Group
Atmospheric Variability and Change
The AVC Group at the NYU investigates the role of atmospheric circulation and dynamics in a changing climate. We focus on a range of scales (from km sized gravity waves to global storm tracks) and methods. The unifying theme is a desire to understand the natural variability of our atmosphere and how it responds to external forcing. Understanding the atmospheric circulation is essential for narrowing uncertainty in regional climate change. When it comes to precipitation change over land, and hence water security, the answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.
Current Members
| Postdoctoral Scientists | |
|---|---|
| Minah Yang joined the group in June 2021 after completing her PhD in Applied Mathematics at the University of Colorado with Ian Grooms. She brings expertise in machine learning to the gravity wave parameterization problem. |  |
| Ofer Shamir joined the group in June 2021. He completed his PhD with Nathan Paldor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He brings a background in atmospheric dynamics and modeling to the DataWave gravity wave parameterization project. |  |
| Aaron Match joined the group in December 2021, after completing his thesis with Stephan Fueglistaler at Princeton. He brings particular expertise in dynamical and radiative processes in the atmosphere. Aaron is supported by an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and interested in topics in attribution and climate dynamics. |  |
| Graduate Students | |
|---|---|
| Marguerite Brown is just finishing up her PhD. It’s been a pleasure to collaborate with her and her principle advisor, Olivier Pauluis, on the dynamics of moist quasi-geostrophic turbulence. | |
 | Dave Connelly is a third year PhD student at NYU. He is using machine learning to represent the impact of un(der)resolved gravity waves in atmospheric models, and has explored the efficacy of regression tree approaches in particular. |
 | Nolan Reilly is a new member in the group. He’s now in his second year at NYU and using neural networks to probe the importance of lateral momentum transport by gravity waves. |
 | Claire Valva is a third year PhD student working with my a Dimitris Giannakis. We’ve been using Koopman methods to probe the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation, at the same time using the physics to inspire new development of the method. |
 | Huan Zhang is a PhD student in Mathematics, working with Jonathon Weare and I. We’re collaborating together with Justin Finkel and Dorian Abbot on blocking events. |
Former Members
Postdoctoral Research Scientists
Madeleine Youngs (2020-2022) was a NOAA Global and Climate Change fellow in my group. Her tenure was admittedly not the easiest time to be in New York, as we weathered the pandemic and recovery. Her research focused on the baroclinic annular modes and Dynamical Mode Decomposition. She’s now at UCLA.
Martin Jucker (2014-2016) developed a Model of an idealized Moist Atmosphere (MiMA) while at NYU. He’s now a Lecturer in Climate Dynamics and the University of New South Wales.
Changhyun Yoo (2011-2014) investigated teleconnections between the tropical oceans and Antarctica. He’s now a professor at Ewha Womans University, Korea.
Doctoral Students
Justin Finkel (PhD, 2022 at the University of Chicago) wasn’t an official member of my group, or even NYU, but spent much of his PhD in New York after his principle advisor, Jonathon Weare, moved to the Courant. His thesis explored extreme events in the stratosphere, namely Sudden Stratospheric Warmings, applying novel methods from applied mathematics to a hierarchy of models, from a toy 3 equation model to ECMWF’s Integrated Forecasting System.
Aman Gupta (PhD, 2020) explored the impact of model numerics on the transport in atmospheric models. His thesis showed that there remain significant differences in stratosphere-troposphere coupling and tracer transport between the behavior of state-of-the-art dynamical cores. Aman traveled a bit farther afield for his postdoc, joining Thomas Birner’s group at LMU Munich!
Kevin DallaSanta (PhD, 2019) investigated the large scale circulation of the atmosphere. First, he investigated the tropospheric circulation response to volcanic eruptions, using a hierarchy of models to probe the mechanism. Second, he explored zonally coherent variability in the tropical atmosphere, discovering downward propagating anomalies on subseasonal time scales. He’s now a Postdoctoral Fellow at NASA GISS, just a few miles uptown!
Naftali Cohen (PhD, 2014) investigated the overturning circulation of the stratosphere and interactions between the resolved circulation and parameterized gravity waves in atmospheric models. He’s since shifted in data science and is working in industry (JP Morgan Chase, last time I checked!)
Xichen Li (PhD, 2014) focused on teleconnections between the the tropical oceans and the circulation around Antarctica, with a particular focus on links between the tropical Atlantic and Admunsen Sea. He’s now at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing.
Masters Students
Megan Lytle (MS, 2016)
Ho Yeung Hung (MS, 2014)
Undergraduates
Janya Mirpuri (2024)
Zihan Shao (2023)
Emma Knobloch (2023)
Dan Cao (2020)
Mihir Punji (2019)
Po Sheun (Portia) Chan (‘14)
Clement Chan (‘11)
Michael Hirsch (‘11)
Kelly Sielert (‘10)