Spencer A. Hill Associate Research Scholar Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University

Welcome! I am a climate scientist interested in tropical overturning circulations (monsoons, Hadley cells, and the Intertropical Convergence Zone a.k.a. the ITCZ). Specifically:

• Why they exist
• Why they aren't bigger or smaller, farther poleward or equatorward
• How they ebb and flow over the course of each year
• How well we can predict their variations from year to year
• How those year-to-year variations affect agricultural and economic outcomes
• How they may have changed in Earth's history
• How they may change in Earth's future
• How they behave in other planetary atmospheres.

Please see my Publications page for more.

I work in the Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Princeton University. I also hold an adjunct position at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, where I collaborate with Michela Biasutti on a project investigating the role of energy transports by tropical transient disturbances in setting the location of the ITCZ.

I also co-lead the "DIYnamics" project that seeks to improve the teaching of meteorology, climate science, and other planetary-scale sciences at the K-12 through graduate school levels by developing inexpensive, easy-to-use kits for performing physical demonstrations of core scientific concepts. Please the DIYnamics website and YouTube channel for more.

I am also interested in developing software tools for scientists in the Python programming language. Please see my aospy package and Resources page for more.

Finally, I am also interested in the connections between weather and climate science on the one hand with music, literature, poetry, and other forms of human expression on the other hand. I tweet about this from my account @spencerahill using the hashtag #CliSciHiFi.

Please contact me (information below) with any questions about my research or anything else you find on this site. Thanks!

---

spencerh@princeton.edu | NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory | 201 Forrestal Road | Princeton, NJ 08540

shill@ldeo.columbia.edu | 207B Oceanography | Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory | 61 Route 9W | Palisades, NY 10964