The Physics of Oceans and Atmospheres (POA) research discipline contains two core subdisciplines: Physical oceanography and atmospheric sciences.
Teaching and Research Faculty
Andrea Allan, Jack Barth, Jesse Cusack, Simon de Szoeke, Edward Dever, Melanie Fewings, Jonathan Fram, Amrapalli Garanaik, Jessica Garwood, Jennifer Hutchings, Andrea Jenney, Mike Kosro, Jim Lerczak, Ricardo Matano, Phil Mote, Jonathan Nash, Larry O'Neill, Tuba Özkan-Haller, Brodie Pearson, David Rupp, Roger Samelson, Andreas Schmittner, Kipp Shearman, Karen Shell, Emily Shroyer, Nick Siler, Eric Skyllingstad, Yvette Spitz, Justin Wettstein, Greg Wilson, Ed Zaron, Seth Zippel
POA Email Lists
Go to CEOAS Email Lists and search for "poa" using Ctrl-F (Windows, Linux, Chrome OS), ⌘-F (Mac), or tap (upload) then Find on Page (phone or tablet).
Physics of Oceans and Atmospheres Seminar Series
Tuesdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Burt 193 and on Zoom
Spring Term 2026
Information will be updated as it becomes available.
If you would like to present, are hosting a visitor, know someone who might be interested, or have speaker suggestions, please contact Jihun Jung who is organizing this term's POA seminars. Also welcome are suggestions for non-OSU visiting speakers. POA discipline seminar funds are available to provide partial travel support for external visitors if needed.
- April 14 – Christo Buizert (OSU CEOAS)
Title: The ocean heat valve: AMOC and planetary energy budget during abrupt glacial climate change
Abstract: During the Ice Ages, abrupt climate changes co-occurred with switches in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) strength. The thermal bipolar seesaw has served as a seminal conceptual framework to rationalize the global extent of these events, calling on interhemispheric redistribution of heat to explain the observed north-south temperature pattern. Here we summarize an emerging alternative framework centered instead on the global ocean heat content (OHC) and planetary energy budget, which we illustrate using simulations of spontaneous abrupt climate change in three climate models. In all models, deep convection associated with AMOC overturning sets the OHC trend via the rate of North Atlantic heat loss, coupled to the top-of-the-atmosphere energy budget through radiative feedbacks. Antarctic and Greenland temperatures, as recorded in ice cores, are shown to reflect OHC and the rate of North-Atlantic heat loss, respectively. Under intermediate glacial climate states, global ocean heat uptake cannot reach steady-state with the bimodal rate of North Atlantic heat loss causing instability. Our synthesis suggests that the AMOC serves as a heat valve that alters planetary temperature by changing the radiative balance. This implies amplified planetary heat uptake in response to projected future AMOC weakening.
- April 21 – Nick Siler
- April 28 – TBD
- May 5 – James Girton
- May 12 – Xavier Prochaska
- May 19 – Kyle Nardi
- May 26 – Inés Leyba
- June 2 – TBD