Find out more about who they are and watch their FrostBytes about their research projects below. The FrostBytes are also avaialble to watch directly on Vimeo.
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Helene Asbjørnsen
Helene is a PhD student in physical oceanography at the University of Bergen, focusing on the formation and propagation of ocean heat anomalies toward the Arctic, their interaction with the atmosphere above, and potential influence on continental climate variability. After finishing her master’s thesis on large-scale atmospheric circulation, she worked a winter season at the Jan Mayen meteorological station, before doing an internship at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute working with oil spill trajectory modelling. [View Helene's FrostByte] -
Chris Barrel
Chris is a PhD student studying Arctic Meteorology, in particular cold-air outbreaks. He is looking at case studies of cold-air outbreaks to investigate the success of their representation in model forecasts using the Unified Model. He was recently on a research campaign in the Iceland and Greenland seas to gather further observations. Hs previous academic work includes a BSc in Renewable Energy and an MSc in Climate Change. [View Chris's FrostByte] -
Benjamin Barton
Ben is an Arctic Ocean physics PhD student working on the ocean stratification in the Barents Sea and its interaction with seasonal sea-ice. He has worked with satellite and profile datasets using Python. He completed an MSc in Oceanography at Southampton University before having a few years experience working with met-ocean data in industry. He started his PhD in October 2016 and was based at Bangor University, UK, before moving to LOPS in Brest, France, to continue his studies. [View Ben's FrostByte] -
Yurii Batrak
Yurii graduated from the Russian State Hydrometeorological University (St. Petersburg, Russia) in 2012. In 2014 he started work as a researcher at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (Oslo, Norway) where his research focused on the development, implementation, and improvement of a sea-ice parameterization scheme in the ALADIN-HIRLAM numerical weather prediction system. In 2015 he started his PhD at the University of Helsinki (Helsinki, Finland) looking at the representation of sea-ice in numerical weather predictions. [View Yurii's FrostByte] -
Clara Burgard
Clara is currently investigating alternative comparison approaches to understand biases in large-scale sea-ice simulations as part of her PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany. After growing up in Strasbourg, France, she studied Geophysics and Meteorology in Cologne and wrote a Bachelor thesis about using a Micro-Rain Radar for snow measurements. After a semester at UNIS on Svalbard, she realised she was interested in the bigger picture, including both atmosphere and ocean. She therefore moved to Hamburg to take a the Master's degree in "Integrated Climate System Sciences". There, she found sea ice to represent all her interests: dependent on both atmosphere and ocean, important for the whole climate system, and simply fascinating! [View Clara's FrostByte] -
Fernanda Casagrande
Fernanda is a meteorologist from the Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil. She got both her Masters in Meteorology and a PhD in Earth System Science from the National Institute for Space Research, also in Brazil. She has been working with sea ice modelling using CMIP5 models, focusing on the Brazilian Earth System Model. She started her postdoc last year working with sea-ice changes using CMIP5 data and also collecting in situ data on board the Brazilian Navy Vessel. [View Fernanda's FrostByte] -
Sam Cornish
Sam is a physical oceanographer interested in the Arctic Ocean freshwater system; its controls and future prospects. He’s working for a PhD at the University of Oxford, UK, where he also did his undergraduate in Earth Sciences. In his Master project, he studied the extreme deformation of rocks in Oman. While he have remained in the same place for his PhD, he has moved on to new academic pastures by making the transition from studying hot rocks to cold water and air. [View Sam's FrostByte] -
Ying Dai
Ying received her PhD in meteorology from Peking University, Beijing, China, in July 2017. From August 2017, she began working as a postdoc at the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, in Hamburg, Germany. She used to work on the formation mechanisms and climate impacts of North Pacific teleconnection patterns. Now, her research is focused on seasonal-to-decadal predictability in the Arctic and over the Northern Hemisphere. [View Ying's FrostByte] -
Evelien Dekker
Evelien is working as a Phd on the role of Arctic sea-ice in the climate system at the Meteorological Institute of Stockholm University. She did her Masters in Marine Sciences and Climate Physics at the Institute of Marine and Atmospheric research in Utrecht, Holland. There, she did her master research at the Dutch Meteorological institute. She spends her free time outdoors, snorkelling, bird watching, swimming, and teaching children about marine field ecology. [View Evelien's FrostByte] -
Rebecca Frew
Rebecca is a PhD student at the University of Reading (UK). Rebecca investigates the importance of feedbacks between the sea-ice, atmosphere, and ocean for the Antarctic sea ice cover using a hierarchy of climate models. In particular, she is looking at the how the importance of different feedbacks may vary between different regions of the Southern Ocean. [View Rebecca's FrostByte] -
Ella Gilbert
Ella is an atmospheric scientist with a background in environmental science and atmospheric physics. Her current research concerns the atmosphere and climate of the Antarctic Peninsula, for which she uses climate modelling and in situ data. She is especially interested in the effect of clouds and cloud microphysics on the surface energy budget of Antarctic ice shelves, and specifically on that of Larsen C on the Antarctic Peninsula. [View Ella's FrostByte] -
