UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Marilyn Raphael, professor of geography at UCLA, will discuss the role of Antarctic sea ice in the global climate system at the annual E. Willard Miller Endowed Lecture at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, April 14.
The presentation will take place in 112 Walker Building on the University Park campus and will be broadcast over Zoom. The lecture will be preceded by a catered reception beginning at 2:30 p.m. in 319 Walker Building. Events are free and open to the public.
Raphael's research focuses on how Antarctic sea ice and the atmosphere interact in an effort to predict climate change at different timescales, from seasonal to decadal. Her research findings have implications that extend beyond the climate of Antarctica, encompassing global climate change as well as society’s response.
“Antarctic Sea ice is a critically important component of our climate system,” Raphael said. “It is at once habitat for penguins, a moderator of the largescale atmospheric circulation and an influence on the global thermohaline circulation.”
Raphael explores how these components of the atmospheric circulation exert their influence on different regions of sea ice and how the sea ice might be expected to change as the atmospheric circulation changes. She also examines the recent extremes in Antarctic sea ice and the supporting role that these atmospheric circulation mechanisms played in initiating and supporting them.
Raphael serves as the director of UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She holds leadership positions in various organizations including president of the American Association of Geographers, chair of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research's expert group, Antarctic Sea-ice Processes and Climate and co-chair of the World Climate Research Programme's Polar Climate Predictability Initiative.
Raphael earned her bachelor’s degree in geography from McMaster University in Canada and her master’s and doctoral degrees in geography from the Ohio State University.
The Department of Geography Miller Lecture Series is designed to bring eminent geographers to Penn State and is a gift to the department from the late E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller. E. W. Miller was a professor of geography, department head, and associate dean emeritus in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.