Ella Gilbert
Regional Climate Modeller
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Ella Gilbert
Regional Climate Modeller
Biography
I am an honorary researcher at BAS, having completed my PhD and two subsequent research projects here since 2016. Most recently I worked on the EU-funded PolarRES project (www.polarres.eu) which explored how the Arctic and Antarctic climates may change in response to climate change.
My research interests are in high-resolution regional climate modelling, and I am especially interested in atmospheric processes and meteorology, as well as how the atmosphere interacts with ice sheets and ice shelves. I always place my work in the context of globally significant issues like sea level rise, extreme weather and climate, and climate heating across spatial scales.
I am also passionate about communicating science and making climate science accessible to non-scientists. You can find me on Bluesky, Youtube, Instagram and TikTok at @dr_gilbz, and on my website, www.ellagilbert.co.uk.
Research interests
meteorology, climate science, atmospheric dynamics, climate modelling, science communication
Collaborations
News articles for a general audience
Record Antarctic temperatures for the Independent, Feb 2020
Ice shelf vulnerability for The Conversation, Apr 2021
Ice shelf vulnerability for Carbon Brief, Apr 2021
Thwaites glacier piece for The Conversation, Dec 2021
Drivers of melt on Larsen C for Carbon Brief, Apr 2022
2022 heatwave for The Guardian, Jul 2022
Record low Antarctic sea ice for The Conversation, Jul 2023
Exceptional sea ice conditions for Carbon Brief, Jan 2024
Thwaites Glacier melt for BBC Science Focus, Jun 2024
West Antarctic rainfall for Carbon Brief, Feb 2025
Publications from NERC Open Research Archive
2025
Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert, Torres-Alavez, José Abraham, Hofsteenge, Marte G. ORCID record for Marte G. Hofsteenge, van de Berg, Willem Jan ORCID record for Willem Jan van de Berg, Boberg, Fredrik, Christensen, Ole Bøssing ORCID record for Ole Bøssing Christensen, van Dalum, Christiaan Timo ORCID record for Christiaan Timo van Dalum, Fettweis, Xavier ORCID record for Xavier Fettweis, Gumber, Siddharth ORCID record for Siddharth Gumber, Hansen, Nicolaj ORCID record for Nicolaj Hansen, Kittel, Christoph ORCID record for Christoph Kittel, Lambin, Clara, Maure, Damien, Mottram, Ruth ORCID record for Ruth Mottram, Olesen, Martin, Orr, Andrew ORCID record for Andrew Orr, Phillips, Tony ORCID record for Tony Phillips, van Tiggelen, Maurice ORCID record for Maurice van Tiggelen, Verro, Kristiina ORCID record for Kristiina Verro, Mooney, Priscilla A. ORCID record for Priscilla A. Mooney. (2025) The PolarRES dataset: a state-of-the-art regional climate model ensemble for understanding Antarctic climate [preprint]. The Cryosphere [in review], (). pp. doi:10.5194/egusphere-2025-4214
Tuckett, Peter A. ORCID record for Peter A. Tuckett, Sole, Andrew J. ORCID record for Andrew J. Sole, Livingstone, Stephen J. ORCID record for Stephen J. Livingstone, Jones, Julie M. ORCID record for Julie M. Jones, Lea, James M. ORCID record for James M. Lea, Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert. (2025) Continent-wide mapping shows increasing sensitivity of East Antarctica to meltwater ponding. Nature Climate Change, 15 (). pp. doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02363-5
Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert, Pishniak, Denis ORCID record for Denis Pishniak, Torres, José Abraham, Orr, Andrew ORCID record for Andrew Orr, Maclennan, Michelle ORCID record for Michelle Maclennan, Wever, Nander ORCID record for Nander Wever, Verro, Kristiina ORCID record for Kristiina Verro. (2025) Extreme precipitation associated with atmospheric rivers over West Antarctic ice shelves: insights from kilometre-scale regional climate modelling. The Cryosphere, 19 (). 22 pp. doi:10.5194/tc-19-597-2025
2024
Caton Harrison, Thomas ORCID record for Thomas Caton Harrison, Bracegirdle, Thomas J. ORCID record for Thomas J. Bracegirdle, Davrinche, Cécile, Dutrieux, Pierre ORCID record for Pierre Dutrieux, Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert, Haigh, Michael ORCID record for Michael Haigh, Jones, Julie M., Kent, Elizabeth C. ORCID record for Elizabeth C. Kent, King, John ORCID record for John King, Lu, Hua ORCID record for Hua Lu, Price, Ruth ORCID record for Ruth Price, Schmidt, Christina, Vignon, Étienne, Wiener, Valentin. (2024) Advances and next steps in observing and modeling Antarctica’s coastal winds. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 105 (). 7 pp. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0247.1
Hansen, Nicolaj, Orr, Andrew ORCID record for Andrew Orr, Zou, Xun, Boberg, Fredrik, Bracegirdle, Thomas J. ORCID record for Thomas J. Bracegirdle, Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert, Langen, Peter L., Lazzara, Matthew A., Mottram, Ruth, Phillips, Tony ORCID record for Tony Phillips, Price, Ruth ORCID record for Ruth Price, Simonsen, Sebastian B., Webster, Stuart. (2024) The importance of cloud properties when assessing surface melting in an offline-coupled firn model over Ross Ice shelf, West Antarctica. The Cryosphere, 18 (). 20 pp. 10.5194/tc-18-2897-2024
Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert, Holmes, Caroline ORCID record for Caroline Holmes. (2024) 2023’s Antarctic sea ice extent is the lowest on record. Weather, 79 (). 6 pp. 10.1002/wea.4518
2023
Lu, Hua ORCID record for Hua Lu, Orr, Andrew ORCID record for Andrew Orr, King, John C. ORCID record for John C. King, Phillips, Tony ORCID record for Tony Phillips, Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert, Colwell, Steve R., Bracegirdle, Thomas J. ORCID record for Thomas J. Bracegirdle. (2023) Extreme warm events in the South Orkney Islands, Southern Ocean: Compounding influence of atmospheric rivers and föhn conditions. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 149 (). 24 pp. 10.1002/qj.4578
Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert. (2023) Weather in my life. Weather, 78 (). pp. 10.1002/wea.4420
Orr, Andrew ORCID record for Andrew Orr, Deb, Pranab, Clem, Kyle R., Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert, Bromwich, David H., Boberg, Fredrik, Colwell, Steve, Hansen, Nicolaj, Lazzara, Matthew A., Mooney, Priscilla A., Mottram, Ruth, Niwano, Masashi, Phillips, Tony ORCID record for Tony Phillips, Pishniak, Denys, Reijmer, Carleen H., van de Berg, Willem Jan, Webster, Stuart, Zou, Xun. (2023) Characteristics of surface “melt potential” over Antarctic ice shelves based on regional atmospheric model simulations of summer air temperature extremes from 1979/80 to 2018/19. Journal of Climate, 36 (). 27 pp. 10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0386.1
2022
Kittel, Christoph, Amory, Charles, Hofer, Stefan, Agosta, Cécile, Jourdain, Nicolas C., Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert, Le Toumelin, Louis, Vignon, Étienne, Gallée, Hubert, Fettweis, Xavier. (2022) Clouds drive differences in future surface melt over the Antarctic ice shelves. The Cryosphere, 16 (). 15 pp. 10.5194/tc-16-2655-2022
Gilbert, E. ORCID record for E. Gilbert, Orr, A. ORCID record for A. Orr, Renfrew, I.A., King, J.C. ORCID record for J.C. King, Lachlan-Cope, T. ORCID record for T. Lachlan-Cope. (2022) A 20‐year study of melt processes over Larsen C Ice Shelf using a high‐resolution regional atmospheric model: Part 2, Drivers of surface melting. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 127 (). 19 pp. 10.1029/2021JD036012
Gilbert, E. ORCID record for E. Gilbert, Orr, A. ORCID record for A. Orr, King, J.C. ORCID record for J.C. King, Renfrew, I., Lachlan-Cope, T.A. ORCID record for T.A. Lachlan-Cope. (2022) A 20-year study of melt processes over Larsen C Ice Shelf using a high-resolution regional atmospheric model: Part 1, Model configuration and validation. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 127 (). 17 pp. 10.1029/2021JD034766
2021
Gilbert, E. ORCID record for E. Gilbert, Kittel, C.. (2021) Surface melt and runoff on Antarctic ice shelves at 1.5°C, 2°C and 4°C of future warming. Geophysical Research Letters, 48 (). 9 pp. 10.1029/2020GL091733
2020
Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert. (2020) Atmospheric drivers of surface melting on the Larsen C ice shelf, Antarctic Peninsula. University of East Anglia, PhD thesis
Elvidge, Andrew D., Kuipers Munneke, Peter, King, John C. ORCID record for John C. King, Renfrew, Ian A., Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert. (2020) Atmospheric drivers of melt on Larsen C Ice Shelf: surface energy budget regimes and the impact of foehn. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 125 (). pp. 10.1029/2020JD032463
Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert, Orr, Andrew ORCID record for Andrew Orr, King, John C. ORCID record for John C. King, Renfrew, I.A., Lachlan-Cope, Thomas ORCID record for Thomas Lachlan-Cope, Field, P.F., Boutle, I.A.. (2020) Summertime cloud phase strongly influences surface melting on the Larsen C ice shelf, Antarctica. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 146 (). pp. 10.1002/qj.3753
2018
Kuipers Munneke, P., Luckman, A.J., Bevan, S.L., Smeets, C.J.P.P., Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert, van den Broeke, M.R., Wang, W., Zender, C., Hubbard, B., Ashmore, D., Orr, Andrew ORCID record for Andrew Orr, King, John C. ORCID record for John C. King, Kulessa, B.. (2018) Intense winter surface melt on an Antarctic ice shelf. Geophysical Research Letters, 45 (). pp. 10.1029/2018GL077899
2025
New study reveals what brings rainfall to ice shelves in West Antarctica
News 11 February, 2025
2023
The mystery of the missing Antarctic sea ice
News 3 August, 2023
2022
British Antarctic Survey at COP27
News 7 November, 2022
Researchers identify biggest threats to Larsen C ice shelf
News 14 April, 2022
2020
Antarctica: Mystery of the ice
Event 18 June, 2020
2018
“Hairdryer winds” cause ice melt during Antarctic winter
News 3 May, 2018
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Web: www.ellagilbert.co.uk