Professional Interests
My research focuses on understanding the role of water vapor and clouds on the climate system and how it might be changed by anthropogenic influences. My interests also include biosphere-atmosphere interactions and, particularly, large-scale water vapor transport and the importance of the Amazon forest for moisture recycling and the global hydrological cycle. I have worked with physical parameterizations in climate models, particularly radiation and convection, and the development of Earth System Models.
Previous Experience
Prior to joining UMBC, I was a professor of Physics at the Physics Institute at the University of Sao Paulo, where I served as the head of the Applied Physics Department. I’ve spent some time as a visiting professor at the University of Granada – Spain, the University of Maryland Baltimore County – USA, and the University of Manchester – UK. I started as a postdoctoral fellow at the Brazilian Institute for Space Research for three years, where I later worked as an assistant researcher. I have a PhD in Physics from the State University of Campinas, Brazil. My PhD was in experimental astrophysics, and I studied the propagation of Nitrogen fluorescence light in the atmosphere as a technique to measure ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.
Selected Publications
Wunderling et al., 2022: Recurrent droughts increase risk of cascading tipping events by outpacing adaptive capacities in the Amazon rainforest, PNAS, 119 (32) e2120777119
Shrivastava et al., 2019: Urban pollution greatly enhances formation of natural aerosols over the Amazon rainforest, Nature Communications, volume 10, Article number: 1046
Fan et al., 2018: Substantial convection and precipitation enhancements by ultrafine aerosol particles, Science, Vol. 359, Issue 6374, pp. 411-418
Zemp et al., 2017: Self-amplified Amazon forest loss due to vegetation-atmosphere feedbacks. Nature Communications 8, Article number: 14681
Boers et al., 2017: A deforestation-induced tipping point for the South American monsoon system. Nature Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 41489
Wang et al., 2016: Amazon boundary layer aerosol concentration sustained by vertical transport during rainfall. Nature, 539, 416–419
Rosenfeld et al., 2016: Satellite retrieval of cloud condensation nuclei concentrations by using clouds as CCN chambers. PNAS, 113 (21), 5828-5834
Boers et al., 2014: Prediction of Extreme Floods in the Eastern Central Andes: A Complex Networks Approach, Nat. Commun. 5:5199
See the complete list of publications on my google scholar profile.
Contact
Phone: 410-455-1248
Physics Building, Room 416