal ice melting there. I apply data science tools, including unsupervised learning, to state-of-the-art ocean models to glean new insights into the processes driving heat transport in the Southern Ocean.

More about Taimoor

Biography

I am an ACEAS Postdoctoral Research Associate at the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of New South Wales Sydney, supervised by ACEAS CI Associate Professor Jan Zika. I am also an early-career member of the ACEAS Advisory Board.

My research interests lie in using data science and statistical methods to understand the processes which drive ocean heat and freshwater changes. My focus area is both global and in the Antarctic margins, where the impacts of climate change are particularly acute. I also study the role of convection and turbulence in driving mixing, as well as the broader role of ocean mixing and surface fluxes in driving large-scale ocean changes.

I use a variety of tools to aid in my research, including unsupervised machine learning, clustering algorithms, high-resolution direct numerical simulations and water mass transformation frameworks.

Scientific Committee Memberships

ACEAS Advisory Board – ECR Representative

Awards / Grants

Endeavour Research Scholarship 2016

ASEG ACT PhD Scholarship

Invited participant: Physical Oceanography Dissertation Symposium (PODS) 2021

Selected Publications

Sohail, T., Zika, J. D., Irving, D. B., Church, J. A. Observed poleward freshwater transport since 1970. Nature. (2022), 602, 617–622, doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04370-w.

Sohail, T., Gayen, B. and Hogg, A. McC. Convection drives mixing in the Southern Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters (2018), 45, 4198– 4207, doi:10.1029/2018GL077711.

Sohail, T., Holmes, R. M., Zika, J. D. Watermass Co-Ordinates Isolate the Historical Ocean Warming Signal. Journal of Climate. (2023) doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0363.1.

Sohail, T., Gayen, B. and Hogg, A. McC. The dynamics of mixed layer deepening during open ocean convection. Journal of Physical Oceanography (2020), 50(6), 1625-1641, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-19-0264.1.

Sohail, T., Irving, D. B., Zika, J. D., Holmes, R. M., Church, J. A. Fifty year trends in global ocean heat content traced to surface heat fluxes in the sub-polar ocean. Geophysical Research Letters. (2021), 48, e2020GL091439. doi:10.1029/2020GL091439.