Research Staff

Dr. C. Adam Schlosser

Profile

Affiliation(s):

MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, Assistant Director for Research;
MIT Center for Global Change Science

Education:

B.S., Physics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1989
M.S., Meteorology, University of Maryland, College Park, 1992
Ph.D., Meteorology, University of Maryland, College Park, 1995

Biographical Statement:

Dr. C. Adam Schlosser is currently a Principal Research Scientist in the Center for Global Change Science, and also serves as the Assistant Director of Research for the Joint Program at MIT. Prior to his appointment at MIT, Dr. Schlosser was an Associate Research Scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (2001-2003), a Research Scientist at the Center for Ocean Land Atmosphere Studies (1997-2001). He conducted his postdoctoral work (1995-1997) at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) in Princeton. His primary interests are the modeling and prediction of global hydrologic, ecologic, and biogeochemical change using the MIT’s Integrated Global Systems Model (IGSM) that includes model development of its terrestrial component – the Global Land System (GLS). His other research endeavors work to improve our observational capabilities for monitoring, understanding and predicting the Earth’s global water and energy cycles, and currently serves as a member of the NASA Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) Science Integration Team. Dr. Schlosser has also undertaken numerical experimentation and observational studies of land hydrologic processes and their role in coupled hydroclimatological variability, and the predictability and prediction of the Earth’s climate system. In doing so, he has worked with a wide range of numerical models, ranging from point-scale models of land biogeophysical processes to general circulation models; and point to global-scale observational data for evaluation and complementary analyses. He also has participated in and led international experiments aimed to assess the performance of land and climate model simulations and predictions (e.g. GSWP 2, PILPS, IPCC, AMIP 2, DSP, SNOWMIP). His current collaborative research activities also include the study of extreme precipitation events and associating their potential changes to shifts in climate regimes, the fate of the arctic permafrost under potential climate warming and subsequent impacts on its biogeochemistry and trace-gas emissions, and climate-water issues on adaptation.

Selected Publications:

Sokolov, A.P., D.W. Kicklighter, J.M. Melillo, B. Felzer, C.A. Schlosser and T.W. Cronin, 2008: Consequences of considering carbon/nitrogen interactions on the feedbacks between climate and the terrestrial carbon cycle, Journal of Climate, 21(15): 377-3796

Asadoorian, M.O., R.S. Eckaus & C.A. Schlosser, 2008: Modeling climate feedbacks to electricity demand: The case of China, Energy Economics, 30(4): 1577-1602

Schlosser, C.A., D. Kicklighter and A. Sokolov, 2007: A Global Land System Framework for Integrated Climate-Change Assessments, MIT Joint Program Report 147, May, 60 pages

Schlosser, C.A., and B. Kirtman, 2007: Predictable skill and its attribution to sea-surface temperature variability in an ensemble climate simulation, J. of Geophysical Research, 110: D19107

Schlosser, C.A., and P. Houser, 2007: Assessing a satellite-era perspective of the global water cycle, J. Climate, 20: 1316-1338

Sokolov, A.P., C.A. Schlosser, S. Dutkiewicz, S. Paltsev, D.W. Kicklighter, H.D. Jacoby, R.G. Prinn, C.E. Forest, J.M. Reilly, C. Wang, B. Felzer, M.C. Sarofim, J. Scott, P.H. Stone, J.M. Melillo and J. Cohen, 2005: The MIT Integrated Global System Model (IGSM) Version 2: Model Description and Baseline Evaluation, Joint Program Report 124, July, 40 pages

Projects:
Quantifying Climate Feedbacks from Abrupt Changes in High-Latitude Trace-Gas Emissions
The NASA Energy and Water-Cycle Study
Waternet: The NASA Water Cycle Solutions Network
Shifts in Extreme Precipitation Events Based on Resolved Atmospheric Changes