Martin Hagman
Martin is currently a PhD student at Stockholm University but otherwise works as a Forecaster in the Swedish Armed Forces. His research deals with how the WRF-model represents low clouds in the Polar regions. [View Martin's FrostByte] -
Kasper Hintz
Kasper is an industrial PhD student working on how to use crowd-sourced data in numerical weather predictions. In 2016 he started working in a startup company which manufactures handheld anemometers for smartphones. Six months ago he moved to the Danish Meteorological Institute, where he researches methods to obtain and use pressure observations from smartphones in the Harmonie data assimilation system. His primary focus is on short timescales for improving forecasts of flash floods, convection, etc. [View Kasper's FrostByte] -
Stefan Kowalewski
During his physics studies at the University of Hamburg and the University of Canterbury, Stefan developed a strong interest in atmospheric physics, with special emphasis on radar remote sensing applications. As part of his diploma thesis, he was particularly concerned with microphysical properties in clouds and how these can be exploited to improve radar based precipitation measurements. During his PhD work at the institute of environmental physics [2010-2015], he had the opportunity to conduct research at Spitsbergen, where he set up passive remote sensing measurements to study the vertical dynamic coupling between the lower and middle atmosphere. His recent postdoc position within the glaciology section at AWI [2016-2017] gave him the exciting opportunity to continue his interest in radar remote sensing but also to broaden his field of view to the cryosphere. Stefan’s current research interests cover the surface mass balance of polar ice sheets and the potential contribution of remote sensing and in-situ observations to improve regional climate models. [View Stefan's FrostByte] -
Flo Lemonnier
Flo is PhD student at the Dynamical Meteorology Laboratory (LMD) at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. His PhD aimed at improving the physical parameterization of Antarctic precipitation. He is involved in the development of the LMDz/IPSL climate model and is focusing on the different parameterizations controlling snowfall over Antarctica, such as snowfall speed or cloud-to-snow transition mechanisms. He will validate his simulations against the satellite observations and the Dumont d’Urville field campaign observations to verify if the model precipitates well, all with the aim of making reliable climate predictions. [View Flo's FrostByte] -
Alexander Lohse
Alexander is a postdoc at the mathematics department of the University of Hamburg, Germany. After finishing his phd in 2014 he was a postdoc in Porto, Portugal, and interim junior professor for dynamical systems and differential equations in Hamburg. His research focuses on (equivariant) dynamical systems, and he is particularly interested in non-asymptotic stability properties of complex invariant sets. [View Alexander's FrostByte] -
Mallik Mahmud
Mallik Mahmud completed his BSc in Geography and Environment at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Calgary, Canada. The goal of his doctoral research is to investigate the utility of L-band synthetic aperture radar to monitor Arctic sea ice. He has extensive field work experience in the Arctic. Mallik is collaborating with Environment and Climate Change Canada for his doctoral research that is funded by the Killam Trust and Alberta Innovates. [View Mallik's FrostByte] -
Christine McKenna
Christine is a third year PhD student at the British Antarctic Survey and University of Cambridge, and is interested in understanding how Arctic sea-ice loss influences mid-latitude weather and climate. Before moving to Cambridge she studied for an MSc in Atmosphere, Ocean, and Climate at the University of Reading, and for an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Geography at the University of St Andrews. Being a climate modeller, she's excited to have the chance to actually visit the Arctic and learn more about observations! Aside from academic things, she likes hiking in the mountains, tea-breaks, cooking/baking, and attempting to play the piano. [View Christine's FrostByte] -
Pia Nielsen
Pia received her Masters in physics from the University of Copenhagen in 2015. Since then she has been working in the Remote Sensing Division at the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI). The specific focus has been on ice and sea surface temperatures from in situ observations and satellite measurements. She has been involved in the EU projects EUSTACE, ESA Climate Change Initiative for SST, and ESA FRM4STS. Pia has participated in a field campaign in Qaanaaq 2016 with special focus on in situ measurements of infra-red and microwave temperature emission. [View Pia's FrostByte] -
Jan Nitzbon
Jan is a PhD candidate in physical geography at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Potsdam, Germany. In his PhD project, which he started in January 2017, he is working on an improved representation of small-scale permafrost processes in land surface models. Prior to his PhD studies he received an MSc in physics from the University of Göttingen which focused on the physics of complex systems. His academic interests range from modelling nature-society dynamics on a global scale to the numerical simulation of permafrost landscape dynamics. [View Jan's FrostByte] -
Leandro Ponsoni
