Ocean Dynamics @ St Andrews

About Us

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The Ocean Dynamics group at the University of St Andrews studies the ocean from the beautiful coastal town of St Andrews, in Scotland. We're based in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and participate as part of COASt (Climate, Oceans, and Atmosphere @ St Andrews). You can find lots of technical info about our group on our wiki page, or scroll on to learn more about our research, team members, and recent news!

Our Research

Physical and biogeochemical dynamics of the polar oceans

Explorations of processes shaping polar ocean circulation, mixing, and tracer transformation from mesoscale to microscale.

Ocean predictability and change

Quantifying predictability across time scales and diagnosing ocean responses to climate forcing and variability.

Climate dynamics and the oceans

Interactions between the global climate system and ocean circulation, heat and carbon uptake, and feedbacks.

People

Meet the researchers behind our work.

Graeme MacGilchrist

Group Lead

Caroline Gjelstrup

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Nelson Poumaëre

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Maddie Shankle

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Xintong Iris Liang

Graduate Student

Andrew Chingos

Graduate Student

Freya Gibbon

Graduate Student

Aoife Ní Bhuachalla

Graduate Student

Rose Gallichan

Undergraduate Researcher

Alumni

Alex Example

University of Somewhere

Jamie Taylor

Ocean Institute

Priya Kumar

Climate Lab

Luca Rossi

Marine Research Centre

Mei Chen

Polar Studies Group

News

Publications

Here are some recent publications from members of the group:

• Water Mass Transformation Budgets in Finite‐Volume Generalized Vertical Coordinate Ocean Models — Henri F. Drake, Shanice Bailey, Raphael Dussin, Stephen M. Griffies, John Krasting, Graeme MacGilchrist, Geoffrey Stanley, Jan‐Erik Tesdal, Jan D. Zika. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems. 2025. DOI: 10.1029/2024ms004383.
• The GFDL‐CM4X Climate Model Hierarchy, Part II: Case Studies — Stephen M. Griffies, Alistair Adcroft, Rebecca L. Beadling, Mitchell Bushuk, Chiung‐Yin Chang, Henri F. Drake, Raphael Dussin, Robert W. Hallberg, William J. Hurlin, Hemant Khatri, John P. Krasting, Matthew Lobo, Graeme A. MacGilchrist, Brandon G. Reichl, Aakash Sane, Olga Sergienko, Maike Sonnewald, Jacob M. Steinberg, Jan‐Erik Tesdal, Matthew Thomas, Katherine E. Turner, Marshall L. Ward, Michael Winton, Niki Zadeh, Laure Zanna, Rong Zhang, Wenda Zhang, Ming Zhao. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems. 2025. DOI: 10.1029/2024ms004862.
• The GFDL‐CM4X Climate Model Hierarchy, Part I: Model Description and Thermal Properties — Stephen M. Griffies, Alistair Adcroft, Rebecca L. Beadling, Mitchell Bushuk, Chiung‐Yin Chang, Henri F. Drake, Raphael Dussin, Robert W. Hallberg, William J. Hurlin, Hemant Khatri, John P. Krasting, Matthew Lobo, Graeme A. MacGilchrist, Brandon G. Reichl, Aakash Sane, Olga Sergienko, Maike Sonnewald, Jacob M. Steinberg, Jan‐Erik Tesdal, Matthew Thomas, Katherine E. Turner, Marshall L. Ward, Michael Winton, Niki Zadeh, Laure Zanna, Rong Zhang, Wenda Zhang, Ming Zhao. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems. 2025. DOI: 10.1029/2024ms004861.
• Ross Gyre variability modulates oceanic heat supply toward the West Antarctic continental shelf — Channing J. Prend, Graeme A. MacGilchrist, Georgy E. Manucharyan, Rachel Q. Pang, Ruth Moorman, Andrew F. Thompson, Stephen M. Griffies, Matthew R. Mazloff, Lynne D. Talley, Sarah T. Gille. Communications Earth & Environment. 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s43247-024-01207-y.
• Revisiting Interior Water Mass Responses to Surface Forcing Changes and the Subsequent Effects on Overturning in the Southern Ocean — Jan‐Erik Tesdal, Graeme A. MacGilchrist, Rebecca L. Beadling, Stephen M. Griffies, John P. Krasting, Paul J. Durack. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. 2023. DOI: 10.1029/2022jc019105.
• Potential Predictability of the Spring Bloom in the Southern Ocean Sea Ice Zone — Benjamin Buchovecky, Graeme A. MacGilchrist, Mitchell Bushuk, F. Alexander Haumann, Thomas L. Frölicher, Natacha Le Grix, John Dunne. Geophysical Research Letters. 2023. DOI: 10.1029/2023gl105139.
• Enhanced subglacial discharge from Antarctica during meltwater pulse 1A — Tao Li, Laura F. Robinson, Graeme A. MacGilchrist, Tianyu Chen, Joseph A. Stewart, Andrea Burke, Maoyu Wang, Gaojun Li, Jun Chen, James W. B. Rae. Nature Communications. 2023. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42974-0.
• Demons in the North Atlantic: Variability of Deep Ocean Ventilation — G. A. MacGilchrist, H. L. Johnson, C. Lique, D. P. Marshall. Geophysical Research Letters. 2021. DOI: 10.1029/2020gl092340.
• Locations and Mechanisms of Ocean Ventilation in the High-Latitude North Atlantic in an Eddy-Permitting Ocean Model — Graeme A. MacGilchrist, Helen L. Johnson, David P. Marshall, Camille Lique, Matthew Thomas, Laura C. Jackson, Richard A. Wood. Journal of Climate. 2020. DOI: 10.1175/jcli-d-20-0191.1.
• Reframing the carbon cycle of the subpolar Southern Ocean — Graeme A. MacGilchrist, Alberto C. Naveira Garabato, Peter J. Brown, Loïc Jullion, Sheldon Bacon, Dorothee C. E. Bakker, Mario Hoppema, Michael P. Meredith, Sinhué Torres-Valdés. Science Advances. 2019. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav6410.

Updated 2026-06-15T09:31:57.980218Z

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