Our work is supported by federal government agencies, including the National Science Foundation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Current Projects
2022—2022
WHOI Future Leaders for Ocean, Climate and Society (WHOI FLOCS) at COP27
Funder: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ($110K)
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Description: This project provides the opportunity for 10 MIT/WHOI Joint Program graduate students interested in ocean science and its role in global climate policy to attend the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The project provides support for their travel and on-site professional development activities.
2022—2024
Coastal Flooding—When, Where, Why?
Funder: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ($98K)
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Description: This project will explore nuisance flooding and floods due to major coastal storms in Massachusetts through a historical analysis of coastal floods, develop neighborhood flood-watch networks, and collect new flood data. Outcomes will include better understanding of flooding, relationships between communities and scientists, and infrastructure supporting citizen science.
2022—2023
A Low-Cost Ultrasonic Sensor for Monitoring Coastal Flooding and Sea Level
Funder: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ($100K)
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Description: This project will develop a low-cost ultrasonic sensor to monitor coastal flooding and water level, to be deployed along the Massachusetts coastline. The sensors will be robust to the elements, low in cost, and highly visible, situated in public spaces around different communities, leading to more equitable solutions and catalyzing collaborations between scientists, engineers, marine operations, and community stakeholders.
2021—2027
Collaborative Research: FOCUS: Florida Current and Sea Level
Funder: National Science Foundation ($561K)
Role: Co-Principal Investigator/Institutional Principal Investigator
Description: This project uses measurements of velocity, pressure, and sound to investigate the relationship between sea-level changes along coastal Florida and variations in Gulf Stream flow between Florida and The Bahamas. Results should help explain reasons for`sunny-day’ flooding in Florida and perhaps elsewhere along the coastal United States.
2021—2025
30-Year Satellite-Altimeter Record of Regional Sea-Level Change: Statistical Properties, Atmospheric Forcing, and Ocean Response
Funder: National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($440K)
Role: Co-Investigator/Institutional Principal Investigator
Description: This project uses ocean models and satellite data from the Sentinel-6A/Michael Freilich altimetry mission to identify the influences of natural variability and human influence on sea-level changes observed over the global ocean during the past ~30 years. Results will inform how much observations of past changes provide clues onto future sea-level rise in the coming decades.
2020—2024
Contributions to Coastal Sea-Level Extremes: Understanding the Past and Projecting the Future
Funder: National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($1,506K)
Role: Principal Investigator
Description: This project uses a variety of instrumental observations and numerical models to study the relative roles of the tides, storm surges, and mean sea-level changes in contributing to observed high-tide flooding events observed along the United States coast. Results will not only illuminate past extreme events, but also give probabilistic projections of future sea-level extreme statistics at coastal United States locations for the period 2020-2050.
2021—2023
Collaborative Research: How Robust Are Common-Era Sea Level Reconstructions?
Funder: National Science Foundation ($283K)
Role: Principal Investigator
Description: This project uses field data and computing modeling to investigate the factors controlling global sea-level change during the past ~2,000 years. Results will help scientists better understand the causes of past sea-level changes and will help provide planners with better models for projecting future sea-level changes.
2020—2024
Studies of Ocean Circulation, Sea Level and Climate Using Space Gravity Measurements
Funder: National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($217K)
Role: Co-Investigator/Institutional Principal Investigator
Description: This project uses ocean-mass data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission and its Follow-On (GRACE-FO) to study ocean dynamics on periods from months to decades. Results will shed new light on sea level and circulation changes in the context of the global climate system.
2020—2024
Attributions of Past Regional Sea Level Variations and Projection of Future Sea Level Changes
Funder: National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($184K)
Role: Co-Investigator/Institutional Principal Investigator
Description: This project uses advanced ocean modeling tools to identify the physical processes responsible for regional sea-level changes observed over the global ocean during the past ~30 years. Results will represent a novel physics-based approach to predicting future sea-level rise in this century.
Past Projects
2019—2021
Salt Marshes to Satellites—Synthesizing Proxy and Instrumental Records to Infer Multidecadal- to Centennial-Scale Sea-Level Variation over the Late Holocene
Funder: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ($65K)
Role: Principal Investigator
2019—2021
Geothermal Flux and its Influence on Climate
Funder: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ($98K)
Role: Principal Investigator
2019—2019
The Blind Men and the Elephant—Synthesizing Theories of Subpolar Atlantic Decadal Variability
Funder: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ($63K)
Role: Principal Investigator
2018—2018
Between the Devil and the Deep-Blue Sea: Toward Comprehensive Multivariate Projections of Future Coastal Exposure and Compound Flood Risk
Funder: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ($60K)
Role: Principal Investigator
2018—2021
Participation in the Consortium for Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO)
Funder: National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($82K)
Role: Co-Investigator/Institutional Principal Investigator
2016—2021
Collaborative Research: Understanding Multidecadal Changes in the Instrumental Mean Sea Level Record
Funder: National Science Foundation ($302K)
Role: Principal Investigator
2016—2020
Studies of the Ocean Circulation and Climate Using Gravity Data, in Combination With Other Data and Ocean Models
Funder: National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($824K)
Role: Co-Investigator
2016—2019
Optimizing the Spatial Scale of Regional Sea Level Indicators
Funder: National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($333K)
Role: Co-Investigator
2015—2018
Understanding Mechanisms of Project Twenty-First Century Ocean Warming Around Greenland
Funder: National Science Foundation ($450K)
Role: Co-Investigator
2014—2017
Data and Forcing Integration For Improved Estimation of Spatial Sea Level Patterns and Their Uncertainty, With Extended Diagnostics For Closed Budget Analysis
Funder: National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($471K)
Role: Co-Investigator