GEMMA O'CONNOR
  • About
  • Research
    • Paleoclimate data assimilation
    • Ocean Modeling
    • El Niño reconstruction
    • Geophysical Surveys
  • Field Work
  • CV

Curriculum Vitae

Education

Ph.D. , Earth and Space Sciences
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Ph.D. advisor: Eric Steig
2017 - 2023

B.S. Industrial and Systems Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Honors Program, Cooperative education program
Research advisor: Kim Cobb, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
2012 - 2017

Publications

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​1.
O’Connor, G.K., Nakayama, Y., Steig, E.J., Armour, K.C., Thompson, L., Hyogo, S., Berdahl, M., Shimada, T. West Antarctic glacier retreat triggered by polynya response to meridional winds. In review at Nature Geoscience.
 
Schneider, D.P., Yin, Z., O’Connor, G.K., Blanchard-Wrigglesworth, E., Cast, Z. I., Datta, R., Espinosa, Z. Increased Antarctic snowfall mitigates sea level rise less than projected due to meltwater influence on sea surface temperature. In review at PNAS. https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.172411232.25724214/v2
 
Dalaiden, Q., Abram, N.J., Goosse, H., Holland, P.R., O’Connor, G.K., Topal, D. (2024). Tropical and anthropogenic drivers shape multi-decadal atmospheric circulation variability over West Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters, 51(16), e2024GL109137, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109137.
 
Fogt, R.L., Dalaiden, Q., O’Connor, G.K. (2024). A comparison of South Pacific Antarctic sea ice and atmospheric circulation reconstructions since 1900. Climate of the Past, 20(1), 53-76. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-53-2024
 
O’Connor, G.K., Holland, P.R., Steig, E.J., Dutrieux, P., Hakim, G.J. (2023). Characteristics and rarity of the strong 1940s westerly wind event over the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica. The Cryosphere, 17(10), 4399-4420. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4399-2023
 
Stevenson, S., Cobb, K.M., Merrifield, M., Powell, B., Sanchez, S., Nusbaumer, J., O’Connor, G.K., Atwood, A. (2023). Contrasting central equatorial Pacific oxygen isotopic signatures of the 2014/15 and 2015/16 El Nino events. Geophysical Research Letters, 50(21), e2023GL104454. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL104454
 
Hoffman, A.O., Holschuh, N., Mueller, M., Paden, J., Muto, A., Ariho, G., Brigham, C., Christian, J., Davidge, L., Heitmann, E., Hills, B., Horlings, A., Morey, S., O’Connor, G.K., Fudge, T.J., Steig, E. J., Christianson, K. (2023) Scars of tectonism promote ice-sheet nucleation from Hercules Dome into West Antarctica. Nature Geoscience, 16, 1005-1013. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01265-5

Holland, P. R., O'Connor, G. K., Bracegirdle, T. J., Dutrieux, P., Naughten, K. A., Steig, E. J., Schneider, D. P., Jenkins, A., Smith, J. A. Anthropogenic and internal drivers of wind changes over the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica, during the 20th and 21st centuries. (2022). The Cryosphere, 16, 5085–5105, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5085-2022.

Fudge, T.J., Hills, B., Horlings, A.N., Holschuh, N., Christian, J.E., Davidge, L., Hoffman, A., O’Connor, G.K., Christianson, K., Steig, E.J. A site for deep ice coring at West Hercules Dome: Results from ground-based geophysics and modeling. (2022). Journal of Glaciology, 1-13, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.80.
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Hills, B.H., Christianson, K., Hoffman, A., Fudge, T.J., Holschuh, N., Kahle, E.C., Conway, H., Christian, J., Horlings, A., O’Connor, G.K., Steig, E.J.  Geophysics and thermodynamics at South Pole Lake indicate stability and a regionally thawed bed. (2022). Geophysical Research Letters, 49, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL096218.

Hitt, N.T., Sayani, H.R., Atwood, A.R., Grothe, P.R., Maupin, C., O’Connor, G.K., Walter, R., Gebregiorgis, D., Hardt, M., Lu, Y., Edwards, R.L., Cheng, H., Cobb, K.M. Central equatorial Pacific warming and freshening in the 20th century: Insights from a coral ensemble approach. (2022). Geophysical Research Letters, 49, e2021GL094051.​ doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094051

O’Connor, G.K., Steig, E.J., Hakim, G.J. Strengthening Southern Hemisphere westerlies and Amundsen Sea Low deepening over the 20th century revealed by proxy-data assimilation. (2021). Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2021GL095999. 
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095999

O’Connor, G.K., Cobb, K.M., Sayani, H.R., Atwood, A.R., Grothe, P.R., Stevenson, S., Baum, J., Chen, T., Claar, C., Hitt, N., Lynch-Stieglitz, J., Mortlock, R., Schmidt, G., Walter, R. Coral oxygen isotopic records capture the 2015/16 El Niño event in the central equatorial Pacific. (2021). Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2021GL094036. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094036

Grothe, P. R., Cobb, K. M., Liguori, G., Di Lorenzo, E., Capotondi, A., Lu, Y., Cheng, H., Edwards, R. L., Southon, J. R., Santos, G. M., Deocampo, D. M., Lynch-Stieglitz, J., Chen, T., Sayani, H. R., Thompson, D. M., Conroy, J. L., Moore, A. L., Townsend, K., Hagos, M., O’Connor, G., Toth, L. T. (2019). Enhanced El Niño–Southern Oscillation Variability in Recent Decades. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(7). https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL083906 


Awards

2023 - 2026
​2023 - 2025
2024
2023
2022
​2022
2017 - 2021
2017 - 2021
2021
2021
​2021
2019
2017
2017
2012 - 2017
​2012
Washington Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
NSF OPP EAGER Award - Ocean Circulation in the Amundsen Sea Embayment over the 20th Century
UW Data Science Postdoctoral Research Award
UW Data Science Postdoctoral Fellowship
David A. Johnston Award for Research Excellence 
Robert G. and Nadine E. Bassett Endowed Fund 
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship 
Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Fellowship 
Boeing International Research Fellowship 
​UW Earth and Space Sciences Research Gala Award for inaugural DEI talk
UW Earth and Space Sciences Peter Misch Fellowship 
Best Student Talk, West Antarctic Ice Sheet Workshop
UW Top Scholar Award 
Georgia Tech President's Undergraduate Research Salary Award 
Zell Miller Scholarship (100% tuition covered)
NSF Mentoring through Critical Transition Points (MCTP) Mathematics Scholarship 
​

Teaching Experience

Fall 2020               ESS 431/505 Principles of Glaciology 
                                Teaching assistant (shared appointment) and guest lecturer
Spring 2020         ESS 102 Space and Space Travel
                                Teaching assistant
2013 - 2015           Yoga instructor and instructor trainer
                                 Georgia Tech Campus Recreation Center
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 Leadership and Service

2022
2019 - 2021
2020 - 2021
2021

2018
​2018
Reviewer: Nature Communications, Nature Communications Earth and Environment, & Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
Earth and Space Sciences DEI Committee graduate representative
College of the Environment peer mentor
Undergraduate research mentor
Project: Geothermal flux constraints at Hercules Dome, Antarctica
Cryosphere session chair, Graduate Climate Conference 2018
Planning committee member, Graduate Climate Conference 2018

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  • About
  • Research
    • Paleoclimate data assimilation
    • Ocean Modeling
    • El Niño reconstruction
    • Geophysical Surveys
  • Field Work
  • CV