Tim Woollings

Regional weather and climate patterns around the globe are shaped by dynamical circulation features such as the atmospheric jet streams. Predicting how these features will vary over the coming years is a critical challenge for atmospheric dynamics and climate modelling. Our current work spans from the tropical monsoons to the rapidly warming polar regions, and from individual weather regimes such as heatwaves up to multidecadal variability and climate change. New students could work on a wide range of related topics, such as fundamental understanding of atmospheric dynamics, improving seasonal to decadal climate predictions, and investigating how features such as the jets are responding to climate change. A project would likely include a mix of theoretical considerations, analysis of observational data and performing experiments with simple and/or complex climate models. I often work collaboratively with others, for example scientists at the UK Met Office as the Oxford Joint Chair of the Met Office Academic Partnership.

Qualifications and Experience

Ten years experience as a lecturer and tutor on topics including geophysical fluid dynamics and undergraduate physics, and has supervised six PhD students through to completion.