Researcher Spotlight: Genevieve Beauregard - Ocean Mixing and Overturning in Ocean Models

Motivated by a deep curiosity for how the Earth system works, Genevieve brings a physics background into climate research, shaped by both atmospheric and Earth-system experiences, and strengthened by time outside academia. Her work contributes to one of TRR 181’s central goals: making climate models more energetically consistent and, ultimately, more trustworthy for climate policy decisions and future scenario planning.

What motivates you to work in this field?

"I love asking little questions and going into rabbit holes about little things and trying to solve issues. Climate sciences also present some great Mathy problems and I love the atmosphere (pun unintended!) the whole field has."

How has your background and career path shaped your approach to climate science?

"Like many in theoretical oceanography, I came into the field through Physics. During my undergraduate studies in Toronto, I was involved in a physics department with a strong atmospheric science focus and spent a summer working in a methane emissions lab. After graduating, I stepped away from academia for a couple of years to work professionally. That experience, and the mentors I had during that time, helped build my confidence and gave me the motivation to keep developing new skills.

Looking back, I realized that the problems I found most interesting were all related to the Earth system. I wanted to know why heat waves happen, why the ocean moves, why rocks do this or that. I sometimes say that I was rock climbing at a seaside crag with tidal inflow, the sun burning my skin, when I thought, 'Hey, I want to know how all of this works!'."

What are your primary research interests?

"I currently work on large scale circulation problems, and diagnostics regarding ocean mixing and overturning in ocean models. Sometimes, if I find time, I also go through a silly computer science textbook."

What do you believe are the most pressing challenges in climate science today, and how does your work contribute to addressing them?

"Making the models as trustworthy as possible so that people can make policy decisions and plan for future climate scenarios. In the TRR 181, we ask how we can make these models energetically consistent, as one way to cement the accuracy of the models. In my case, I ask if mixing is doing what it should do, and if it isn’t, does it affect the large-scale ocean circulation present in any way."

How does collaboration across different institutions and disciplines enhance the impact of your research?

"I work with a lot of folks at Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, where one of my co-supervisors is based, and basically rely on them for a lot of questions related to configuring their ocean model FESOM2. My doctoral project is possible only because of the institutional collaboration."

Can you share a recent project or discovery that you found particularly exciting or meaningful?

"This is silly, but I made a bash script to automate some model runs. It’s very exciting to me because now I save so much time with model configuration. Very fun stuff to me and me alone."

What advice would you give to students or young researchers interested in pursuing a career in climate sciences?

"Find enjoyment in the day-to-day work than to focus solely on the big-picture questions. It’s the daily habit of thinking, exploring and tinkering about that inches us closer to answering the big research questions. Have fun, try to 9-5 your work, make friends, learn to programme something."

What is the best way to connect with you for potential research collaboration?

"Institutional email (genevieve.beauregard[at]uni-hamburg.de), Linkedin (for less serious stuff), and climbing (for the most serious stuff)."