Marine Heatwaves With Physical Oceanographer Dr. Svenja Ryan

On Tuesday, September 5th at 7pm* the Museum presents Marine Heatwaves with Dr. Svenja Ryan, physical oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

In her talk, Dr. Ryan will introduce Marine Heatwaves, i.e., how we define and detect ocean temperature extreme events, what are common physical drivers, and what impacts these extreme events can have on the ecosystems and our society. In addition, she will discuss the strong ocean warming that we have been experiencing in the recent decade in Cape Cod waters, the Gulf of Maine, and Mid-Atlantic coastline. Considering the record-breaking global ocean temperatures over the past few months, and recent flooding events in New England, Dr. Ryan will finish with some remarks on the role of climate change in these events.

Svenja received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in ‘Climate Physics’ in Kiel, Germany and pursued her PhD in Bremerhaven, Germany where she studied warm water transport toward one of the largest Antarctic Ice Shelves. As part of her PhD research, she went on three research expeditions on the German icebreaker RV Polarstern to Antarctica. In 2019, Svenja came to the U.S. to work at WHOI and lives on the Cape with her husband and young son.