Ken Zhao
Postdoctoral Fellow
I study ocean circulation in polar and coastal environments from the mm scale to the mesoscale. I try to integrate theory, models, and observations to better understand the physics of geophysical flows that shape our understanding of Earth’s dynamic ocean.
I am a physical oceanographer interested in how ocean circulation drives glacial melt in regions where ice and ocean interact, such as fjords, ice shelf cavities, and sea ice-covered regions. My work combines theory, numerical modeling, and field observations to understand the fundamental physics governing geophysical fluid dynamics. More broadly, I am driven by curiosity about the fluid dynamics of our planet and the ways in which ocean physics shapes Earth’s climate system.
In addition to being part of the Straneo Lab, I am also a Research Associate at Oregon State University. I was previously an NSF Office of Polar Programs postdoctoral fellow at Oregon State, and I received my PhD from the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UCLA, supported by a NASA FINESST fellowship.
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