Houghton Lecture – Group Discussion with Dave Thompson, CSU: How I Choose My Research Problems

Featuring David Thompson, Colorado State University — 

Abstract:
This final talk in the Houghton series will include a group discussion of different ways to identify and explore key research questions using observational data. For me, the process is driven largely by curiosity. I will present a few recent examples from my students’ research that highlight the insights that can be gained from relatively simple observational analyses of the global-mean surface temperature record, the growth rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and malaria incidence in West Africa. Students will then be invited to show a slide or two from their own work and to discuss the process that led them to that line of inquiry and where they plan to take it next.

About this year’s Houghton Lecturer:
David Thompson is a professor in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University and in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, UK. His research focuses on the physical processes that govern large-scale climate variability and change, with an emphasis on analyzing and diagnosing the observed climate system. His work has examined the dynamics of extratropical climate variability, the role of the atmospheric circulation in climate change, the imprint of stratospheric ozone depletion on surface climate, the role of the stratosphere in climate variability, and atmosphere–ocean coupling.

Houghton Lecture Series

Supported by the Houghton Fund, Houghton Lecturers are distinguished visitors from outside MIT, invited by the EAPS Program in Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate (PAOC) to spend a period of time, ranging from a week to several months, as scientists-in-residence.

Contact: kbauer@mit.edu