Prior to starting his DPhil, Alex completed an undergraduate degree in geography at Keble College (2013-2016) and went on to attend the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, spending four years serving as an officer in the Yorkshire Regiment. He returned to academia in 2022, conducting a master’s degree in applied meteorology at the University of Reading. His undergraduate research used measurements from aircraft flying at low-level across the Central-Western Sahara during the FENNEC campaign to understand how low-level jet wind systems generate dust storms. His master’s research compared this same dataset to weather model simulations that used experimental dust emission and transport schemes, focusing on whether models match the observed size distribution of dust particles. These findings are important for determining if models capture the warming/cooling effect of dust particles in the atmosphere.
Alex has been awarded a range of academic prizes for his research, including the Alfred Steers Royal Geographical Society Prize, the H.O. Beckit Prize, the Met Office Academic Partnership at both master’s and undergraduate level, the J.C.A. Meldrum Fieldwork Prize, and the Centenary scholarship.My research to date has focused on understanding the representation of dust in weather and climate models. Dust aerosols play a really important role in warming and cooling the earth, whether by interacting with radiation, altering the formation and optical properties of clouds, or by influencing the carbon cycle through ocean sequestration. My undergraduate research used measurements from aircraft flying at low-level across the Central-Western Sahara during the FENNEC campaign to understand how low-level jet wind systems generate dust storms. During my MSc I compared this same dataset to weather model simulations that used experimental dust emission and transport schemes, focusing on whether models are able to match the observed size distribution of dust particles.
Current Research
Alex’s current research aims to understand the mechanisms that control rainfall across East Africa. The region appears to be experiencing a drying trend because of climate change, yet paradoxically, climate model simulations suggest that East Africa should be getting wetter. Unlike most research in this field, which has relied upon interpreting the outputs from climate and weather forecast models, Alex’s research uses real-world measurements collected by weather balloons and satellites to understand the atmospheric dynamics controlling rainfall, and how this may change in a warmer climate.
