Samantha Rae Michlowitz
Graduate Student | Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences | North Carolina State University
2022 – 2023 Global Change Fellow
Statement of purpose:
After an undergrad internship led me to work with cold wakes of hurricanes in the Atlantic basin, I became very interested in air-sea interactions and hurricanes affecting the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. My graduate advisor, Dr. Sarah Larson, work with air-sea interactions and climate piqued my interest. After multiple zoom chats, I knew we could work well together and find something very interesting and meshed both of our ideas.
Description of research:
I am working with the CESM2 climate model to understand hurricane fueling variables, such as sea surface temperatures, ocean heat content, wind stress, and others. The fully coupled and mechanically decoupled CESM2 models are used to determine the trends of these variables after the period of the Industrial Revolution. With a warming climate, there is added heat into the ocean and atmosphere. It is imperative to determine how the ocean will redistribute this added heat through ocean circulations and how this may impact the atmospheric fluxes and patterns. With this work, the goal is to be able to better understand how hurricanes will interact with a warming climate, and how hurricanes will impact coastal regions in the future.
Contact Information:
Email: srmichlo@ncsu.edu
Faculty Advisor:
Sarah Larson (Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, NCSU)