Rosie Williams

Ice Sheet Modeller

Rosie Williams

Team

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Rosie Williams

Biography

  • 2023-ongoing Deputy Science Leader for Ice Dynamics and Palaeoclimate (IDP).
  • 2010- present Ice sheet modeller, British Antarctic Survey
  • 2005-09 PhD University of Glasgow, Department of Mathematics. Title: “Pattern formation and hydrogen production in suspensions of swimming green algae”. Date awarded: December, 2009.
  • BSc (First Class) in Mathematics, University College London, 2002-2005.

Research interests

I am an ice sheet modeller specialising in combining physics-based models with remote and field observations and machine learning. I am interested in improving projections of the future of Antarctica by bringing together data assimilation and a deeper understanding of the important physical processes within the ice sheet and its interactions with the ocean and atmosphere. I am part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration MELT project and the NERC-funded ENSO-WAIS project, which aims to quantify the retreat of  the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the context of both anthropogenic change and natural variability. Previously at BAS I have worked on NERC-funded projects to investigate the propagation of ocean-driven ice-shelf thinning and consequences for the interior of Antarctica and global sea level, and on model initialisation as part of  the EU funded ice2sea programme.

I am a mathematician by training and have previously worked on constructing, modifying and evaluating mathematical models of biological systems. Projects I have worked on include modelling the collective swimming behaviour of microorganisms and constructing a dynamical model of hydrogen production from green algae.

Current and recent grants:

2024-2028: Co-Investigator and Work Package lead (PI: Professor Tony Payne), Interacting ice Sheet and Ocean Tipping – Indicators, Processes, Impacts and Challenges (ISOTIPIC),  NERC Highlight Topic.

2022-2026: Co-Investigator and Work Package Lead (PI: Dr Louise Sime), SURface FluxEs In AnTarctica (SURFEIT), NC-International.

2021-2022: Co-Investigator (PI: Dr Scott Hosking), Towards an Antarctic Digital Twin for instantaneous decision-making . NERC feasibility study (5 months),

2019-2024: Co-Investigator (PI: Dr Robert Arthern), West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat in the context of ENSO variability (ENSO-WAIS), NERC Standard Grant.

2018-2025: (PIs: Dr Keith Nicholls and Professor David Holland) Melting at Thwaites grounding zone and its control on sea level, International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC-MELT). NSF/NERC.

 

 

Collaborations

  • Williams, C. R. and Bees, M. A. 2011 Photo-gyrotactic bioconvection, Fluid Mech., 678, 41-86 (doi:10.1017/jfm.2011.100)
  • Williams, C. R. and Bees, M. A. 2011 A tale of three taxes: photo-gyro-gravitactic bioconvection, Exp. Biol., 214, 2398-2408 (doi:10.1242/jeb.051094)
    • Featured in ‘Inside JEB’, 214, 2011 and ‘Nature research highlights’, 474, page 544, June 2011.
  • Williams, C. R. 2009 Pattern formation and hydrogen production in suspensions of swimming green algae, PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, December 2009. Available online at http://theses.gla.ac.uk/1370/

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

2024

Bett, David T. ORCIDORCID record for David T. Bett, Bradley, Alexander T. ORCIDORCID record for Alexander T. Bradley, Williams, C. Rosie, Holland, Paul R. ORCIDORCID record for Paul R. Holland, Arthern, Robert J. ORCIDORCID record for Robert J. Arthern, Goldberg, Daniel N.. (2024) Coupled ice–ocean interactions during future retreat of West Antarctic ice streams in the Amundsen Sea sector. The Cryosphere, 18 (). 23 pp. 10.5194/tc-18-2653-2024

Bradley, Alexander T. ORCIDORCID record for Alexander T. Bradley, Arthern, Robert J. ORCIDORCID record for Robert J. Arthern, Bett, David T. ORCIDORCID record for David T. Bett, Williams, C. Rosie, Byrne, James ORCIDORCID record for James Byrne. (2024) WAVI.jl: Ice Sheet Modelling in Julia. Journal of Open Source Software, 9 (). pp. 10.21105/joss.05584

