Uma Bhatt

DepartmentOrganizationEmailPhoneFairbanks , AlaskaUnited StatesBioAlso Director of the UAF/NOAA Cooperative Institute for Alaska Research (CIFAR)

Dr. Uma Bhatt majored in Mechanical Engineering as an undergraduate and then she joined the U.S. Peace Corps and served as a high school math teacher in Kenya for two years (1983-85). The dramatic drought in East Africa during this time and the amazing atmospheric phenomena she experienced at the rural secondary school made her decide to pursue a graduate degree in Atmospheric Sciences. Dr. Bhatt proudly claims this to be one of the best decisions she has ever made! Dr. Bhatts research specialty is "Climate Variability", and she has studied tropical climate for my M.S. and midlatitude air-sea interactions for her Ph.D. (and postdoc). For the past decade, her work has focused on Arctic climate as a faculty member at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The majority of Dr. Bhatts recent research has been interdisciplinary, collaborating with oceanographers, glaciologists, and biologists. This research employs both models and observations and viewing the Arctic as a whole, thereby helping to better understand how various components of the climate system interact.

Interests

Sea Ice

Science Specialties

Arctic climate variability, climate modeling, terrestrial ecosystems, sea ice

Current Research

-Role of sea ice in climate variability.-Links between climate and arctic tundra vegetation changes-Climate down-scaling in Alaska