Climate science is awesome -- that's why I got into this field. Climate is the long-term average and variability of our weather, and the weather is not only relevant to everyone, most people like to complain about it, so there's plenty of common conversation to have with strangers. I prefer climate to just weather, though, because on the time-scales of years to decades, the intricate interactions between the atmosphere, ocean, ice, vegetation, carbon cycle, etc. become more readily discernible. We can start to comprehend more clearly the fascinating interrelationships by which Nature operates and begin to consider the complex Earth system more holistically. Of course, the fact that human-caused climate change is such a major distruptor of our present and future is another big reason why I'm in this field. Having a stronger handle on Earth's climate, how it will change, and how fast it provides decision-makers better clarity to help them develop mitigation and adaptation strategies.
As a climate scientist, I also have flexibility. I was trained mostly in atmsopheric science in graduate school, but I work heavily with sea ice, and I've spent much of my career so far examining the atmosphere's interactions with and impacts on topics as variable as ocean waves, nutrient cycling, and the breakdown of human waste and water transport systems. I also look at sea ice interactions with extreme weather events, polar bear mobility, and shipping operations. Finally, although physics are still the basis of any climate analysis I perform, climate can be described as the statistics of the weather, which means I have plenty of reason to explore creative statistical approaches to assessing my hypotheses.
2024 - present Assistant Professor, Department of Environment and Geography
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB
2020 - 2023 Research Associate, Centre for Earth Observation Science
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB
2020 - 2023 Sessional Instructor, Department of Environment and Geography
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB
2017 - 2020 Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences
The College of Wooster, Wooster, OH
2017 (Summer) Post-Doctoral Research Associate, National Snow and Ice Data Center
University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO
2015 (Summer) Graduate Part-Time Instructor, Geography Department
University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO
University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO
2017: Ph.D. in Geography (Climatology focus); Advisor: Mark Serreze
• Dissertation: The influence of the summer Arctic frontal zone on
Arctic cyclone activity today and in the future
• Certificate in College Teaching
• Certificate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
2014: M.A. in Geography (Climatology focus); Advisor: Mark Serreze
• Thesis: A new look at the summer Arctic frontal zone
Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
2012: B.A. in Geography and Geology (double major), summa cum laude; valedictorian
Advisors: Adam Burnett and Amy Leventer