Sam Abernethy

I am a third year Ph.D. candidate in Applied Physics working under the supervision of Rob Jackson in Earth System Science. My current research focuses on evaluating the technical feasibility and climate impacts of atmospheric methane removal. I mainly use computational models to do this, including the atmosphere-ocean coupled model UKESM1 based at the UK Met Office. As a Stanford Data Science Scholar, I hope to help improve our understanding of various greenhouse gas removal technologies to guide future climate policy.

Before Stanford, I applied chaos theory to oncology during my BSc in Mathematical Physics at Queen’s University and used optimization tools to improve MRI speed during my MSc in Mathematical Modeling & Scientific Computing at the University of Oxford. Outside of academics, I’m passionate about changing my altitude whenever possible: backpacking, cycling, climbing mountains, and scuba diving.