Welcome
Earth's climate system is characterized by complicated and fascinating interactions between physical, chemical, and biological processes. My current research ambitions lie in understanding processes that govern cryosphere-climate interaction and feedback. These processes range from the physics of snow melt, to atmospheric transport and processing of aerosols, large-scale energy transport, snow-vegetation interaction, and radiative transfer in the atmosphere and cryosphere. I strive to study these interactions using a combination of numerical modeling, remote sensing observations, and experimental studies.
Students interested in researching these and related topics are welcome to contact me about potential graduate studies.
Group News
January, 2013 — Mark is one of 31 co-authors of a 4-year international study bounding the role of black carbon in climate. The study, published in JGR, concludes that black carbon exerts a substantially stronger warming effect on climate than quantified in the IPCC (2007) report. Media coverage:
June, 2012 — Mark lectures on aerosol-cryosphere-climate interactions at the Alpine Summer School in Valsavarenche, Italy. Lecture slides are available through the website.
June, 2012 — Alex accepts a professorship in the Geography Department at Clark University, starting September 2012.
February 16, 2012 — On invitation from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Mark visits the State Department to attend the announcement of a new U.S.-led Initiative on Climate Change and Clean Air, targeted at reducing short-lived pollutants that adversely affect both climate and health.
New York Times coverage of initiative
January, 2012 — Chaoyi and Justin visit Joe McConnell's Trace Chemistry Laboratory at the Desert Research Institute to assist with the analysis of an Arctic ice core
Fall 2011 — Mark is a lead author on two reports published about climate effects of black carbon:
- Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Tropospheric Ozone (2011), published by the United Nations Environmental Programme and the World Meteorological Organization. See the Summary for Decision Makers or the Full Report
- The Impact of Black Carbon on Arctic Climate (2011), published by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP). Full report
May, 2011 — Alex's Nature article on the mass balance of Canadian Arctic glaciers is featured on the cover of the May 19 issue:
- University of Michigan press release, Apr. 20
- Radio interview on the CBC's "Quirks and Quarks" program, Apr. 23
- Vancouver Sun story, Apr. 20
March, 2011 — Mark's Nature Geoscience article on cryosphere radiative forcing and albedo feedback is featured on the cover of the March issue:
