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Last update: June 2025
I am a Lecturer in Fluid Dynamics in the School of Mathematics and Statistics of the University of St Andrews, and a UKRI Future Leader Fellow since November 2024 (research-focused position). My research focuses on experimental, numerical and theoretical modelling of planetary flows. I'm interested in gas giants atmospheric dynamics and its coupling with the deep interior, from zonal winds to large-scale midlatitude anticyclones and polar cyclones, to self-organization of rotating turbulent flows. I'm also interested in the dynamics of Jupiter and Saturn icy moons' buried oceans. I study to what extent the convecting ocean can thermally and dynamically couple the rocky interior of these moons with their ice crust, and how this can help to interpret future observations from Europa Clipper and JUICE missions.
Before St Andrews, I was a Post-doctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, working with Dr. Krista Soderlund. Before that, I was a PhD student at IRPHE laboratory in Marseille, France, working with Michael Le Bars and Benjamin Favier.
News (latest first)
News (latest first)
My rotating table is undergoing installation!
June 2025My rotating table is undergoing installation!
I used my FLF to purchase a bespoke, state-of-the-art rotating table for fluid mechanics experiments. Heinrich Georg UK designed, manufactured and delivered the rig in the Aquarium facility of the Scottish Oceans Institute. Can't wait to play with it!!!
Phys. Rev. Fluids Journal Club
June 2025Phys. Rev. Fluids Journal Club
I'm now an Early Career Board Member for Physical Review Fluids. I'm part of the committee organising the monthly journal club, along with Sofía Angriman (Twente), Georgios Rigas (Imperial), and Lin Fu (Hong Kong). We highlight papers very recently published in PRF, and facilite discussion with authors. Info about past events (with recordings) and registration for future events is available here: https://journals.aps.org/journal-club
International Conference on Geophysical and Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics (ICGAFD)
March 2025International Conference on Geophysical and Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics (ICGAFD)
Jean Reinaud, Xavier Carton, David Dritschel and I are organizing a conference in Plouzané (Brittany, France) on 23-25 June 2025.
Our goal is to gather scholars interested in nonlinear geophysical and astrophysical fluid dynamics. Focus is on vortex dynamics, nonlinear waves, turbulence, mostly in rotating stratified fluids. Results based on theory, numerical modelling or laboratory experiments are welcome.
Closing date for abstracts: Friday 28th March 2025
The topoboloid team
Spinlab's visit
February 2025Spinlab's visit
After IPAM’s rotating turbulence workshop in January, I remained in Los Angeles for a four-week collaborative research project at Spinlab, UCLA, working with Jon Aurnou, his PhD student Cy David, and postdoc Rémy Monville. The newly formed Topoboloid (topography+paraboloid) team ran lab experiments on turbulent, rapidly-rotating convection interacting with a localised topography. During my visit, the rotating table hit 72 revolutions per minute, the egg prices reached $11 for a dozen, and thermometers hit 30 ̊C in mid-February. Not sure which of these figures is the most impressive!
PhD Studentship available
November 2024PhD Studentship available
As part of my FLF, I'm looking for applicants for a PhD studentship for a start in September 2025.
I strongly encourage all interested candidates to make their interest known as soon as possible by contacting me (d.lemasquerier@st-andrews.ac.uk) to discuss the project!
Closing date: Friday 31st January 2024
Review on Eddy-driven Zonal Jet Flows in the Laboratory
December 2024Review on Eddy-driven Zonal Jet Flows in the Laboratory
Our review paper on zonal jets in laboratory experiments is published in Comptes Rendus de Physique de l'Académie des Sciences.
This article is part of the Special Issues "Geophysical and astrophysical fluid dynamics in the laboratory", edited by Stephan Fauve and Michael Le Bars. Check out the other experimental review papers here!
Postdoctoral position
September 2024Postdoctoral position
As part of my FLF, I'm looking to hire a a 2 yr-postdoctoral researcher to work on the ocean dynamics of icy moons.
Details are available here: https://www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/3285/0/437344/889/post-doctoral-research-associate-ar3041sb
Closing date: Wednesday 25th September 2024
If you're interested, please get in touch to discuss the position!
UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship
July 2024UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship
I was awarded a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (£1.4M) for my project "Fluid Dynamics of Deep Interiors in the Outer Solar System". This long-term, flexible fellowship, will fund the first 4 years of the project (renewable for 3 years), provide me protected time to concentrate solely on research, and a team of two post-doctoral researchers and 3 PhD students.
New research partnership between St Andrews and NERC’s National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS)
June 2024New research partnership between St Andrews and NERC’s National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS)
NCAS-St Andrews research will focus on using state-of-the-art digital tools to understand better how the atmosphere and climate work, and how they might change into the future. On the St Andrews side, the partnership is a joint initiative between the School of Mathematics and Statistics (led by David Dritschel) and the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences (led by Mike Byrne). The partnership will be led by Dr Ioana Colfescu, an NCAS scientist now based at St Andrews and currently sitting in Maths. Later this summer we will begin recruiting research fellows and PhD students to join the team.
Royal Society Research Grant
March 2024Royal Society Research Grant
I was awarded a Royal Society Research Grant (£66,592) to develop further my experimental model of Rossby wave-mean flow interactions. The funds will be used to purchase state-of-the-art visualisation equipment for particle image velocimetry and consumables. The goal is to obtain proof-of-concept results for larger funding applications, and, in the longer term, to develop experimental geophysical fluid mechanics in St Andrews, complementing the existing numerical and theoretical expertise.
