Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Chelsea L Parker

(ASST. RESEARCH SCIENTIST)

Chelsea L Parker's Contact Card & Information.
Email: chelsea.l.parker@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.614.6486
Org Code: 615
Address:
NASA/GSFC
Mail Code 615
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer: UNIV OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK

Research Interests


Research Overview

Earth Science: Atmospheric Dynamics

Chelsea's current work brings together satellite and in situ observations, reanalysis datasets, and numerical modeling to characterize and improve our understanding of the polar atmosphere and ice – ocean – atmosphere interactions in a changing climate. Her research ranges in scale from investigating the dynamics of episodic events such as polar lows, Arctic cyclones, and Atmospheric Rivers, to working on improving the representation of polar surfaces and atmospheric processes in global models.

Positions/Employment


Assistant Research Scientist

Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) University of Maryland, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, Maryland

July 2019 - Present

Education


2017: PhD, Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, U.S.A

2014: MSc, Geological Sciences, Brown University, U.S.A

2010: BSc, Physical Geography, University of Bristol, U.K.  

Publications


Refereed

2024. "Summer snow on Arctic sea ice modulated by the Arctic Oscillation." Nature Geoscience 17 (10): 995-1002 [10.1038/s41561-024-01525-y] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. " A warmer and wetter Arctic: insights from a 20-year AIRS record." Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 128 (20): [https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JD038793] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Rainy Days in the Arctic." Journal of Climate 36 (19): 6855-6878 [https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0428.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Fate of sea ice in the 'New Arctic': A database of daily Lagrangian Arctic sea ice parcel drift tracks with coincident ice and atmospheric conditions." Nature Scientific Data 10 (73): [10.1038/s41597-023-01987-6] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "The influence of recent and future climate change on spring Arctic cyclones." Nature Communications 13 (1): 6514 [10.1038/s41467-022-34126-7] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Record Arctic Cyclone of January 2022: Characteristics, Impacts, and Predictability." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 127 (21): [10.1029/2022jd037161] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "The Arctic." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 103 (8): S257-S306 [10.1175/bams-d-22-0082.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Constraining Arctic Climate Projections of Wintertime Warming With Surface Turbulent Flux Observations and Representation of Surface-Atmosphere Coupling." Frontiers in Earth Science [https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.765304] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "The role of cyclone activity in snow accumulation on Arctic sea ice." Nature Communications 10 (1): 5285 [10.1038/s41467-019-13299-8] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Investigating the performance of coupled WRF-ROMS simulations of Hurricane Irene (2011) in a regional climate modeling framework." Atmospheric Research 215 57-74 [10.1016/j.atmosres.2018.08.017] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "The response of land-falling tropical cyclone characteristics to projected climate change in northeast Australia." Climate Dynamics 51 (9-10): 3467-3485 [10.1007/s00382-018-4091-9] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Factors affecting the simulated trajectory and intensification of Tropical Cyclone Yasi (2011)." Atmospheric Research 194 27-42 [10.1016/j.atmosres.2017.04.002] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "The Relationship between Tropical Cyclone Activity, Nutrient Loading, and Algal Blooms over the Great Barrier Reef." Biogeosciences Discussions 1-35 [10.5194/bg-2017-23] [Journal Article/Letter]

Non-Refereed

2020. "Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction Experiment (ARCSIX): Concept Paper for NASA Aircraft Investigation." NASA Earth Science Project Office [Full Text] [Report]

Selected Public Outreach


Australian Tropical Cyclones in a Warmer World

2019 - Present

Outreach piece discussing tropical cyclones and climate change on the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Capacity Center for Climate & Weather Extremes (C3WE) Blog


Awards


2024: Maryland Research Excellence Award, University of Maryland.

2024: IOP Publishing Outstanding Reviewer for Environmental Research: Climate Journal

2023: Best First Author Scientific Paper Award, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland.

2021: NASA Robert H. Goddard Group Award for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Employment Opportunity. Awarded to the Asian Pacific American Advisory Committee.

2021: Scientific Achievement Award, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Hydrosphere, Biosphere, Geophysics

Annual Peer Awards.

2016: First Place Student Oral Presenter award, 96th AMS Annual Meeting.

2014: Student award and honorable mention, 94th AMS Annual Meeting.


STUDENT ADVISEE AWARDS

2023: University of Maryland Tannenbaum Endowed Research Prize in Climate Science to Undergraduate Advisee Samantha Halstead-Santez

2023: University of Maryland Green Fund Scholarship to PhD Candidate Advisee Benjamin Woods.

 

Grants


Sea Ice Surface Evolution Flight Planning for ARCSIX

Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction Experiment - NASA (NNH21ZDA001N-ARCSIX:A.17 Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction Experiment) - Awarded: 2022-09-29


Dates: 2022-10-01  - 2026-03-01


Polar Regions in the Earth System

Horizon 2020 - EU - Awarded: 2021-09-01


Dates: 2021-09-01  - 2025-09-01


Investigating the Fate of the Sea Ice and Interaction with the Polar Atmosphere in the ‘New Arctic’

Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science - NASA (NNH19ZDA001N-IDS) - Awarded: 2020-04-01


Dates: 2020-06-15  - 2023-06-15


Improving Our Understanding of Precipitation Events in the Arctic

Weather and Atmospheric Dynamics - NASA (NNH19ZDA001N-ATDM) - Awarded: 2020-02-03


Dates: 2020-04-15  - 2024-04-15


Summer Visiting Scientist Grant - National Center for Atmospheric Research - Awarded: 2015-05-01


Dates:  - 


Graduate Student Fellowship - Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University - Awarded: 2015-04-01


Dates:  - 

Teaching Experience


Mentoring and Advising

PhD Research Advisor

2023-present: PhD Research Co-Advisor, Samantha Halstead Santez, Research and Thesis towards Doctorate of Philosophy in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Maryland.

2022-present: PhD Research Advisor, Gabrielle Linscott, Research and Thesis towards Doctorate of Philosophy in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Maryland.

2020-present: PhD Research Co-Advisor, Benjamin Woods, Research and Thesis towards Doctorate of Philosophy in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Maryland.


Undergraduate Research Advisor

2022-2023: Undergraduate Research Co-Advisor, Samantha Halstead Santez, NASA Internship and Capstone Thesis project for Bachelor of Science in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Maryland.

2018-2019: Mentor and Co-Advisor, Undergraduate Honors Thesis in Geology-Physics/Mathematics, Brown University.

2015: Mentor and Thesis Reader, Undergraduate Honors Thesis in Geology, Brown University.


Teaching

2024: Instructor, Pre-Candidacy Research AOSC898 Section: 3001, University of Maryland

2023-2024: Instructor, Directed Research AOSC798 Section: 3001, University of Maryland

2017-2018: Co-Instructor, Undergraduate Independent Study Class and Summer Research in Geophysics, Brown University.

2015, 2017: Guest Lecturer, Global Water Cycle, Brown University

2015-2016: Guest Elementary Science Teacher, Vartan Gregorian, Providence, R.I.

2015: Teaching Assistant, Weather and Climate, Brown University

2013: Teaching Assistant, Climate and Climate Change, Brown University