I am a climate scientist and critical physical geographer who conducts interdisciplinary research combining physical and social sciences. My research areas include sea level rise, climate modeling, climate justice, ice sheet dynamics, climate attribution, and corporate accountability for industrial polluters. I am passionate about using science in service of local and global communities by working with community organizers and providing scientific support for climate litigation, including on cases at the International Court of Justice and International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. I am currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Mount Holyoke College in the Department of Geology and Geography. I also serve on the American Association of Geographers Climate Action Committee.
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A large room in with a huge inflatable Earth. In front is a woman seated holding a microphone and there is a projector over her head.
Teaching on Climate Change and Queer Resilience at the Boston Museum of Science Pride Celebration, 2024. Photo © Ashley McCabe
From 2022-2024 I was the Hitz Fellow for Litigation-Relevant Climate Science at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). I worked as a member of the UCS Climate Resilience and Corporate Accountability campaigns and within the Science Hub for Climate Litigation. My research  assessed how emissions traced to products produced by the Carbon Majors have led to rising temperatures and sea levels. I am grateful to have worked with my research partner Meghana Ranganathan, external collaborators Zeb Nicholls and Alex Nauels, and my UCS mentors Delta Merner, Rachel Licker, Kristy Dahl, and Brenda Ekwurzel on this project.

​In summer 2022 I completed my PhD in Geosciences in the Department of Earth, Geographic and Climate Sciences at UMass Amherst. My PhD research looked at the global climate impacts of Antarctic Ice Sheet instability and the climate injustices of sea level rise. My dissertation, entitled "The Global Impact of the Antarctic Ice Sheet in a Warming World: Using Numerical Modeling and Critical Physical Geography to Assess Climate Change, Sea Level Rise, and Climate Justice" available through UMass Amherst. My dissertation committee members were Robert DeConto, Regine Spector, Eve Vogel, Alan Condron, Dave Pollard, and Ambarish Karmalkar. ​For more information on my research please visit my research page. 
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Prior to my PhD I obtained an M.S in Applied Mathematics during which time I worked on projects modeling solitons and vorticies in Bose Einstein condensates under the direction of Panos Kevrekidis and modeling the spread of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever in Thailand under the direction of Markos Katsoulakis. My undergraduate degrees are a B.S in Astronomy/Astrophysics and a B.S in Physics. During undergrad I developed a love of scientific research while researching photometric redshift values for distant galaxies with Min Yun, processing data for the LIGO gravitational wave observatory with Laura Cadonati, and doing my thesis work on spectroscopic evidence for OVI emission from nearby star forming galaxies with Todd Tripp.  
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Teaching on Climate Change and Queer Resilience at the Boston Museum of Science Pride Celebration, 2024. Photo © Ashley McCabe
When I was in graduate school Karen Romano Young created a profile of me for her project "I was a kid" which showcases the career paths of diverse scientists. Check out the artwork and interview clips to learn how I navigated ableism, nonlinear career trajectories, and being a first generation student.

For another grad school era interview see my profile on Meet the Scientist at Time Scavengers.

Updates

New research published March 18, 2025

My postdoctoral research, conducted as the Hitz Fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists, is now published in Environmental Research Letters. Additional materials for this work include a press release, fact sheet, and blog summary. 

Publication on sea level rise, the Paris Agreement, and Climate Justice

The second chapter of my dissertation has been published in Earth's Future! The paper is open access so please read and share. You can find the press release from UMass Amherst here.

New preprint on Sea Level Rise and Climate Justice​

Another 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.
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Publication on the Paris Agreement and Sea Level Rise

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. 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.

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.

Publication on Antarctica's impact on global climate

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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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 Sadai, Cassie DePietro, Dom Mei, and our amazing advisor Panos Kevrekidis.