Overview
Our research on fluid dynamics focuses on turbulent stratified flows and their influence on coastal and global ocean circulation. We combine Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) together with laboratory experiments to better understand these physics and link them to large-scale ocean and climate cycles.
Specific problems studied in our lab include turbulent mixing, internal waves, ocean submesoscale instabilities, convection, particle transport in marine environments, biological-physical interactions, and the hydrodynamics of vegetated coastal ecosystems.
We particularly focus on processes that influence global ocean cycles. One project focuses on the energy cycle of the ocean Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) and the relative roles of wind, surface buoyancy forcing, and turbulent mixing. Another focuses on the aggregation and transport of “marine snow” particles in upper ocean turbulence, an important process influencing carbon flux to the deep ocean.
Projects
Gravity Currents and Internal Waves
Energetics of the Ocean Meridional Overturning Circulation
Particle Dynamics in the Ocean
Buoyant Plumes
