What’s something you’ve learned from your work? 

My job for the past few months has been to analyze data from an autonomous glider that was on a mission to collect oceanographic data in the Southern Ocean, a historically under-observed region. This glider was deployed by an international team including researchers at Brown and Caltech. I have been working to highlight interesting features and identify scientific phenomena that might explain the patterns we’ve observed. As I head into my senior year, I’ll be taking that information and using it to update and revise models of Southern Ocean dynamics. I’ve learned a lot about the process of oceanographic data collection using sensors and robots, as well as the mechanics behind ocean processes. Take the formation and behavior of eddies, for example. This work has so many broader implications; it has the potential to impact how people in the region interact with the ocean and how we approach climate change mitigation. Right now, though, my primary contribution is knowledge gathering.

What do you hope to do after you graduate?

In the long term, I’d like to have a career where I can dedicate my APMA-CS skillset to climate-related causes; I intend to pursue a PhD in Applied Mathematics with a climate-focused lens. I see this project and the work I’ll be doing senior year as preparation for that path, in terms of understanding the research process as well as the science. One of my favorite things about my current work is diving into a data set and seeing what information I can gather from it; I find it personally enriching. 

Why DEEPS?

I’ve always cared a lot about climate change; it’s the most pressing global challenge right now. I want to use my growing APMA-CS knowledge to further the understanding of climate change and hopefully benefit real people. DEEPS offered me the opportunity to engage in that kind of work as an undergrad, which was really special. 

–––

The Student Research Stories are a new series of interviews showcasing the research journeys of undergraduate students in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Science (DEEPS). The series is organized and created by DEEPS Communications Assistants Hania Khan and Isabel Tribe.