Shuwen Tan (谭舒文)

Incoming Assistant Professor

Department of Marine Sciences | University of Connecticut

Biography

I am looking for PhD students to start in Fall 2025, especially those interested in modeling wave- or flow-topography interactions. Please click for more information.

I will start as an Assistant Professor in Physical Oceanography at the University of Connecticut on January 1st, 2025. My research focuses on oceanic processes driven by interactions with topography, including dense overflows, flow hydraulics, internal waves, and turbulent mixing, as well as their impacts on Earth’s climate. My lab at UConn, the Ocean Dynamics and Climate Lab, aims to use a combination of theoretical approaches, numerical models, and in-situ observations to (1) improve the fundamental understanding of multi-scale topographic effects in stratified ocean flows and (2) assess how the ocean changes under climate change, providing geophysical insights to help evaluate and mitigate climate-related risks.

Download my CV.

Interests

Internal Waves
Coastal Oceanography
Flow over Topography
Deep Ocean Circulation
Data-driven Analysis

Education

PhD in Physical Oceanography, 2020
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
BS in Marine Science, 2014
Ocean University of China

Experience

Assistant Professor

Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut

Jan 2025 – Present Groton, CT, USA

Postdoctoral Scholar

Oceans Department, Stanford University

Jul 2024 – Dec 2024 Stanford, CA, USA

Postdoctoral Scholar

University of California, Irvine

Dec 2022 – Jun 2024 Irvine, CA, USA

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University

Apr 2021 – Dec 2022 New York, NY, USA

US GO-SHIP Postdoctoral Fellow

Graduate Research Assistant

Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Sep 2014 – Aug 2020 Qingdao, China

Guest Student

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Sep 2017 – Sep 2019 Woods Hole, MA, USA

Projects

Energetics of internal solitary waves interacting with a conical island

Part of the ONR project “Refraction and Reflection of Nonlinear Internal Waves from Steep Topography”

Decadal Abyssal Ocean Stratification Change

A US GO-SHIP-sponsored project to study changes in the abyssal ocean.

Flow hydraulics in deep ocean passages

Hydraulically controlled flow is ubiquitous in deep ocean passages and is often accompanied by strong instabilities and turbulent mixing.

Rotating Hydraulics and Samaon Passage Applications

Rotating hydraulic theory for flow in a multi-passage system and its application to the Samoan Passage transport prediction.

Publications

Shuwen Tan (谭舒文), A. M. Thurnherr (2023). On the global decrease in the deep and abyssal density stratification along the spreading pathways of Antarctic Bottom Water since the 1990s. GRL.

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G. Voet, M. H. Alford, J. M. Cusack, L. J. Pratt, J. B. Girton, G. S. Carter, J. M. Klymak, Shuwen Tan (谭舒文), A. M. Thurnherr (2023). Energy and Momentum of a Density-Driven Overflow in the Samoan Passage. JPO.

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D. Yuan, X. Yin, X. Li, C. Corvianawatie, Z. Wang, Y. Li, Y. Yang, X. Hu, J. Wang, Shuwen Tan (谭舒文) (2022). A Maluku Sea intermediate western boundary current connecting Pacific Ocean circulation to the Indonesian Throughflow. Nat Commun.

PDF DOI

Shuwen Tan (谭舒文), L. J. Pratt, G. Voet, J. M. Cusack, K. R. Helfrich, M. H. Alford, J. B. Girton, G. S. Carter (2022). Hydraulic control of flow in a multi-passage system connecting two basins. JFM.

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