Team

Current PhD students

PhD student Sonja Wahl 

In my PhD project I am investigating the coupling of atmosphere and snowpack with the help of stable water isotopes and eddy covariance measurement in order to answer the question: “How is the climate signal imprinted in the snow?”. My research is build upon field measurements of meteorological and snow parameters in both Greenland and Antarctica. I am therefore involved in the planning and execution of field campaigns in the Polar Regions. The overall goal of my PhD project is to optimise climate models in regard to cryospheric processes.  

Key fields of interest: Water isotopes, turbulent fluxes, atmospheric boundary layer, climate modeling

 

 

PhD student Laura Dietrich  

As part of my PhD project I am modelling the isotopic exchange between the snow surface and the atmosphere. By using observations from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheet I constrain the physical processes in the model to accurately simulate the processes responsible for the ice core water isotope record. 

 

 

 

 


PhD student Ines Ollivier

My PhD project is part of the European project DEEPICE. My work focuses on the atmosphere-snow interface and processes in East Antarctica to understand how post-depositional processes are influencing the stable water isotope climate signal imprinted in the snow. I am using in-situ measurements from the Dôme C area, including the isotopic composition of the atmosphere-precipitation-snow continuum and various meteorological and snow parameters. The overall objective of this PhD project is to balance and interpret the isotopic budget at the snow surface on the cold East Antarctic plateau and disentangle the effects of different processes on the annual signal. This project aims at improving the interpretation of ice core climate records.

 

 

Current postdoctoral fellows

Dr. Anne-Katrine Faber

My work is on water isotopes in polar regions with a specific focus on how the integration of model and data can be used to improve the understanding of past and present climate change. In my study I use models of different complexity, as well as observational and proxy data from vapor, snow and ice core measurements. I am particularly interested in using isotope and atmospheric models  (e.g iCAM5) to improve the knowledge on how we understand and interpret the climate signal from ice core records. Furthermore, I am passionate about climate science communication and have 10 years of experience with verbal, written and interactive science communication. 

Key fields of interest: Water isotopes, North atlantic atmospheric circulation, paleoclimate,  numerical modeling, climate science communication

 

Dr. Daniele Zannoni

My work in atmospheric sciences and water isotope research is associated with the LEMON project which aims to provide a new Differential Absorption Lidar sensor for greenhouse gases and water vapor stable isotopes analysis. My task is to provide the observational data for the Lidar instrument validation through airborne and ground-based campaigns and to develop a framework for using the novel Lidar water vapor isotope retrievals to understand physical processes of the atmospheric hydrological cycle. I am curious about the whole hydrosphere system and its relationship with the atmosphere including weather, soil/snow/plant-atmosphere water exchange and precipitation-evaporation processes. I usually integrate the information obtained from water vapor isotopic composition with humidity tracing techniques using Lagrangian dispersion models. 

Key fields of interest: Water isotopes, atmospheric chemistry and physics, hydrology, Lagrangian dispersion models
 
 
Dr. Alesandro Crapara
 
My research is focussed on climate change, plant physiology, complexity analysis and global environmental change. I am currently involved in several projects throughout the Tropics focussed on how climate change and variability has, and will, influence plant and crop production (coffee, cocoa and several annual crops). I am increasingly interested in how biospheres in the higher latitudes and the Arctic (boreal forests, tundra, high alpine vegetation) respond to changes in climate and what this means for interlinked systems (permafrost, cryosphere).

 

Current research fellows

Dr. Michael Town
 
My climate research efforts have historically focused on polar regions. I have used remote sensing and in situ field observations to.retrieve cloud occurrence and examine the surface energy budget in stable boundary layers. I have also used advanced modeling and machine learning techniques to simulate the energy and isotopic content of the near-surface snow. As part of the SNOWISO project I will improve stable water isotope climate interpretation on different time scales. I will use the surface energy and mass budgets, local meteorology, and near-surface snow processes to further our understanding of how the stable water isotope record represents present day climate, either locally or regionally. I will then apply this first-principles, physical understanding to snow and ice core records of the past.
My education efforts have been focused developing an equitable teaching methodology in which students learn real-world skills by solving real world problems. This effort has many facets including (but not limited to):
1) a focus on educators collecting and learning from equity-relevant data in their classrooms,
2) curating data sets and collaborations that draw the outside world into the classroom,
3) putting students at the center of the problem-solving, learning, and celebrations.
Highlights from these education efforts are: An autonomous temperature array network deployed and analyzed by students on Mt. Baker, WA, USA, Student assessment of operational trends in Northwest Avalanche Center forecasts, Analysis of microclimates in Seattle, WA USA.
Key fields of interest: Surface energy budget, Stable boundary layer, Snow pack processes, Clouds, Polar meteorology, Stable water isotope, Paleoclimate, Numerical modeling, Mountain meteorology, Avalanches, Education, Equity.

 

Current Master thesis students

Master thesis student Emili Carin Rønning
 
I am taking a master in Meteorology. In my master thesis I am looking at in-situ measurements and comparing them to isotopic climate models.