Current Research
My current research is reconstructing sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the Western Arabian Sea to investigate past monsoon variation. I am using the Mg/Ca paleotemperature proxy on the foraminifera species G. ruber and G. bulloides to reconstruct annual and summer monsoon season SSTs respectively. Additionally, I am investigating hemispheric controls on the monsoon in the Western Arabian Sea from ice core records. Stay tuned for results soon!
Background
I studied Environmental Geoscience for my undergraduate degree at University of Edinburgh from 2015-2019. The thing I love most about my degree was the fieldtrips and opportunity to travel and explore whilst learning. I was lucky to travel to Jamaica, Lake District and Oban for field work and carried out a 6-week research internship at the University of Tokyo.
For my undergraduate dissertation I investigated the impact of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) induced tropospheric anomalies on the ENSO-Indian Monsoon relationship:
The strength of the negative correlation which exists between the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian summer monsoon rainfall shows strong variations on decadal timescales. The magnitude of the negative correlation has decreased in the last quarter of the 20th century. While some studies attribute this to anthropogenic climate change and others to natural shifts in the state of climate, there is also the argument that the monsoon rainfall signal can be expressed as a stochastically perturbed ENSO signal. In this study it is shown that the ENSO-monsoon relationship appears to be modulated by ENSO induced tropospheric temperature anomalies. Prior to 1980 the tropospheric temperature meridional gradient caused by ENSO over the Indian monsoon region was stronger, exerting a greater impact on the monsoon rainfall than post 1980, explaining the decreased correlation value after this period. This change in ENSO induced tropospheric anomalies is also shown in geopotential height, zonal and meridional winds data. The impact of ENSO on tropospheric anomalies is not uniform across the monsoon season, with each month displaying different behaviour to the others both before and after 1980.
Personal
I am a keen traveller and love to experience new cultures. When not at university I will most probably be found in a sports centre where I work part-time as a swimming teacher and lifeguard. I really enjoy working with kids and it is extremely rewarding to teach them a life skill. I hope to transfer my communication skills with children in a teaching environment into scientific communication outreach on oceans and climate change.
Header photo: Exploring the Rockie Mountains in Whistler, Canada.
