Our postgraduate students are providing further insight into Antarctic climate and ice sheet processes, and their impact on the earth system.
In the next couple of months, Yaowen will complete his thesis, marking the end of his studies at The Antarctic Research Centre. We had a chat with him about what brought him to Wellington and what’s next once he completes his PhD.
Yaowen has a self-professed love of ALL sciences - once he completes his PhD, he is open to taking on post-doctoral opportunities just about anywhere, in just about any earth science. His other passion is badminton, having played for many clubs including three universities, and competed at the NZ National Tertiary Championships.
Highlights of Yaowen’s PhD studies have included travelling to Alaska on the S.T Lee Travel Award and presenting research findings to both past and present colleagues at the recent New Zealand-Australia Antarctic Science Conference 2023. He has published two papers, including one in the The Cryosphere, with a third in progress.
Yaowen’s love for sciences started at high school in Qingdao, China - a city on the east coast of China, between Shanghai and Beijing. His undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours, was in Physical Oceanography and Marine and Antarctic Sciences completed jointly at Ocean University of China in Qingdao, and at the University of Tasmania, Australia. One of his Honours supervisors in Tasmania introduced him to ARC’s Professor Nicholas Golledge, who eventually invited Yaowen to undertake his PhD alongside the Modelling Hub at the ARC.
Travel to New Zealand was delayed by closed borders during Covid, so initial research was undertaken remotely from Australia, but he finally received a visa waiver to travel to NZ in April 2021.
Read here about Yaowen’s thesis: Understanding surface melt in Antarctica and implication for future ice sheet evolution.
