Breadcrumb

Pronouns: she/her
Bio
My research topics include climate and paleoclimate modeling, polar climate, climate model evaluation, Arctic Ocean and sea ice variability, Arctic freshwater dynamics, cryosphere, oceanography, and modeling of isotopes.
Education
- PhD: McGill University, 2010
- Dipl: Free University of Berlin, 2004
- Exchange student: University of Washington in Seattle, 2001
Awards
- Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for experienced researchers, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 2022
- Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, National Science Foundation, 2019
- Advanced Study Program Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Center for Atmospheric Research, 2012
- Christine Mirzayan National Academies Policy Fellowship, National Academy of Sciences, 2010
- PhD Fellowship, German National Academic Foundation, 2006
- Outstanding student scholarship, German National Academic Foundation, 2001
- Fulbright Travel Award, The Fulbright Program, 2001
- Exchange Fellowship, Free University of Berlin and University of Washington, 2001
Research
Current projects are described on the Polar and Paleoclimate Modeling research group pages.
Research overview
Climate models are a powerful tool to understand dynamics in the climate system: they offer the unique advantage of providing a self-consistent dataset that can be used to study mechanisms, perform sensitivity studies, and test hypotheses. While model studies have provided critical insights on climate system functioning, it is important to remember that they are approximations of the real world. Connecting model results with observational data is therefore essential, and much of my research is motivated by the desire to improve model-data comparisons, for example through model developments that make model variables more comparable to observed data.
I am particularly interested in the climate of the polar regions, particularly the Arctic Ocean. Beside its breathtaking beauty, the Arctic Ocean is also the region where we see the largest climate changes occurring. Given that observational data in the Arctic is very limited, model studies are a great tool to better understand Arctic climate processes and their global impacts. In order to better predict future changes in the Arctic, for example when certain regions of the Arctic Ocean will become consistently accessible to commercial shipping during the summer, it is crucial to improve our understanding of the observed changes, as well as the shortcomings of the current generation of climate models. One of my main research foci is to understand the role of natural variability versus forced trends in the Arctic ocean and sea ice system during the 20th and 21st century. In this work, my main focus is on the Arctic sea ice and oceanic freshwater dynamics.
In addition to the present day changes, polar regions also played a key role in the past: Glaciations were initiated in the high northern latitudes, and Dansgaard-Oeschger and Heinrich events, which are among the most rapid climate change events on record, also originated in the high northern latitudes. We know about these past changes from paleo records (e.g., from ice cores and ocean sediment cores). Model simulations are uniquely suited to test hypotheses based on paleo records and to examine the physical mechanisms that led to these large climate shifts, as they provide consistent datasets and allow for sensitivity studies. My paleo-research is currently focussed on the climate at the Last Glacial Maximum (21 ka BP), during the deglaciation (21 ka BP to ~11 ka BP), and the climate of the Holocene (11 ka BP to the present), with the main focus on changes in the ocean circulation during these times.
Publications
Recent publications
Realism of simulated internal variability in Arctic sea ice
Type: Journal Article
Forced Changes in the Arctic Freshwater Budget Emerge in the Early 21st Century 
Type: Journal Article
Impact of CMIP6 biomass burning emissions on Arctic sea ice loss
DeRepentigny P; Jahn A; Holland M; Fasullo J; Lamarque J-F; Hannay C; Mills M; Bailey D; Tilmes S; Barrett A...
- DeRepentigny P
- Jahn A
- Holland M
- Fasullo J
- Lamarque J-F
- Hannay C
- Mills M
- Bailey D
- Tilmes S
- Barrett A
Type: Journal Article
Arctic Freshwater in CMIP6: Declining Sea Ice, Increasing Ocean Storage and Export
Type: Journal Article
Hydroclimate footprint of pan-Asian monsoon water isotope during the last deglaciation
Publication Date: 2021-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Realism of simulated internal variability in September Arctic sea ice
Type: Journal Article
Integrating Models and Observations to Better Predict a Changing Arctic Sea Ice Cover
Type: Journal Article
Seasonal transition dates can reveal biases in Arctic sea ice simulations
Publication Date: 2020-09-14
Type: Journal Article
Arctic Sea Ice in Two Configurations of the CESM2 During the 20th and 21st Centuries
Publication Date: 2020-09-01
Type: Journal Article
Forced Changes in the Arctic Freshwater Budget Emerge in the Early 21st Century
Publication Date: 2020-08-16
Type: Journal Article
Assessing the potential capability of reconstructing glacial Atlantic water masses and AMOC using multiple proxies in CESM
Publication Date: 2020-07-01
Type: Journal Article
Arctic Sea Ice in CMIP6
Notz D; Doerr J; Bailey DA; Blockley E; Bushuk M; Debernard JB; Dekker E; DeRepentigny P; Docquier D; Fuckar NS...