Leandro is an oceanography graduate from the University of São Paulo, where he completed his master thesis. He has a PhD from Utrecht University, during which he studied the western boundary current systems of the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans focusing on their temporal variability and their effects on the climate system. In his ongoing research at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Leandro is studying Arctic sea-ice thickness with respect to its spatio-temporal scales and variabilities, as well as predictability. Leandro is also investigating what are the coverage and the frequency at which sea-ice thickness data should be collected in order to achieve/support skilful predictions. [View Leandro's FrostByte] -
Kabir Rasouli
Kabir is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Calgary and University of Saskatchewan-led Global Water Futures program. In his post-doctoral fellowship, he is trying to analyse cryosphere model uncertainty based on fine-scale atmospheric dynamical downscaling and process-based hydrological modelling approaches in alpine areas. He obtained his PhD in physical hydrology from the University of Saskatchewan and Master's degree in atmospheric science from the University of British Columbia in Canada. [View Kabir's FrostByte] -
Patrick Stoll
Patrick started studying general physics during his Bachelors' in Konstanz, Germany. During an internship in New Zealand about atmospheric science he decided to continue with a Masters' in Energy and Climate at the University of Tromsø, Norway. In December 2015 he graduated with the thesis "The impact of Arctic late summer sea ice variability on mid-latitude autumn and winter weather." He continued with a PhD in Tromsø about "Polar Low dynamics" in cooperation with the Norwegian Meteorological institute. The institute provides him access to the numerical weather prediction model that he uses for sensitivity experiments on these small, but intense cyclone. [View Patrick's FrostByte] -
Jenny Turton
Jenny is currently a post doc researcher at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (also called Friedrich Alexander University). She is working on a three-year project called GROCE, and is focused on the atmosphere-ice interactions of the 79 north glacier in Greenland. Previously she completed her PhD at the British Antarctic Survey and the University of Leeds, where she studied föhn winds over the Antarctic Peninsula and their impact on the Larsen C ice shelf. During her PhD she also formed part of the committee of the UK Polar Network (UK branch of APECS), where her role was the Head of Education and Outreach. She completed her BSc and MRes at the University of Lancaster between 2009 and 2013. [View Jenny's FrostByte] -
Alexander Vessey
Alec graduated from Swansea University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Geography. Across all of the topics in Physical Geography, meteorology fascinated him the most, and he decided to undertake a Master of Science Degree in Applied Meteorology at the University of Reading. He really enjoyed the MSc Applied Meteorology course, and wanted to learn more about the subject. So he decided to progress onto a PhD program at the University of Reading. His PhD project is titled 'Quantifying Arctic Storm Risk in a Changing Climate'. [View Alec's FrostByte] -
James Warner
James is currently studying for a PhD, looking at how Arctic sea-ice interacts with the weather on seasonal timescales. From his background in meteorology he has an interest in all things weather and has been involved in the subject for most of his life. [View James's FrostByte] -
Sally Woodhouse
Sally completed an undergraduate degree in physics and although she enjoyed the problem solving she wanted to study something more tangible that she felt was more applicable to everyday life. This led her to a masters in atmosphere ocean and climate which she thoroughly enjoyed. She was more interested in large scale climate dynamics during this course and when she saw her PhD topic advertised she thought it was ideal as it combined these interests with a general interest in the poles (perhaps a subconscious desire to be Lyra from His Dark Materials). On a broader scope she's interested in climate change, climate change policy, and how we can communicate science to politicians and the general public. [View Sally's FrostByte] -
Cheng You
Cheng is a PhD student in the department of meteorology, Stockholm University. His Bachelor degree is from the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST) and his MPhil Degree is from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). His current research is mainly about the transport of warm air from southerly latitudes into the Arctic. The heat itself is of course important, but there are also other effects, such as the local effects from changes in static stability, in clouds and in winds, which happens as the air masses transform from the mild mid-latitudes to the cooler Arctic. Starting with direct observations and working with analyses of weather patterns, trajectories, satellite observations and models, his research is expected to improve our an understanding of these processes and their time scales, following air from south to north. [View Cheng's FrostByte] -
Lorenzo Zampieri
Lorenzo is an Italian first-year PhD student at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (Germany), where he is part of the BMBF junior research group “Seamless Sea Ice Predictions” (SSIP). His academic background consists of a bachelor in Physics, achieved at the University of Padova, and a Master in Environmental Physics that he completed in 2017 at the University of Bremen. His current task is the development of the AWI Climate Model sea-ice component in a sea-ice prediction context. Specifically, he is exploring the thermodynamics of sea-ice parametrizations to identify the key processes that could lead to better skill for Arctic sea-ice predictions. Additionally, he is interested in verification techniques for probabilistic sea-ice forecasts. [View Lorenzo's FrostByte]