The ocean absorbs more than 90% of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases, making ocean dynamics—particularly ocean turbulence—key in controlling the rate of climate warming. Yet, this turbulence is poorly represented in climate models, leading to large uncertainties in climate projections.

I address this challenge by developing theories that explain observed ocean turbulence and leveraging our theoretical understanding to incorporate the impacts of unrepresented turbulence into climate models.

Research Areas
Turbulence theory for the upper ocean

Observations show that the kinetic energy spectrum of upper ocean turbulence not only deviates from theoretical predictions but also exhibits a strong seasonal cycle. I have extended turbulence theory to explain this behavior and am developing a theory to address the consequences of the seasonal cycle on ocean dynamics.
Ocean turbulence in climate models

Climate models use high numerical viscosities to maintain stability, reducing the ocean’s energy and making it behave more like maple syrup than water. By re-injecting this lost energy, my research aims to restore the ocean’s natural variability, reducing biases and improving climate projections.
Waves and wave-turbulence interaction

I have worked on a broad range of wave-related problems. These projects include studying how wave-turbulence interactions give rise to banded flow structures, material transport by waves, and the mathematical properties of waves with dynamically active boundaries.