Paloma Trascasa-Castro

PhD Candidate in Climate Science, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, University of Leeds
I am a postgraduate researcher looking at how different climate states modulate El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its impacts. My supervisors are Dr Amanda Maycock (University of Leeds), Dr Yohan Ruprich-Robert (Barcelona Supercomputing Center) and Prof Piers Forster (University of Leeds).

I obtained my undergraduate degree in Environmental Science at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain). My BSc dissertation was focused on understanding how large-scale climate variability such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) affects local climate and weather conditions in Madrid, with a special focus on the urban heat island effect and air pollution episodes. I did a year abroad at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, where I developed my interest for ENSO and its impacts on ecosystems and populations.

In 2018 I enrolled in an MRes in climate and atmospheric science at the University of Leeds. My masters’ thesis was entitled “European climate response to El Niño-Southern Oscillation”, which later on was adapted and published in Journal of Climate. In 2019 I co-founded “The Climate Press”, an outreach project aimed to bring climate science closer to everyone. We’ve produced a number of podcasts and blogs that you can find here: www.theclimatepress.com

During the early stages of my PhD, I worked as a demonstrator in the masters’ modules “Physical Science Basis of Climate Change” and “Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation”.

I am particularly interested in large-scale climate variability. More specifically, the first part of my PhD project consists on understanding how the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV) modulates ENSO and its impacts. My future research includes assessing ENSO and its teleconnections under climate change conditions. I enjoy learning about all things climate-related, especially climate change projections, climate extremes, teleconnections, seasonal forecasts and climate variability in the troposphere and stratosphere.