- Notz D
- Doerr J
- Bailey DA
- Blockley E
- Bushuk M
- Debernard JB
- Dekker E
- DeRepentigny P
- Docquier D
- Fuckar NS
Publication Date: 2020-05-28
Type: Journal Article
Assessing temperature fingerprints for the Atlantic overturning in the past two millennia
Type: Journal Article
Climate, volcanism and human impact on Iceland’s landscape during the last two millennia.
Type: Journal Article
Seasonal transitions of Arctic sea ice over the satellite era in CMIP6 models
Type: Journal Article
Arctic Sea Ice in the Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2) over the 20th and 21st Centuries
Type: Journal Article
Increased Transnational Sea Ice Transport Between Neighboring Arctic States in the 21(st) Century
Publication Date: 2020-03-01
Type: Journal Article
Reduced probability of ice-free summers for 1.5 degrees C compared to 2 degrees C warming (vol 8, pg 409, 2018)
Publication Date: 2019-09-01
Type: Journal Article
Nonuniform Contribution of Internal Variability to Recent Arctic Sea Ice Loss
Publication Date: 2019-07-01
Type: Journal Article
Assessing the Ability of Zonal delta O-18 Contrast in Benthic Foraminifera to Reconstruct Deglacial Evolution of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
Publication Date: 2019-05-01
Type: Journal Article
Modeling Neodymium Isotopes in the Ocean Component of the Community Earth System Model (CESM1)
Publication Date: 2019-03-01
Type: Journal Article
Taking climate model evaluation to the next level
Eyring V; Cox PM; Flato GM; Gleckler PJ; Abramowitz G; Caldwell P; Collins WD; Gier BK; Hall AD; Hoffman FM...
- Eyring V
- Cox PM
- Flato GM
- Gleckler PJ
- Abramowitz G
- Caldwell P
- Collins WD
- Gier BK
- Hall AD
- Hoffman FM
Publication Date: 2019-02-01
Type: Journal Article
Definition differences and internal variability affect the simulated Arctic sea ice melt season
Publication Date: 2019-01-02
Type: Journal Article
Asymmetric Cooling of the Atlantic and Pacific Arctic During the Past Two Millennia: A Dual Observation-Modeling Study
Publication Date: 2018-11-28
Type: Journal Article
Definition differences and internal variability affect the simulated; Arctic sea ice melt season
Type: Journal Article
Pages
Teaching
Past courses
- ATOC1060: Our Changing Environment
- Discusses Earth's climate for non-science majors
- ATOC5051: Introduction to Physical Oceanography
- Introduction to physical oceanography for graduate students
- ATOC6800: Scientific Writing
- Focuses on how to write compelling scientific journal articles, for graduate students
- ATOC4850/ATOC5850: Numerical Methods Laboratory
- Introduction to numerical methods in ATOC, for undergraduate and graduate students
- ATOC3700: Research Experience in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
- Course based research experience for undergraduate students, learning about research and doing actual research
Current students
Former students and postdocs
Postdocs
- Hannah Zanowski, Postdoctoral scholar, 2019-2021
- Yafang Zhong, Postdoctoral Research Associate, co-advised
Graduate students
- Patricia DeRepentigny, PhD 2021
- Abigail Smith, PhD 2021
Graduate student assistants
- Rory Laiho, Graduate Student Assistant
- Aaron Schroeder, Graduate Student Assistant
Undergraduates
- Nate Farmer, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2022
- Daphne Quint, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2022
- Rajan Patel, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2022
- Patrick Ugrinow, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2022
- Sara Jean Reinelt, Undergraduate Research Assistant
- Kerrie Dochen, Undergraduate Researcher
- Ivonne Martinez, Summer REU student, co-advised
Outreach
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