Shiv Priyam Raghuraman

Research Statement: How Earth gains and loses energy is key to its habitability because perturbations to the planetary radiation balance alters the entire climate system. Clouds, aerosols, greenhouse gases, land, ocean, and ice, all interact with radiation. Therefore, changes in these constituents manifest as radiative changes at the top-of-the-atmosphere observable from space. We now not only have continuous satellite observations, but also climate models that represent the Earth system better than ever before. My research program takes full advantage of this unprecedented and timely opportunity to provide physical mechanisms and theories that explain how these radiative changes cause Earth to accumulate heat. Clouds are central to Earth’s heat budget as they cover two-thirds of the planet. My research not only provides a process-based understanding of how radiation responds to clouds, but also how clouds respond to surface warming, leading to a holistic understanding of the feedback loop. 

Brief bio: I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Climate, Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences (CliMAS) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Prior to joining UIUC in 2024, I was briefly a postdoc at the University of Miami. I was a postdoc in the Advanced Study Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research from 2021-2023. I completed my PhD in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences in 2021 at Princeton University. I completed my B.S. in Mathematics and a minor in Physics in 2016 from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.