Bradley, Alexander T. ORCIDORCID record for Alexander T. Bradley, Bett, David T. ORCIDORCID record for David T. Bett, Holland, Paul R. ORCIDORCID record for Paul R. Holland, Williams, C. Rosie, Arthern, Robert J. ORCIDORCID record for Robert J. Arthern, De Rydt, Jan. (2024) A framework for estimating the anthropogenic part of Antarctica’s sea level contribution in a synthetic setting. Communications Earth and Environment, 5 (). 12 pp. 10.1038/s43247-024-01287-w

2023

2022

Bradley, Alexander T. ORCIDORCID record for Alexander T. Bradley, Williams, C. Rosie, Jenkins, Adrian, Arthern, Robert ORCIDORCID record for Robert Arthern. (2022) Asymptotic analysis of subglacial plumes in stratified environments. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 478 (). pp. 10.1098/rspa.2021.0846

2020

Cornford, Stephen L., Seroussi, Helene, Asay-Davis, Xylar S., Gudmundsson, G. Hilmar, Arthern, Robert ORCIDORCID record for Robert Arthern, Borstad, Chris, Christmann, Julia, Dias dos Santos, Thiago, Feldmann, Johannes, Goldberg, Daniel, Hoffman, Matthew J., Humbert, Angelika, Kleiner, Thomas, Leguy, Gunter, Lipscomb, William H., Merino, Nacho, Durand, Gaël, Morlighem, Mathieu, Pollard, David, Rückamp, Martin, Williams, C. Rosie, Yu, Hongju. (2020) Results of the third Marine Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project (MISMIP+). The Cryosphere, 14 (). pp. 10.5194/tc-14-2283-2020

2017

Arthern, Robert J. ORCIDORCID record for Robert J. Arthern, Williams, C. Rosie. (2017) The sensitivity of West Antarctica to the submarine melting feedback. Geophysical Research Letters, 44 (). pp. doi:10.1002/2017GL072514

2015

Arthern, Robert J. ORCIDORCID record for Robert J. Arthern, Hindmarsh, Richard C.A. ORCIDORCID record for Richard C.A. Hindmarsh, Williams, C. Rosie. (2015) Flow speed within the Antarctic ice sheet and its controls inferred from satellite observations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 120 (). pp. 10.1002/2014JF003239

2014

Williams, C. Rosie, Hindmarsh, Richard C.A. ORCIDORCID record for Richard C.A. Hindmarsh, Arthern, Robert J. ORCIDORCID record for Robert J. Arthern. (2014) Calculating balance velocities with a membrane stress correction. Journal of Glaciology, 60 (). pp. doi:10.3189/2014JoG13j092

Williams, C. R., Bees, M. A.. (2014) Mechanistic modeling of sulfur-deprived photosynthesis and hydrogen production in suspensions of Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 111 (). pp. 10.1002/bit.25023

2013

Barrand, Nicholas E., Hindmarsh, Richard C.A. ORCIDORCID record for Richard C.A. Hindmarsh, Arthern, Robert J. ORCIDORCID record for Robert J. Arthern, Williams, C. Rosie, Mouginot, Jérémie, Scheuchl, Bernd, Rignot, Eric, Ligtenberg, Stefan R.M., Van Den Broeke, Michiel R., Edwards, Tamsin L., Cook, Alison J., Simonsen, Sebastian B.. (2013) Computing the volume response of the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet to warming scenarios to 2200. Journal of Glaciology, 59 (). pp. doi:10.3189/2013JoG12J139

2012

McEwan, W. A., Hauler, F., Williams, C. R., Bidgood, S. R., Mallery, D. L., Crowther, R. A., James, L. C.. (2012) Regulation of Virus Neutralization and the Persistent Fraction by TRIM21. Journal of Virology, 86 (). pp. doi:10.1128/JVI.00728-12

Williams, C. Rosie, Hindmarsh, Richard C.A. ORCIDORCID record for Richard C.A. Hindmarsh, Arthern, Robert J. ORCIDORCID record for Robert J. Arthern. (2012) Frequency response of ice streams. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 468 (). pp. 10.1098/rspa.2012.0180