Samantha Stevenson

Samantha Stevenson will be on sabbatical in Fall 2023.

Education

PhD Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder
MA Astronomy, Wesleyan University
BA Mathematics, Western Connecticut State University

Bio

Sam Stevenson's work focuses on the coupled atmosphere/ocean dynamics of the tropical Pacific, its responses to past and future changes in climate, and the implications for drought in arid regions such as the American Southwest. She works extensively with climate model simulations; examples include diagnosing output from 21st century climate projections, creating large 'ensembles' of simulations covering the past millennium, and designing targeted sensitivity experiments to diagnose particular aspects of climate dynamics such as the response of El Nino events to volcanic eruptions. Other research interests include understanding ocean circulation in coral reef environments and its implications for understanding marine proxy records, and the interaction of climate variability and anthropogenic climate change in influencing the severity and persistence of drought events. For these projects, she uses a variety of tools including regional ocean model simulations and field experiments at tropical Pacific island locations. Sam joined the Bren faculty in Fall 2017.