Dorian AbbotAssociate Professor

Research Focus:

Climate, paleoclimate, ice, habitability, and exoplanets

Email:

abbot@uchicago.edu

Office:

Hinds 571

Biography

I have an undergraduate degree in physics (2004, Harvard) and a PhD in applied math (2008, Harvard). I came to the University of Chicago as a Chamberlin Fellow and stayed on as a faculty member.

Research Interests

I use mathematical and computational models to understand and explain fundamental problems in Earth and Planetary Sciences. I have worked on problems related to climate, paleoclimate, the cryosphere, planetary habitability, and exoplanets, but I'm always excited to think about new things. I work best with students who have strong mathematical skills that they want to apply to cool problems. Recently I've been focusing a lot of effort on terrestrial exoplanets and habitability. We have a really great community with three faculty in our department and three in astronomy working on exoplanets. Here is a list of our recent PhD graduates in the area.

Selected Publications

• Bean, J.L., D.S. Abbot and E. M.-R. Kempton (2017), A Statistical Comparative Planetology Approach to the Hunt for Habitable Exoplanets and Life Beyond the Solar System, Astrophysical Journal, 841:L24. PDF

• Checlair, J., K. Menou, and D.S. Abbot (2017), No snowball on habitable tidally locked planets, Astrophysical Journal, 845:132. PDF

• Yang, J., M.F. Jansen, F.A. MacDonald, and D.S. Abbot (2017), Persistence of A Surface Freshwater Ocean After A Snowball Earth, Geology, 45(7), 615–618. PDF

Fun stuff

• Interview in Japanese documentary where I get an awesome Samurai voice
• "We Are Climate Scientists" music video
• What does ET look like?
• Helping to promote the album "Singer's Grave a Sea of Tongues" by Bonnie Prince Billy

Science Family Pics

Utah hike!

Jade conquering Snowbird!

Ridin' on the City of New Orleans!

Huh?

Paintball!

Professor Dog