Whit Anderson, Ph.D.

Deputy Director
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory

I am the Deputy Director of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL). My primary role is to coordinate between the scientific mission of the lab and its supporting assets and activities, such as administration and information technologies and high performance computing. I also interact with external entities from other line office units, line office headquarters, other NOAA line offices, federal agencies, legislative branch of government and universities in support of the lab’s science. GFDL’s mission is to advance scientific understanding of climate and its natural and anthropogenic variations and impacts, and improve NOAA’s predictive capabilities, through the development and use of world-leading computer models of the Earth System.

During my early years at GFDL I was a Princeton Research Scientist working under the guidance and supervision of Robert Hallberg, Anand Gnanadesikan and Alistair Adcroft in the Ocean Modeling Group. My work was focused on research and development with the Hallberg Isopycnal Model (HIM), the Generalized Ocean Layered Dynamics Model (GOLD) and the Modular Ocean Model (MOM).

I later became a federal scientist while in GFDL’s Climate Variability and Prediction group. During that time I worked under the supervision of Thomas Delworth and Anthony Rosati. Research highlights for that period included the development of the Coupled Models (CM) CM2.5, CM2.6 and CM2.5-Forecast Low Ocean Resolution (FLOR).

Following a reorganization of the lab I began working in the Climate Processes and Sensitivity Group under Michael Winton. My work and research focused on climate sensitivity and continuing GFDL’s high resolution coupled modeling efforts.

Over the years I have been very fortunate to work with a large number GFDL scientists and researchers. In 2014, my role transitioned from scientific to administrative. In this capacity I continue to enjoy supporting, communicating and enabling the great work at GFDL.

 

Cheers,
Whit

Award Highlights

• • • National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Green Steward Award, 2009
    • Department of Commerce Gold Medal for Scientific/Engineering Achievement, 2015
    • National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Administrator’s Award, 2018
    • Department of Commerce Bronze Medal for Leadership, 2022

Recent Publications:

•  Adcroft, Alistair, Whit G Anderson, V Balaji, Chris Blanton, Mitchell Bushuk, Carolina O Dufour, John P Dunne, Stephen M Griffies, Robert Hallberg, Matthew J Harrison, Isaac M Held, Malte Jansen, Jasmin G John, John P Krasting, Amy R Langenhorst, Sonya Legg, Zhi Liang, Colleen McHugh, Aparna Radhakrishnan, Brandon G Reichl, Anthony Rosati, Bonita L Samuels, Andrew Shao, Ronald J Stouffer, Michael Winton, Andrew T Wittenberg, Baoqiang Xiang, Niki Zadeh, and Rong Zhang, October 2019: The GFDL Global Ocean and Sea Ice Model OM4.0: Model Description and Simulation Features. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 11(10), DOI:10.1029/2019MS001726.
• Held, Isaac M., Huan Guo, Alistair Adcroft, John P Dunne, Larry W Horowitz, John P Krasting, Elena Shevliakova, Michael Winton, Ming Zhao, Mitchell Bushuk, Andrew T Wittenberg, Bruce Wyman, Baoqiang Xiang, Rong Zhang, Whit G Anderson, V Balaji, Leo J Donner, Krista A Dunne, Jeffrey W Durachta, Paul P G Gauthier, Paul Ginoux, Jean-Christophe Golaz, Stephen M Griffies, Robert Hallberg, Lucas Harris, Matthew J Harrison, William J Hurlin, Jasmin G John, Pu Lin, Shian-Jiann Lin, Sergey Malyshev, Raymond Menzel, P C D Milly, Yi Ming, Vaishali Naik, David J Paynter, Fabien Paulot, V Ramaswamy, Brandon G Reichl, Thomas E Robinson, Anthony Rosati, Charles J Seman, Levi G Silvers, Seth D Underwood, and Niki Zadeh, November 2019: Structure and Performance of GFDL’s CM4.0 Climate Model. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 11(11), DOI:10.1029/2019MS001829.
  
