Group Members#
Principal Investigator#
Dhruv Balwada#
dbalwada@ldeo.columbia.edu
CV
Dhruv is the PI for the Ocean Transport Group and a Lamont Assistant Research Professor at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. His research focuses on understanding ocean turbulence and its role in climate, using an integrated approach combining high-resolution simulations, observations, and machine learning. He is a Lead Scientist in the M²LInES project, a member of the LEAP center, and a recipient of the 2025 AMS Nicholas P. Fofonoff Award.
PhD Students#
Prani Nalluri#
Prani is a PhD student in the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics (APAM), with a focus on geophysical fluid dynamics. They are developing machine learning parameterizations for air-sea fluxes, specifically studying how mesoscale and smaller ocean processes rectify air-sea heat exchange. Prani is funded by the DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (CSGF).
Andrew Marshall Fagerheim#
Andrew is a PhD student in the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences. He is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program. His research interests are in (sub)mesoscale physical oceanography, and he is currently studying eddy stirring and turbulence using Argo float data. In addition to research, Andrew is interested in climate education and advocacy and is a Youth Advisory Board member at The Wild Center, a science and nature museum in the Adirondacks. He can be contacted at afagerheim@ldeo.columbia.edu.
Postdocs#
Feier Yan#
Feier is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. She is developing machine learning emulators for ocean variables, with the goal of enabling data assimilation in the upper ocean from satellite and sparse in-situ observations. Feier received her PhD from the Department of Ocean Sciences at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), where she worked with Julian Mak.
Manuel Othon Gutierrez Villanueva#
Manuel is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University. He works on two complementary areas: (1) using machine learning techniques to combine observations from different instruments (e.g., gliders, Argo floats, etc.) with high-resolution numerical ocean models, to derive data-constrained estimates of high-resolution ocean state and (2) estimating macroturbulence relevant statistics from in-situ current observations, and using these to study long term trends in the oceanic eddy field. Manuel obtained his Ph.D. in Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, where he later worked as Postdoctoral Scholar. Manuel enjoys cooking, reading books (science fiction, mental health, and magic realism), running, and watching football (soccer). He practices freediving regularly (or when the ocean conditions allow) and takes pictures of his favorite ocean critters. manuelgv@ldeo.columbia.edu
Weiguang (Roger) Wu#
Weiguang will be joining the group in August 2026 as a Lamont Postdoctoral Fellow. He will work on understanding submesoscale ocean turbulence using surface drifters, satellites, theory, and high-resolution models. Weiguang is currently completing his PhD from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Physical Oceanography, working with Amala Mahadevan.
Other Researchers#
David A. Lee#
David is a researcher in the LOT group. His research interests are in using SWOT data to understand the physical dynamics of oceans at the coasts and continental shelves, as well as statistical and machine learning methods in climate physics more broadly.
Formerly, David was the Legislative Director to New York State Assemblymember Ron Kim, as well as an Adjunct Professor of Economics at Adelphi University. He writes about the intersection of economics, foreign affairs, statecraft, and science at Alphabet Agency. Beyond his work, David enjoys collecting (and reading) used books.
Trisha Sharan#
Trisha is an undergraduate researcher in the group, majoring in environmental science. She is working on understanding the variability of energy transfers as observed from space. Trisha is supported through work-study funding.
Aayush Parekh#
Aayush is a Masters student in Data Science at Columbia University working with the group. He is applying machine learning methods to process satellite observations of sea surface height from the SWOT mission.
Recent Alumni#
Graduate Students & Research Assistants#
Jingwen Lyu, M.S. APAM, Columbia University (2024-2025)
Yue Wang, M.S. APAM, Columbia University (2024-2025)
Niek Kusters, PhD Student, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (Summer 2023)
Mohammad S. Erfani, LEAP Momentum Fellow, University of South Carolina (Summer 2023)
Martin Brolly, PhD Student, University of Edinburgh (Summer 2022)
Undergraduate Students#
Jack Pope, LDEO REU, Cornell University (Summer 2025)
Jack Alfandre, LEAP REU, University of Michigan (Summer 2024)
Tony Manriquez, LEAP REU, Metropolitan State University of Denver (Summer 2024)
David Venutto, LDEO REU, Dutchess Community College (Summer 2023)
Jianna Martinez, LDEO REU, Barnard College (Summer 2023)
Patricia Luc, Columbia University (2022-2024)