November 2021 new preprint on Sea Level Rise and Climate Justice
The second chapter of my dissertation is now available as a preprint here. It was written with the guidance, support, and collaboration of Drs. Regine Spector, Robert DeConto, and Natalya Gomez. This paper reviews and synthesizes the climate justice implications of temperature targets in light of our increasing understanding of the spatially variable impact and long temporal commitment to rising seas. In particular we highlight the impact that SLR will have on island states and the role of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in UN climate negotiations. As a case study we review dual impacts from the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) under a changing climate: 1) recent climate and ice sheet modeling shows that Antarctic melt has the potential to cause rapid SLR with a distinct spatial pattern leading to AOSIS nations experiencing SLR at least 11% higher than the global average and up to 33% higher; and 2) future ice sheet melt will result in a negative feedback on GMST, thus delaying temperature rise. When considering these impacts in conjunction, justice concerns associated with the Paris Agreement are exacerbated. This case study demonstrates that mitigation policies should consider climate impacts in addition to GMST, particularly sea level rise.
May 2021 new paper out on the Paris Agreement and Sea Level Rise
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I am thrilled to be among the authors of this new paper on future sea level rise commitments under the Paris Agreement. It was published in Nature by an incredible team of researchers led by Dr. Rob DeConto. I have written explanations of the results for the general public which can be found on Instagram and Twitter. The press release can be found here and an explainer can be found on Carbon Brief. There has also be some great news coverage in Gizmodo, National Geographic, Inside Climate News, New York Times, Axios, the Guardian, and more.
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Distinguished Teaching Award
I am very excited to have won the Distinguished Teaching Award from UMass Amherst! This award was for my work developing and teaching a course for freshman about the climate crisis, as well as co-facilitating a graduate seminar on DEI work in geosciences, geography, and environmental science. See the press release here and my announcement here.
September 2020 new paper out on freshwater forcing
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The first chapter of my PhD, entitled "Future climate response to Antarctic Ice Sheet melt caused by anthropogenic warming" was just published in Science Advances. This paper was co-authored with my advisors Drs Condron, DeConto, and Pollard. The paper is open access and can be read here. Related content can be found at the following links:
Here is the press release from UMass Amherst. Coverage of our paper and another recent Antarctic paper by Garbe et al can be read in Science News here. A series of posts breaking down the paper geared toward a general audience can be found on Instagram. The first part breaks down the importance of Antarctica, the second discusses how climate and ice sheet modeling work, and the third goes through the main results of the paper. A Twitter thread discussing the main results for a climate specialist audience is here. |
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About
Hi, I am Shaina Sadai (formerly Rogstad). I am a Ph.D Candidate at UMass Amherst in the Department of Geosciences. My research, working with my advisors Dr. Alan Condron, Dr. Robert DeConto, Dr. Regine Spector, and Dr. Eve Vogel focuses on predicting changes in global climate resulting from Antarctic Ice Sheet instability. For more information on this project please visit my research page and check out my interview with Time Scavengers. Subsequent chapters of my dissertation look at feedbacks between global climate and ice sheet stability, and the climate justice implications of these modeling results.
I did my undergraduate work at UMass Amherst and graduated with a B.S in Astronomy/Astrophysics and a B.S in Physics. During the course of my time there I worked on several research projects including a technique for developing photometric redshift values for distant galaxies with Dr. Min Yun, data processing for the LIGO gravitational wave observatory with Dr. Laura Cadonati, and my thesis work on spectroscopic evidence for OVI emission from nearby star forming galaxies with Dr. Todd Tripp.
From there I went on to obtain an M.S in Applied Mathematics and worked on projects modeling solitons and vorticies in Bose Einstein condensates under the direction of Dr. Panos Kevrekidis and modeling the spread of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever in Thailand under the direction of Dr. Markos Katsoulakis.
I did my undergraduate work at UMass Amherst and graduated with a B.S in Astronomy/Astrophysics and a B.S in Physics. During the course of my time there I worked on several research projects including a technique for developing photometric redshift values for distant galaxies with Dr. Min Yun, data processing for the LIGO gravitational wave observatory with Dr. Laura Cadonati, and my thesis work on spectroscopic evidence for OVI emission from nearby star forming galaxies with Dr. Todd Tripp.
From there I went on to obtain an M.S in Applied Mathematics and worked on projects modeling solitons and vorticies in Bose Einstein condensates under the direction of Dr. Panos Kevrekidis and modeling the spread of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever in Thailand under the direction of Dr. Markos Katsoulakis.
This image is of our team during the first year of the Applied Mathematics masters program at UMass Amherst . In this picture I had just finished giving our presentation on how we modeled Solitons and Vorticies in Bose Einstein Condensates. You can see some images from the talk showcasing out modeling work in the background. Pictured here are (left to right) Wenlong Wang, Orhan Akal, Chris Rocheleau, Cortney Tilley, Matt Brown, Shaina Rogstad, Cassie DePietro, Dom Mei, and our amazing advisor Panos Kevrekidis.