Alison McLaren
Atmosphere Model Code Developer
Biography
My research at BAS relates to the modelling of water isotopes in climate models. Water isotopes in ice cores provide important long-term records of past climate changes. Climate model simulations, that include water isotopes, allow relationships between ice core measurements and past climates to be investigated and better understood. Also, water isotopes in present day model simulations provide a potentially useful way of evaluating hydrological processes within the model.
Specifically, I am working on adding water isotopes to the UK Earth System Model (UKESM). This work is part of the EU Tipping Points in the Earth System (TiPES) project. The water isotope work is being done in collaboration with the University of Bristol, the Met Office and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science.
I joined BAS in 2021. Previously I worked at the Met Office, initially in the Polar Climate group (working on sea ice model development) before moving to the Ocean Forecasting group. Prior to this, I was a Senior Research Assistant for 2 years at the University of Liverpool, which followed on from my PhD in Physical Oceanography at the same university. Before this, I completed my undergraduate degree in Geophysical Sciences at the University of East Anglia.
Publications from NERC Open Research Archive
2023
Gao, Qinggang, Sime, Louise C. ORCID record for Louise C. Sime, McLaren, Alison, Bracegirdle, Thomas J. ORCID record for Thomas J. Bracegirdle, Capron, Emilie, Rhodes, Rachael H., Steen-Larsen, Hans Christian, Shi, Xiaoxu, Werner, Martin. (2023) Evaporative controls on Antarctic precipitation: An ECHAM6 model study using novel water tracer diagnostics [in review]. The Cryosphere: Discussions. 10.5194/egusphere-2023-1041