The Smerdon Climate Lab is excited to welcome a new graduate student and a Lamont Postdoctoral Fellow! Hannah Byrne and Anson Cheung joined Columbia in fall 2023. Hannah has interests in hydroclimate variability and change and will be working on a collaborative NSF project aimed at understanding how variability in surface ocean temperatures, particularly those in the Pacific Ocean, impact drought patterns around the world. Her project will be advised jointly with Richard Seager. Anson is similarly interested in hydroclimate variability, but has an interest in characterizing this variability using paleoclimate information over the last two millennia.
Hannah graduated with a B.A. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard University in 2018. Before commencing her graduate studies, Hannah worked in strategy consulting and agricultural technology that included launching a sustainability program focused in part on the climate impacts of food production and disparities in access to fresh produce. As part of her PhD, she is interested in applying a deeper understanding of climate and climate change to pressing issues surrounding food security.
Anson received his B.S. in Geosciences from the University of Arizona and his Ph.D. in Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences from Brown University. He is a Lamont-Doherty Postdoctoral Fellow and his research focuses on understanding variability of the ocean and the ocean's influence on regional climate and ecosystems using paleoclimate records and climate models.
Welcome Hannah and Anson!