Katherine Xiao ’20

Major

Computer Science

Project Title

Variability in Oxygen Minimum Zones

Presentation Link

View Katherine's Presentation

My internship focused on the variability of oxygen in the ocean. Over the past few decades, the changing volume of Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs) in the ocean has been highly debated, and our goal was to determine whether these changes in OMZs were due to climate change or natural variability in the ocean. I used MATLAB to conduct time-series data analyses on CM2.6 — a high-resolution coupled climate model — that allowed me to better understand OMZ trends, specifically those in the Indian Ocean. Through this experience, I strengthened my ability to analyze large data files, collaborated with my coworkers and adviser, and presented my findings in a research paper and presentation. This internship demonstrated to me that the applications of computer science are endless and can be applied to almost any field. I’m so excited to continue working in team settings to tackle problems we face in the world.



Internship Year

2017

Project Category

Climate and Oceans

Organization(s)

Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

Mentor(s)

Laure Resplandy, Assistant Professor of Geosciences and the Princeton Environmental Institute