People

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.

Donny Seto (Lecturer and CSIM Lab Manager)
My research interests and expertise include analyzing the carbon footprint of cities, 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 planning and GIS.

Yann Chavaillaz (Post-Doctoral Researcher). I have recently completed a PhD thesis in climate sciences focused on the pace of future climate change and its implications for the perception climate changes, and I have a strong interest in finding new ways to communicate and share climate data with end-users. I am now involved as a post-doctoral fellow at Concordia University in collaboration with the Ouranos consortium (www.ouranos.ca). My current work consists of assessing the risk of abrupt climate changes resulting from cumulative emissions and their effect on the intensity, the duration and the frequency of extreme events. The project aims to create new tools for providers of climate services to meet the different challenges of local and national policy-makers and private companies regarding climate change.

Nadine Mengis (Post-Doctoral Researcher). I am calculating carbon budgets for ambitious climate mitigation targets and quantifying the uncertainty within these estimates that arise from uncertain model parameters. During my PhD, I was working towards a fair assessment of Climate Engineering and introduced an indicator selection method, allowing for a comprehensive and comparative assessment of such measures. Overall, I am motivated by an aim to advance communication on model uncertainty specifically, and science results in general. https://nadinemengis.wixsite.com/home

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). My PhD project focusses on observed and expected weather extremes as a results of cumulative CO2 emissions.

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.

Sophie Gauvreau (M.Sc. Student). My M.Sc. research is on the topic of phenology changes due to climate warming, with a focus on the timing of spring pollination in Silver Maple.

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.

Brogan Stewart (Undergraduate Honours Student). As CO2 emissions increase and global temperatures continue to rise, this greatly affects the habitable regions for non-human primates species. My research determines the potential fraction of each primate species range that will remain as suitable habitat for survival. If the rate of climate change continues as it is, or accelerates, a significant proportion of species may not be able to adapt in time to survive. Depending on the primates range size, vulnerability and geographic location, some species will be more affected than others. It is crucial to research the potential loss of future primate habitat on a global-scale in order to help protect and conserve these animals.

Mitchell Dickau (Undergraduate Honours 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.

CSIM Alumni and graduates

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
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.