Mitchell Chandler

I am a PhD candidate in physical oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where I am advised by Nathalie Zilberman and Janet Sprintall, and was the recipient of a Fulbright student fellowship.

My thesis work examines western boundary currents. This focus includes both subtropical western boundary currents in the upper-ocean and deep western boundary currents in the deep-ocean. Western boundary currents are located on the western side of the major ocean basins and are hugely important for ecosystems and people due to the influence that these currents have on regional weather, climate, ocean temperature, and sea level. To conduct this work I draw on data from a number of different but complementary ocean observing systems as well as reanalysis products.

Originally from New Zealand, I completed my BSc at the University of Otago in 2017 and did a further Honours year at the University of Auckland in 2018. For my BSc(Hons) I used satellite altimetry to examine trends and variability in the surface expression of the Fiordland Current, a poleward-flowing eastern boundary current alongside south-west New Zealand. My advisors for this work were Melissa Bowen (Auckland) and Robert Smith (Otago).

Research Interests

Ocean circulation; Boundary currents; Western boundary currents; Deep western boundary currents; Observational oceanography; Argo; Deep Argo; Remote sensing; Pacific Ocean; Southwest Pacific oceanography

Education

• Graduate Student, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 2019-current
• BSc(Hons, First Class), University of Auckland, 2018
• BSc, University of Otago, 2015-2017

Publications

Publications (Google Scholar)

Chandler M, Zilberman NV, Sprintall J. (2024). The Deep Western Boundary Current of the Southwest Pacific Basin: insights from Deep Argo. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. DOI: 10.1029/2024JC021098 [pdf]

Chandler M, Zilberman NV, Sprintall J. (2022). Seasonal to decadal western boundary current variability from sustained ocean observations. Geophysical Research Letters. DOI: 10.1029/2022GL097834 [pdf]

Floerl O, Atalah J, Bugnot AB, Chandler M, Dafforn KA, Floerl L, Zaiko A, Major R. (2021). A global model to forecast coastal hardening and mitigate associated socioecological risks. Nature Sustainability. DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00780-w [pdf]

Chandler M, Bowen M, Smith RO. (2019). The Fiordland Current, southwest New Zealand: mean, variability, and trends. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. DOI: 10.1080/00288330.2019.1629467 [pdf]

Talks

[Panelist] Hot H₂O: global ocean warming and its implications. (2024). COP29.

Examining the Best Western boundary currents in the upper and deep ocean using globally available observations. (2024). Physical Oceanography Dissertation Symposium XIII.

(marine) heatwaves been faking me out: Observing subsurface marine heatwaves in the Kuroshio and Kuroshio Extension. (2024). Scripps Student Symposium 2024.

In the trenches: Deep Argo observations of the Southwest Pacific Basin Deep Western Boundary Current. (2024). New Zealand Physical Oceanography Workshop 2024.

Deep Argo and Me: 6,000-m under the sea and 10,000-km around the world. (2024). NOAA CIMEAS Science Review.

Spiralling into the abyss: mixing and seasonality in the Kermadec Trench deep western boundary current from Deep Argo observations. (2024). Ocean Sciences Meeting 2024.

[Panelist] Observing the changing global ocean: heating, carbonisation, acidification, deoxygenation, and greening. (2023). COP28. [youtube]

Variability in the Deep Western Boundary Current of the Southwest Pacific Basin from Deep Argo data. (2022). 7th Argo Science Workshop.

20,000 feet under the sea: using Deep Argo to study the Deep Western Boundary Current of the Southwest Pacific Basin. (2022). Scripps Student Symposium 2022.

20,000 feet under the sea: using Deep Argo to study the Deep Western Boundary Current of the Southwest Pacific Basin. (2022). New Zealand Physical Oceanography Workshop 2022.

