Aditi Sheshadri, Ph.D.

Aditi Sheshadri is a postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics at Columbia University, hosted by Professor Lorenzo M. Polvani. She has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the R. V. College of Engineering in Bangalore, India, and a master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

She is expected to complete her Ph.D. in atmospheric science at MIT in June 2015. Her doctoral thesis advisor is Professor R. Alan Plumb. Sheshadri is interested in atmospheric dynamics and climate in general. Her doctoral work has focused on the dynamics and variability of the stratospheric polar vortices in both hemispheres, and the impact of their variability on surface weather and climate. Her recent work has been aimed at understanding the dramatic collapse of the stratospheric westerlies that occur in the wintertime northern hemisphere and at the end of winter in both hemispheres. These events have implications for surface climate, since they result in persistent perturbations to surface weather that can last for up to two months after the event. At Columbia, she will continue to study the circulation of the stratosphere and troposphere, eddy-mean flow feedbacks, and the role of the stratosphere in setting the state of climates of the past.