• Vecchi, Gabriel A., Thomas L Delworth, Hiroyuki Murakami, Seth D Underwood, Andrew T Wittenberg, Fanrong Zeng, Wei Zhang, Jane Baldwin, Kieran Bhatia, William F Cooke, Jie He, Sarah B Kapnick, Thomas R Knutson, Gabriele Villarini, Karin van der Wiel, Whit G Anderson, V Balaji, Jan-Huey Chen, Keith W Dixon, Richard G Gudgel, Lucas Harris, Liwei Jia, Nathaniel C Johnson, Shian-Jiann Lin, Maofeng Liu, Chin Ho Justin Ng, Anthony Rosati, J A Smith, and Xiaosong Yang, November 2019: Tropical cyclone sensitivities to CO2 doubling: roles of atmospheric resolution, synoptic variability and background climate changes. Climate Dynamics, 53(9-10), DOI:10.1007/s00382-019-04913-y.
• Wittenberg, Andrew T., Gabriel A Vecchi, Thomas L Delworth, Anthony Rosati, Whit G Anderson, William F Cooke, Seth D Underwood, Fanrong Zeng, Stephen M Griffies, and Sulagna Ray, December 2018: Improved simulations of tropical Pacific annual‐mean climate in the GFDL FLOR and HiFLOR Coupled GCMs. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 10(12), DOI:10.1029/2018MS001372.
• Morrison, A K., Stephen M Griffies, Michael Winton, Whit G Anderson, and Jorge L Sarmiento, March 2016: Mechanisms of Southern Ocean heat uptake and transport in a global eddying climate model. Journal of Climate, 29(6), DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0579.1
• Pascale, S, S Bordoni, Sarah B Kapnick, Gabriel A Vecchi, Liwei Jia, Thomas L Delworth, Seth D Underwood, and Whit G Anderson, in press: The impact of horizontal resolution on North American monsoon Gulf of California moisture surges in a suite of coupled global climate models. Journal of Climate. DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0199.1. August 2016.
• Saba, Vincent S., Stephen M Griffies, Whit G Anderson, Michael Winton, M A Alexander, Thomas L Delworth, J A Hare, Matthew J Harrison, Anthony Rosati, Gabriel A Vecchi, and Rong Zhang, January 2016: Enhanced warming of the northwest Atlantic Ocean under climate change. Journal of Geophysical Research, 121(1), DOI:10.1002/2015JC011346 .
• Zhang, Wei, Gabriel A Vecchi, Hiroyuki Murakami, Thomas L Delworth, Andrew T Wittenberg, Anthony Rosati, Seth D Underwood, Whit G Anderson,Lucas M Harris, Richard G Gudgel, Shian-Jiann Lin, G Villarini, and Jan-Huey Chen, February 2016: Improved Simulation of Tropical Cyclone Responses to ENSO in the Western North Pacific in the High-Resolution GFDL HiFLOR Coupled Climate Model. Journal of Climate, 29(4), DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0475.1 .
  Dufour, C O., Stephen M Griffies, Gregory F de Souza, I Frenger, A K Morrison, J B Palter, Jorge L Sarmiento, E D Galbraith, John P Dunne, Whit G Anderson, and Richard D Slater, December 2015: Role of mesoscale eddies in cross-frontal transport of heat and biogeochemical tracers in the Southern Ocean. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 45(12), DOI:10.1175/JPO-D-14-0240.1
• Griffies, Stephen M., Michael Winton, Whit G Anderson, Rusty Benson, Thomas L Delworth, C O Dufour, John P Dunne, P Goddard, A K Morrison,Andrew T Wittenberg, J Yin, and Rong Zhang, in press: Impacts on ocean heat from transient mesoscale eddies in a hierarchy of climate models. Journal of Climate. DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00353.1. 11/14.
• Kim, Hyeong-Seog, Gabriel A Vecchi, Thomas R Knutson, Whit G Anderson, Thomas L Delworth, Anthony Rosati, Fanrong Zeng, and Ming Zhao, November 2014: Tropical Cyclone Simulation and Response to CO2 Doubling in the GFDL CM2.5 High-Resolution Coupled Climate Model. Journal of Climate, 27(21), DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00475.1.
• Msadek, Rym, Thomas L Delworth, Anthony Rosati, Whit G Anderson, Gabriel A Vecchi, You-Soon Chang, Keith W Dixon, Rich Gudgel, William F Stern, Andrew T Wittenberg, X-Q Yang, Fanrong Zeng, Rong Zhang, and Shaoqing Zhang, September 2014: Predicting a Decadal Shift in North Atlantic Climate Variability Using the GFDL Forecast System. Journal of Climate, 27(17), DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00476.1.
• Vecchi, Gabriel A., Rym Msadek, Whit G Anderson, You-Soon Chang, Thomas L Delworth, Keith W Dixon, Rich Gudgel, Anthony Rosati, William F Stern, G Villarini, Andrew T Wittenberg, Xiaosong Yang, Fanrong Zeng, Rong Zhang, and Shaoqing Zhang, January 2014: Reply to Comment on Multi-year Predictions of North Atlantic Hurricane Frequency: Promise and limitations. Journal of Climate, 27(1), DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00381.1.
• Vecchi, Gabriel A., Thomas L Delworth, Rich Gudgel, Sarah B Kapnick, Anthony Rosati, Andrew T Wittenberg, Fanrong Zeng, Whit G Anderson,Venkatramani Balaji, Keith W Dixon, Liwei Jia, Hyeong-Seog Kim, Lakshmi Krishnamurthy, Rym Msadek, William F Stern, Seth Underwood, G Villarini, Xiaosong Yang, and Shaoqing Zhang, November 2014: On the Seasonal Forecasting of Regional Tropical Cyclone Activity. Journal of Climate, 27(21), DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00158.1.
• Winton, Michael, Whit G Anderson, Thomas L Delworth, Stephen M Griffies, William J Hurlin, and Anthony Rosati, in press: Has Coarse Ocean Resolution Biased Simulations of Transient Climate Sensitivity?. Geophysical Research Letters. DOI:10.1002/2014GL061523. 11/14.
• Zhang, Shaoqing, Ming Zhao, Shian-Jiann Lin, Xiaosong Yang, and Whit G Anderson, January 2014: Retrieval of Tropical Cyclone Statistics with a High-Resolution Coupled Model and Data. Geophysical Research Letters, 41(2), DOI:10.1002/2013GL058879.