​​Our group is currently looking for new members. If you would like to pursue
​research with us at an Honours, Master's or PhD level please contact Eric Oliver.

​​​Assistant Professor Eric Oliver

​Department of Oceanography (and Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science as Adjunct), Dalhousie University. Contact: [email protected]

Eric's current research is focused on variability and extremes in the climate system. For more information see his research page.

​Dr Emma Harrison

Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Contact: [email protected]

​Emma is interested in decolonizing methodologies and research justice as science praxis. Her current work supports community-engaged monitoring of changes in the coastal marine environment of Nunatsiavut, in northern Labrador. She is developing collaborative projects with Inuit community members that focus on climate change impacts in Nunatsiavut. Emma is a founding member of the Center for Interdisciplinary Environmental Justice, an organization that works for decolonial environmental justice and non-extractive climate change solutions (the-ciej.org and @Decolonize4Climate).

Claire Boteler

PhD student in Statistics, Dalhousie University. Supervised by Prof Mike Dowd. Contact: [email protected]

Claire is investigating the carbon inventory in the North Atlantic Ocean, and attempting to describe its spatio-temporal variability, including the concentration of ocean carbon, air-sea flux and transports in the region.

Breanna Bishop

PhD student, Interdisciplinary PhD Program, Dalhousie University. Co-supervised with Dr. Claudio Aporta. Contact: [email protected]

Breanna's research explores how Labrador Inuit describe indicators of oceanographic and climatological variables, including seasonality and change, and the underlying ontological approach to the generation and application of such knowledge. She hopes to identify where western scientific approaches to oceanographic and climatological phenomena can align with Inuit knowledge to generate locally relevant information for climate change planning in Nunatsiavut.

May Wang

MSc student, Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University. Contact: [email protected]

May's research involves looking at temporal and spatial variations in sea ice along coastal Labrador. She is interested in knowing what kind of changes are happening (i.e. sea ice concentration, rate of ice formation) and what factors are driving these changes (i.e. sea surface temperature, air temperature, currents).

Past members

Dr Christoph Renkl

Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University. Contact: [email protected]

Christoph's primary research interests are climate variability and interactions across temporal/spatial scales and across sub-systems of the climate. He is interested in combining observations with statistical and numerical models to improve our understanding of the climate system including questions of predictability and long-term trends. He is worked on downscaling future projections of the ocean circulation in the northwest Atlantic.

Benjamin Richaud

PhD student in Oceanography, Dalhousie University. Co-supervised with Prof Katja Fennel. Contact: ​[email protected]

Benjamin is interested in the carbonate properties (DIC and Alkalinity) in the Arctic Ocean. In particular, he is looking at how to parametrize the impact of sea ice on the carbon cycle in numerical models, and the variability of biogeochemical properties.

Taylor Davies

MSc student, Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University. Contact: [email protected]

Taylor is studying the dynamics of the Labrador Current system off the Labrador coast and shelf using a diverse set of observations as well as statistical and dynamical modelling tools. Previous she worked on ocean circulation and watermass properties off northern Nunatsiavut (Labrador) from glider and drifter observations.​ She is interested in learning more about using different mathematical models to predict ocean state variables, especially in the context of climate change. 

Rebekah Cavanagh

MSc student, Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University. Contact: [email protected]

Rebekah's area of research is the variability and predictability of winter storms in general, or more specifically extratropical cyclones which include European windstorms. I’m interested in seasonal/interannual variability and predictors of these storm tracks. 

Jonathan Coyne

MSc student, Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University. Contact: [email protected]

Jonathan's research is focused on historical sea surface temperature trends and variability in the Northwest Atlantic. He is interested in statistical methods for determining long-term trends and variability as well as physical models used to explain variations in sea surface temperature.

Dr Xianmin Hu

Research Associate, Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University. Contact: [email protected]

Xianmin is interested in studying the ocean and climate dynamics using numerical models, notably conducting process studies and exploring the mechanisms of observed and future potential changes in the ocean. He is particularly interested in the freshwater related processes in the polar oceans​

Dr Sofia Darmaraki

Postdoctoral Fellow, Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response (MEOPAR) Network, Dalhousie University. Contact: [email protected], Twitter: @Sofia_Darmaraki

Sofia's research interests explore the occurrence of climate & ocean extremes on regional to global scales, through the understanding of their underlying mechanisms, as well as the assessment of uncertainties in their future evolution. She is also interested in their impacts on marine ecosystems and on possible solutions for their mitigation through interdisciplinary collaborations. She is investigated the dominant physical drivers of marine heatwaves globally, their spatial patterns, future evolution, and impacts on fisheries.

Dr Robert Schlegel

Postdoctoral Fellow, Ocean Frontier Institute, Dalhousie University & Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Co-supervised with Dr Ke Chen. Contact: [email protected]

Robert predominantly focuses on marine heatwaves; their patterns/trends in occurrence and what their physical drivers may be. He also spend a good amount of time maintaining the R code used for detecting marine heatwaves and the web application used for tracking marine heatwaves globally. He also moonlights as a kelp ecologist.

Dr Siren Rühs

Postdoctoral Fellow, Ocean Frontier Institute, Dalhousie University & GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research. Co-supervised with Dr Arne Biastoch. Contact: [email protected]

Siren studied the physical drivers of Northwest Atlantic uptake and export of trace gases, using physical oceanographic and marine biogeochemical models.

Fernando Sobral

Fernando analysed observations ad ocean models to understand historical variability, predictability and drivers of physical ocean variations and sea-ice along coastal Labrador.

​​Dr Eva Cougnon

​Postdoctoral Fellow, National Environmental Science Programme & ​Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania. Co-supervised with A/Prof Neil Holbrook. Contact: [email protected]

Eva's postdoctoral research examined the predictability of ocean temperature extremes on decadal time scales.

Zijie (William) Zhao

Honours in Marine and Antarctic Science, ​Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania & Ocean University of China. Co-supervised with A/Prof Neil Holbrook. Contact: [email protected]

Zijie's Honours research examined variability and predictability of marine heatwaves off eastern Tasmania using the hi-res ETAS ocean model. Previously, as a summer project, Zijie worked on the role of the Madden-Julian Oscillation in the onset of Costa Rican mid-summer droughts. Zijie is currently a PhD student in the School of Earth Science, University of Melbourne.

Andika Putra

Master of Marine and Antarctic Science, ​Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania. Co-supervised with A/Prof Neil Holbrook. Contact: [email protected]

Andika's research focussed on investigating the circulation variability along southeast Tasmania and its relationship with ENSO & SAM.

Roohi Ghelani

Undergraduate Summer Student, ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science & Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania. Co-supervised with A/Prof Neil Holbrook. Contact: [email protected]

Roohi studied the joint role of the Madden-Julian Oscillation and ENSO in driving intraseasonal rainfall variability in tropical Australia.