Columbia University, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Fellowship Sponsor: American Geophysical Union
Fellowship Site: National Geographic
@alealebee
I grew up surfing and sailing, sitting for hours watching swells wrap into bays and tracking weather systems as they spiraled up the coast. Only much later did I realize that all those hours of observations were basically a training course in observational earth science, the time when I learned how to look carefully at weather patterns and winds and coastal geology, and to start to understand how the climate system works on both short and long timescales. My PhD research at Columbia University focuses on tracking changes in the large-scale atmospheric circulation systems of the Southern Hemisphere in the past, when the planet was much colder than it is today. Understanding how and why those circulation systems change can help us understand the complexity and sensitivity of the climate system, so that we can better predict how it will respond in the future. Before I started my PhD, I finished an MS in Journalism (also at Columbia), where I focused on science writing and video production.
Fellowship publications at National Geographic
6/13/2018 Why Rescued Kangaroo Joeys Need Handmade Pouches
6/15/2018 How Surfing Helped These Scientists Make Waves
6/18/2018 Rare Manta Ray Nursery Discovered
6/21/2018 This Summer Solstice, Earth's Days Are Longer Than Ever
6/27/2018 Coldest Place on Earth Found—Here's How
6/28/2018 How an Artist Puts Clouds and Rainbows in Unlikely Places
7/02/2018 Koalas Eat Toxic Leaves to Survive—Now Scientists Know How
7/10/2018 Why the Grass Is Always Greener at Wimbledon
7/10/2018 36-Year Climate Change Record Found in Cycle Racing Footage
7/11/2018 This Glacier Just Spit Out An Iceberg the Size Of Lower Manhattan
7/16/2018 Traces of Lost Society Found in 'Pristine' Cloud Forest
7/16/2018 The Internet Is Drowning
7/18/2018 See How the Kilauea Eruption Is–Literally–Reshaping Hawaii
7/30/2018 How Explorers Sleep in Extreme Spots
7/31/2018 Are Europe's Historic Fires Caused By Climate Change?
8/07/2018 Norse Greenlanders Dominated Ivory Trade, Walrus DNA Shows
8/09/2018 We Know West Antarctica Is Melting. Is the East In Danger, Too?
8/10/2018 Italy's Olive Trees Are Dying. Can They Be Saved?
8/14/2018 In Peru, Kidney Failure Is On The Rise. No One Knows Why.
8/15/2018 Hawaii Enlists Urchins to Help Corals Resist Algae Invasion