Damon Matthews (Professor and Concordia University Research Chair in Climate Science and Sustainability) My research revolves around the use of Earth system climate models as a tool to investigate human influences on the climate system, and to estimate the cumulative emissions associated with different climate mitigation targets. I am also interested in better quantifying how climate impacts scale with total greenhouse gas emissions, and developing new ways to measure historical national contributions to and responsibility for climate warming. See also my Concordia Faculty page or download my CV.
Lawrence Mysak (Honourary CSIM Lab member and Canada Steamship Lines Emeritus Professor in the Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at McGill University) I am interested in the development and application of Earth system models of intermediate complexity to better understand decadal and longer term climate variability and change. I have also investigated various paleoclimate phenomena and conducted statistical analyses of climate data.
McGill Faculty profile.
McGill Faculty profile.
Donny Seto (Lecturer and CSIM Lab Manager) My research interests and expertise include analyzing the carbon footprint of cities, sustainable urban development, impact assessment, and conducting GIS-based analyses of the interaction between climate changes and fossil fuel reserves. I also teach courses in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment related to Urban Representation, Impact Assessment, Data Collection, Management and Analysis, Cartography, and GIS.
Maida Hadziosmanovic (Ph.D Student). My research focuses on corporate contributions to climate change in the form of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as company activity pathways within the framework of a 2-degree global carbon budget. I analyze reported greenhouse gas emissions, specifically carbon dioxide for the 2015 fiscal year. I aim to provide sector activity pathways following the 2-degree carbon budget which fundamentally assumes serious and immediate climate change mitigation action by companies. I am also interested in issues related to (the lack of) reporting and regulation of corporate emissions and other matters of transparency. For further information please see www.linkedin.com/in/maida-hadzi
Daniel Horen Greenford (Ph.D. Student). I am interested in policy solutions to facilitate emissions reductions necessary to avert dangerous climate change. My thesis study will use an intermediate complexity climate model to derive an empirical estimate of the relative effect of different greenhouse gases (GHG) and aerosols emissions on climate, which I will then apply to the calculation of national contributions to climate change. Other interests include the climate impact of energy technologies such as electrical utility infrastructure and the role of innovation on the rate of market proliferation of renewable energy technologies and competition affects between renewables and conventional utilities.
Travis Moore (Ph.D. Student). I am very passionate about the atmosphere and meteorological phenomena, particularly with respect to severe to extreme weather events. My research interests broadly lie in examining the extent to which a warmer global (and regional) climate may affect the frequency and intensity of various weather extremes, as well as apply statistical methods that could potentially better quantify trends. For my PhD research, I am interested in statistically analyzing annual global and regional extreme precipitation data from a suite of models participating in the Climate Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). This project aims to quantify observed and estimated future trends of extreme precipitation, and other weather extremes, as a function of cumulative carbon emissions. I am also involved in severe weather videography and photography (notably for thunderstorms), and I am active in weather forecasting independently, including preparing seasonal outlooks for Southern Ontario to Southern Quebec. Please feel free to visit my LinkedIn and Facebook pages.
Etienne Guertin (Ph.D Student). I am interested in improving the understanding of the interrelationship between wildfires and climate change at a global scale. I use the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model (UVic ESCM) to model wildfires in the different climate and vegetation regions simulated by the model. In the end, I am interested at knowing whether or not global fire regime will change in the next hundreds of years due to climate change and if that in return will affect climate. I hope that my research will increase the scientific understanding of the mechanisms that lead to wildfires and help policy makers and forest managers adapt in advance to the changing global fire regime.
Alex MacIsaac (M.Sc. Student). I am focusing on global temperature change as it relates to short- and long-lived climate pollutants. My research uses a simple climate metric to quantify the contribution to warming from non-carbon dioxide emission rates. Furthermore, I am interested in simple representations of atmospheric chemistry and how their use in climate models of intermediate complexity can enhance experiments that consider the full suite of greenhouse gases. Together with these interests, I aim to provide an easy-to-understand method for explaining non-CO2 warming, so as to enable strong formulation of carbon budgets and policy frameworks.
Mitchell Dickau (M.Sc. Student). I am studying the impacts of climate change on outdoor ice rinks in Montreal. A better understanding of how the outdoor skating season has responded to warmer winter temperatures and increased climate variability will allow for more accurate predictions on the long-term viability of outdoor skating. I believe this research has the potential to be used as an effective tool for climate change awareness and education here in Canada. My other areas of interest include governmental climate change policy, the perception of climate change in the public sphere, and the uneven distribution of the costs of climate change and environmental degradation.
