Oliver Frauenfeld

Oliver Frauenfeld

Professor

Director of Undergraduate Programs

Climate Change, Synoptic Climatology, Arctic Climate, Surface-Atmosphere Interactions

  oliver.frauenfeld@tamu.edu

  (979) 862-8420

  Eller O&M 814A

Research

My research includes a broad range of topics in climate variability and climatic change. I focus primarily on surface-atmosphere interactions in the Arctic, such as the coupling between frozen ground (permafrost and seasonally frozen areas), sea ice, and other cryospheric variables with the overlying atmosphere. I am also exploring changes in western and southern Africa, with an emphasis on the biosphere and precipitation variability.

Selected Publications

  • Ford, T.W. and O.W. Frauenfeld, 2016: Surface-Atmosphere Moisture Interactions in the Frozen Ground Regions of Eurasia. Scientific Reports, 6, 19163, doi:10.1038/srep19163
  • Chen, L. and O.W. Frauenfeld, 2016: Impacts of Urbanization on Future Climate in China. Climate Dynamics, 47(1), 345-357, doi:10.1007/s00382-015-2840-6
  • Garstang, M., R. E. Davis, K. Leggett, O. W. Frauenfeld, S. Greco, E. Zipser, and M. Petersen, 2014: Response of African elephants (Loxodonta Africana) to seasonal changes in rainfall. PLoS ONE9(10), e108736, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0108736.
  • Chen, L. and O. W. Frauenfeld, 2014: Surface Air Temperature Changes over the 20th and 21st Centuries in China Simulated by 20 CMIP5 Models. Journal of Climate27(11), 3920-3937, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00465.1.
  • Frauenfeld, O. W. and T. Zhang, 2011: An observational 71-year history of seasonally frozen ground changes in the Eurasian high latitudes. Environmental Research Letters6, 044024, doi:10.1088/1748-9326/6/4/044024. [Open Access PDF]

Education

Ph.D., Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia

M.S., Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia

B.A., Environmental Sciences and Spanish, University of Virginia

Awards

Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching (College-Level), College of Geosciences, Texas A&M University, 2020

Dean's Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching, College of Geosciences, Texas A&M University, 2014

Montague-Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar, College of Geosciences, Texas A&M University, 2013–2014

John Russell Mather Paper of the Year Award, Climate Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers, 2006

Additional Information

Experience

  • Associate Professor of Geography, Texas A&M University, 2016-Present
  • Assistant Professor of Geography, Texas A&M University, 2010–2016
  • Affiliate Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, 2010–Present
  • Research Scientist I and II, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Division of Cryospheric and Polar Processes, University of Colorado, 2003–2009
Affiliations
  • Association of American Geographers, 1999–present
    • Climate Specialty Group, 1999–present
    • Cryosphere Specialty Group, 2004–present
  • American Geophysical Union, 1999–present
  • U.S. Permafrost Association, 2003–present

Graduate Students

Rhett Douris, Ph.D. Candidate
Daniel Goolsby, M.S. Candidate
Sam Iles, M.S. Candidate
Blu Patterson, M.S. Candidate

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