- website: Webpage for Research Grants
Our paper about the influence of tidal heating on Europa's ocean circulation is published in AGU Advances
December 2023Our paper about the influence of tidal heating on Europa's ocean circulation is published in AGU Advances
We analyze the effect of large scale inhomogeneous heating at the seafloor on tubulent rotating convection in a spherical shell. We show that latitudinal variations should be largely preserved up to the ice-ocean boundary. Longitudinal variations could be transfered too if large-scale thermal winds are able to develop, but this depends on the boundary conditions with the parameters of our simulations.
Carnegie Research Incentive Grant
June 2023Carnegie Research Incentive Grant
I was awarded a Research Incentive Grant by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland. This seed-corn funding will allow me to develop experimental fluids mechanics at St Andrews and build a preliminary experimental set-up in the Scottish Oceans Institute to investigate Rossby wave-mean flow interactions. This project is done in collaboration with Alan Cuthbertson and Peter Davies from the University of Dundee, and Richard Scott from St Andrews.
- website: Webpage for RIG
A week of outreach in schools of La Réunion
November 2022A week of outreach in schools of La Réunion
For the "Fête de la Science", I participated to the outreach activities organized by the association "Physique Outremer" and "Les amis de l'Université" in La Réunion, a French overseas department in the Indian ocean, where I grew up!
Our paper about zonal jets properties in the zonotrophic regime is published in Icarus
October 2022Our paper about zonal jets properties in the zonotrophic regime is published in Icarus
We analyze in depth the properties of the jets in Regime II, identified in the JFM to be relevant to gas giants. We complement the experimental data with quasi-geostrophic simulations.
Position at the University of St Andrews
September 2022Position at the University of St Andrews
I'm delighted to announce that I am now a Lecturer in Fluid Dynamics within the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. I'm joining the Applied Mathematics division and the Vortex Dynamics group, exciting times ahead!
APS Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award
September 2022APS Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award
Truly honored to be the 2022 recipient of the Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award in Fluid Dynamics of the American Physical Society!
AGU Turcotte Award
September 2022AGU Turcotte Award
I received the 2022 Donald L. Turcotte Award from the Nonlinear Geophysics session of AGU. A big thank to Michael Le Bars who nominated me and to all the people that supported me in my work!
L'Oréal-UNESCO International Rising Talents award
June 2022L'Oréal-UNESCO International Rising Talents award
After the national (French) L'Oreal-UNESCO Young Talents award, I was selected for the International Rising Talents award of the For Women In Science program. Wonderful news and wonderful support for my research!
Recording of my seminar at UTIG
Seminar at UTIG
April 2022Seminar at UTIG
For my postdoc I joined the Polar and Planetary team at UTIG (University of Texas Institute of Geophysics)
LM-BdR et Var-09_10_2021-16.pdfArticle in "La Marseillaise"
October 2021Article in "La Marseillaise"
"Provence Terre de Sciences", article written by Xavier Boivinet
I obtained my PhD degree in Physics, Mechanics and Engineering (Physics of Fluids) from Aix-Marseille University!
October 2021I obtained my PhD degree in Physics, Mechanics and Engineering (Physics of Fluids) from Aix-Marseille University!
L'Oréal UNESCO prize For Women in Science - Rising Talent (France)
October 2021 L'Oréal UNESCO prize For Women in Science - Rising Talent (France)
I am very pleased to announce that I received the Fondation l'Oréal-UNESCO prize "For Women in Science" (category Rising Talents, France), for my research on the fluid dynamics of Jupiter.
A huge thank to all the people - scientists, family and friends - who contributed to this research, encouraged me, and supported me!
We made the cover of Journal of Fluid Mechanics, volume 910
March 2021We made the cover of Journal of Fluid Mechanics, volume 910
Our paper about experimental zonal jets regimes is published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics
January 2021Our paper about experimental zonal jets regimes is published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics
"Zonal jets at the laboratory scale: hysteresis and Rossby waves resonance", by D. Lemasquerier, B. Favier and M. Le Bars.
PLS #519 is out!
January 2021PLS #519 is out!
It contains an article about floating vortices, written by my supervisors, Benjamin Favier and Michael Le Bars, and I.
Our Gallery of Fluid Motion paper is published in PRF
November 2020Our Gallery of Fluid Motion paper is published in PRF
"Gas giant-like zonal jets in the laboratory", by D. Lemasquerier, B. Favier and M. Le Bars.
Article in The Conversation -France
July 2020Article in The Conversation -France
Broad audience article about reproducing features of Jupiter's dynamics in laboratory experiments.
Our paper about floating vortices is published in Nature Physics
March 2020Our paper about floating vortices is published in Nature Physics
"Remote determination of the shape of Jupiter's vortices from laboratory experiments" by D. Lemasquerier, G. Facchini, B. Favier and M. Le Bars.
doi: 10.1038/s41567-020-0833-9
Video by Zeste de Science (CNRS)
November 2019Video by Zeste de Science (CNRS)
Vulgarization video about our experimental setup to reproduce zonal jets.
Milton Van Dyke award for our poster at the Gallery of Fluid Motion (APS DFD, Seattle)
November 2019Milton Van Dyke award for our poster at the Gallery of Fluid Motion (APS DFD, Seattle)
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