About me

Michal Kopera

Michal A. Kopera

Assistant Researcher
Earth and Planetary Sciences
University of California Santa Cruz
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
makopera@ucsc.edu

I am an applied mathematician working at the Earth and Planetary Science Department of UC Santa Cruz, trying to bridge the gap between scientists working on model development, numerical methods and ocean and climate modeling. My research interests include spectral element and discontinuous Galerkin methods, geophysical fluid dynamics, ocean modeling, adaptive mesh refinement and high-performance scientific computing.

Right now I am working on the NUMO project, which aims to build a new non-hydrostatic ocean model capable of simulating ice-sheet/ocean interactions deep within Greenland Fjords. The ultimate goal is to improve the representation of Greenland meltwater impact on ocean circulation and sea level rise in climate models, as well as provide the science community with a tool to research ocean circulation within fjords. From the mathematics point of view, I use advanced high-order numerical methods and deploy them for a very new application, which is an interesting experiment in itself.

On this website, you will find information about my research, a list of publications, as well as a brief CV below. Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions, feedback, and ideas for collaboration.

Experience

Visiting Researcher (Aug 2017 - present),
Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA
Department of Applied Mathematics

Assistant Researcher (Apr 2016 - present),
University of California Santa Cruz,
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

NRC Postdoctoral Fellow (2011 - 2016),
Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA
Department of Applied Mathematics

Visiting Fellow (Aug - Dec 2012),
Isaac Newton Institute,
University of Cambridge, UK

Education

Ph.D., Engineering (2007 - 2011)
The University of Warwick, UK

MSc, Scientific Computing (2006 - 2007)
The University of Warwick, UK

MSc, Mechanical Engineering (2005 - 2006)
Warsaw University of Technology, Poland

BSc, Mechanical Engineering (2001 - 2005)
Warsaw University of Technology, Poland