Group Updates

Ben began his time at the Rosenstiel School back in 2007, and has since helped shape the careers of many scientists while contributing greatly to the weather and climate field. In August, Ben became the new dean of the Rosenstiel School. He succeeds Roni Avissar, who has served in that post since 2009. Congratulations, Ben!

Tori is a first-year Ph.D. student focusing on understanding how global climate dynamics drive local coastal impacts to better inform adaptation and resilience strategies. Her research interests include coastal climate dynamics, downscaling climate models for regional applications, sub-seasonal predictions and exploring how sea level variability and extreme heat affect coastal communities. She is passionate about linking solution-driven climate research with regional adaptation, especially by integrating uncertainty into planning and improving communication with local officials. She grew up in Hollywood, Florida and has been a Miami Beach resident for over a decade, who loves spending time outdoors, rollerblading along the Beachwalk, exploring local parks, trying the newest restaurants, practicing yoga, photographing nature, hosting daytime disco parties on sunny days, and enjoying life with her husband and their dog.

In February, Cait Martinez won late-stage funding to travel, attend, and present her poster titled "An Advanced Framework for Disentangling Deterministic Dynamics and Stochastic Processes in ENSO Predictability" at the 5th Annual CLIVAR Climate Dynamics Panel Workshop in Lorne, VIC, Australia.

Kirtman group members worked together to develop a global atmospheric modeling framework that blends powerful research capabilities with accessibility for students and scientists alike. Written entirely in Python, a high-level, general-purpose programming language, and designed to run on an interactive Jupyter Notebook, allowing anyone with a standard laptop to explore cutting-edge climate experiments.

Both Karen Papazian and Victoria Schoenwald have completed their Ph.D.’s. Victoria’s dissertation is titled Understanding Regional Sea Level Rise Acceleration Along the North American Eastern Seaboard, and Karen’s is An Idealized Study of Cold Air Outbreaks. They have both begun their next chapter as Postdoc’s with Ben!

Cait Martinez was an IDSC Fellow 2024-25, and presented her capstone project titled "A Machine Learning-based Interactive Ensemble for ENSO" on April 24, 2025. She was featured in the Fall 2025 IDSC Magazine.

On the TEDxUniversityofDelaware stage, Kelsey Malloy aimed to share climate science through storytelling of climate’s fingerprint on human history and how modern climate change is both a unique, critical challenge and defining opportunity for society.

Marybeth Arcodia has re-joined the University of Miami as an assistant professor. To read more about her academic and professional journey, this IDSC magazine article outlines her career path and research interests.

In March 2025, Cait Martinez attended the ENSO Winter School 2025 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Ben received the Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award on Monday, March 31, during the Faculty Senate Awards Ceremony. The Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award recognizes either a single outstanding scholarly achievement or a lifetime of distinguished accomplishment in any area of research or creative activity. Award winners are nominated by faculty of the University and are selected by a committee. Congratulations, Ben!