Channing Prend

I am a fifth year Ph.D. student in physical oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. My undergraduate degree is in earth science and mathematics from Columbia University. I study the exchange of heat and carbon dioxide between the ocean and atmosphere, which regulates the global climate system. I use measurements from autonomous robotic floats, as well as satellite data and numerical models, to research how ocean circulation contributes to patterns of biological productivity and carbon uptake in the Southern Ocean, which surrounds Antarctica. This region plays an outsized role in the global ocean circulation and carbon cycle, and thus, studying these processes is crucial to improving climate models and future climate projections. My motivation in coming to graduate school was to conduct societally-relevant research and communicate that science to the broader public, so I’m honored to be recognized by an organization like ARCS that has helped advance STEM in the US for decades.