The arteries and veins of our ocean. (2022). UC San Diego Grad Slam 2022. *Finalist* [youtube]

Examining western boundary current variability using a consistent multi-platform approach. (2022). Ocean Sciences Meeting 2022. [slides] [youtube]

From the sea to the stars: how combining ocean observing systems can help us study ocean currents. (2022). SIO WMIS Student Seminar Series.

Western boundary current research using Argo, HR-XBT, and satellite altimetry. (2021). 12th Observation Coordination Group Workshop: Boundary Currents.

The Fiordland Current: mean, variability, trends. (2020). New Zealand Physical Oceanography Workshop 2020. [slides]

Progress towards a combined XBT and Argo observing network for estimating upper-ocean transport. (2020). NOAA Invited Seminar.

Measuring the subtropical western boundary currents of the Indo-Pacific. (2020). Graduate Climate Conference 2020.

Posters

Seasonal heaving within the Kermadec Trench deep western boundary current predominantly driven by local Ekman pumping seasonal anomalies. (2024). SIO Annual Fellowship Luncheon 2024.

Seasonal heaving within the Kermadec Trench deep western boundary current predominantly driven by local Ekman pumping seasonal anomalies. (2024). Pathways Connecting Climate Changes to the Deep Ocean Workshop. [pdf]

Transport trends and seasonality from observations in the Kuroshio, Agulhas Current, and East Australian Current. (2023). International Workshop on Western Boundary Current-Subtropical Continental Shelf Interactions. [pdf]

A multi-platform approach to examining variability in the Kuroshio off the coast of Japan. (2021). Graduate Climate Conference 2021.

A multi-platform approach to examining variability in the Kuroshio off the coast of Japan. (2021). Scripps Student Symposium 2021. *Awarded Best Poster* [pdf]

Towards a basin-scale observing network for monitoring upper-ocean mass and temperature variability. (2020). Ocean Sciences Meeting 2020. [pdf]

Other

[Interview] Scripps Student Spotlight. (November 2024). Scripps Institution of Oceanography. https://www.instagram.com/p/DCdlD3uxzaP

[Article] Everything Everywhere All At Once At COP28. (2024). Scripps Institution of Oceanography. https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/everything-everywhere-all-once-cop28 [pdf]

[Interview] UC San Diego, Scripps Oceanography sends delegation to COP28, the UN Climate Conference. (28 November 2023). KPBS. https://youtu.be/dzZYswfAMJs

[Article] Making waves on Capitol Hill. (2023). American Geophyscial Union The Bridge. https://thebridge.agu.org/2023/09/22/making-waves-on-capitol-hill [pdf]

[Article] Exploring ocean currents 20,000 feet under the sea. (2023). Scripps Institution of Oceanography explorations now. https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/exploring-ocean-currents-20000-feet-under-sea [pdf]

[Art Piece] A non-quiescent ocean. (2022). UC San Diego Art of Science 2022. DOI: 10.6075/J0N29X4D *Judges Honourable Mention*

[Report] Chandler M, Zilberman NV, Sprintall J. (2021). Combining complementary observing systems to produce a basin-scale network for monitoring upper-ocean transport. UC San Diego: Scripps Institution of Oceanography. UC eScholarship

Presentation Recordings

Seasonal heaving within the Kermadec Trench deep western boundary current predominantly driven by local Ekman pumping seasonal anomalies (2024)

Transport trends and seasonality from observations in the Kuroshio, Agulhas Current, and East Australian Current (2023)

The arteries and veins of our ocean (2022)

Examining western boundary current variability using a consistent multi-platform approach (2022)

Twitter Posters

Twitter posters present a series of simple slides and are a relatively low effort way to effectively communicate research to a wider audience. My Twitter posters are linked below:

• Fiordland Current (Chandler et al. 2019)
• WBC sustained observations (Chandler et al. 2022)
• Southwest Pacific Basin DWBC (Chandler et al. 2024)

For more information on Twitter Posters I recommend this youtube video by Mike Morrison.

Academic Gallery