UAlbany Scientist Garners National Science Foundation CAREER Award for Study of Oceans

UAlbany researcher Brian Rose will examine the role of oceans in the planetary energy cycles following a $544,681 grant through the National Science Foundation's Faculty CAREER Development Program.

ALBANY, N.Y. (July 15, 2015) -- University at Albany scientist Brian Rose has been awarded $544,681 through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Development (CAREER) Program. Rose, an assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences at UAlbany, will utilize the support to examine the role of oceans in the planetary energy cycles.

Rose and his research team will study ocean heat fluxes as independent climate forcings. Their goal is to better understand how and why the planetary energy budget varies in response to oceanic processes on a variety of time scales. The project will also investigate the role of ocean heat fluxes in maintaining a "super-greenhouse" effect in past warm climates.

"The oceans store and transport vast amounts of heat," said Rose. "Patterns of sea surface heating and cooling evolve in time due to natural climate variability, transient heat uptake under global warming, and dynamic shifts in ocean heat transport. The impact of these variations on climate are largely indirect, occurring through poorly-understood changes in atmospheric processes such as water vapor transport and cloud formation that determine the radiation balance between Earth and space. Our project will broadly investigate the fundamental effects of ocean heat fluxes on the atmosphere and the climate system."

Assistant Professor of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences Brian Rose (Photo Mark Schmidt)

A major aspect of the project includes the mentoring of a new generation of climate scientists, including a Ph.D. student and several undergraduates. Rose will also develop an innovative open-source software toolkit for climate modeling, and a suite of interactive educational modules leveraging this toolkit and illustrating fundamentals of climate science. These will be used in both graduate and undergraduate courses at UAlbany.

"Rose’s prestigious CAREER award is very exciting and is a significant contribution to the strong climate program that we have been developing in DAES in recent years," said Professor Chris Thorncroft, chair of DAES.

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization. Such activities should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of integrated contributions to research and education. NSF encourages submission of CAREER proposals from junior faculty members at all CAREER-eligible organizations and especially encourages women, members of underrepresented minority groups, and persons with disabilities to apply.

Rose came to UAlbany in 2013 as a full-time faculty hire under the University’s NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant. The goal was to recruit faculty in cutting-edge fields to support UAlbany’s growing academic footprint, and demonstrate the benefits for students from the increased number of faculty and staff, expanded course and research offerings, and a reduced student‐faculty ratio. He is the second researcher in as many years from UAlbany's Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences to receive the prestigious CAREER award through NSF.

In March 2014, Assistant Professor Justin Minder received a CAREER award to study the role of snow-albedo feedback in regional climate change over mountainous terrain. The grant also funded a summer weather/climate science camp for local urban high school students, which will be held in August.

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