Samantha Mailhot (M.Sc. Student).I am studying ecological economics and environmental psychology in the hopes of understanding public opinion and value placed on economic growth rather than the environment. My research involves in-depth analysis of degrowth; a critique of the ecological consequences of economic growth, and a call to extract, produce and consume both less and differently, while also reducing exploitation and global inequality. While critiquing growth and other growth-oriented scenarios (e.g. green growth), I plan to address the social barriers to degrowth and contribute to policy formation and implementation aimed at critical shifts to sustainable lifestyles. I also worked as a research assistant in the CSIM lab for two years prior to beginning my masters, evaluating emissions data for energy use, transportation, food production and consumption, while determining their impacts on the climate clock projections (a communication tool found at https://climateclock.net/).
Miles Barette Duckworth (M.Sc. Student).My research investigates the potential for carbon sequestration through chemical weathering of gravel on gravel roads. With our changing climate, negative emissions strategies need to be explored, as reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide
levels is necessary to avoid the major impacts of climate change. As gravel roads represent an unintentional form of enhanced weathering, my research seeks to investigate whether gravel roads contribute meaningfully to the reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels over short timescales. My other areas of interest are; food politics, freshwater fish biology, river geomorphology, and web-based programming. For more about me, please visit my linkedin profile.
levels is necessary to avoid the major impacts of climate change. As gravel roads represent an unintentional form of enhanced weathering, my research seeks to investigate whether gravel roads contribute meaningfully to the reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels over short timescales. My other areas of interest are; food politics, freshwater fish biology, river geomorphology, and web-based programming. For more about me, please visit my linkedin profile.
CSIM Alumni and graduates
- Nadine Mengis (Post-Doctoral Researcher): Calculating carbon budgets for ambitious climate mitigation targets and quantifying the uncertainty arising from model parameters
- Yann Chavaillaz (Post-Doctoral Researcher): Risk of abrupt climate changes resulting from cumulative emissions and their effect on the intensity, the duration and the frequency of extreme events
- Antti-Ilari Partanen (Post-Doctoral Researcher): Aerosols emissions as pollutant and as factor in climate forcing; the impact of GHG type on the relationship between cumulative carbon emissions and climate change; estimating carbon budgets for ambitious climate targets
- Jean-Sébastien Landry (Post-Doctoral Researcher): Modelling fire and other disturbances in the climate system
- Martin Leduc (Post-Doctoral Researcher): Regional estimates of the transient climate response to cumulative CO2 emissions
- Christopher Simmons (Post Doctoral Researcher & Ph.D.): Carbon cycle dynamics since the last glacial maximum
- Marc-Olivier Brault (Ph.D.): Modelling the effect of continental weathering on ocean carbon cycling over the last glacial cycle
- Tanya Graham (M.Sc.): GIS analysis to assess the impact of CO2 emissions and the resulting climate changes across terrestrial mammal habitat ranges
- Trevor Smith (M.Sc.): Climate change impacts on wine growing in Quebec
- Loukia Papadopoulos (M.Sc.): Criteria for successful implementation of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions
- Daniel Horen Greenford (M.Sc.): Equitable allocation of emissions embodied in international trade
- Sophie Gauvreau (M.Sc. Student). Phenology changes due to climate warming, with a focus on the timing of spring pollination in Silver Maple.
- Cassandra Lamontagne (M.Sc.): Local observations of environmental change and climate change impacts in Gitga'at First Nation
- Travis Moore (M.Sc.): Extreme weather events due to global mean temperature increases
- Marc-Olivier Brault (M.Sc.): Effect of Pleistocene megafauna on early Holocene climate
- Nikolay Damyanov (M.Sc.): Effect of winter warming on outdoor skating in Canada
- Andrew Pinsonneault (M.Sc.) Effect of ocean acidification on the marine carbonate cycle
- Karen Paquin (M.Sc): Potential for carbon sequestration in boreal forest woodlots
- Andrew Ross (M.Sc.): Probabilistic assessment of the rate of future climate change
- Alex Matveev (M.Sc.): Evaluating the land use change carbon flux and its impact on climate
- Samantha Mailhot (Honours): Climate clock as a tool for effective climate science communication
- Tanya Graham (Honours): Impact of climate change on primate populations
- Trevor Smith (Honours): Metrics for comparing the climate effect of different greenhouse gases
- Serge Keverian (Honours): Regional attribution of carbon emissions and climate change
- Kelly Nugent (Honours): Drivers of North American continental runoff and implications for ocean circulation
- Andrew Pinsonneault (Honours): Climate model reliability in simulating enhanced forest productivity resulting from CO2 fertilization
- Andrew Ross (Honours): Impact of geoengineering on the rate of climate warming.
- Brogan Stewart (Undergraduate Honours Student): Potential loss of primate habitat on a global-scale from future climate change
