Gudrun Magnusdottir

Biography

Gudrun Magnusdottir, Ph.D., is Professor in the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine. She received a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on atmospheric and climate dynamics, atmosphere and ocean interactions, and atmosphere and sea-ice interactions. She uses a combination of observations and a hierarchy of numerical models to study dynamical processes in the atmosphere, and climate variability. Much of her research is focused on understanding processes that can lead to extended predictive skill of atmospheric phenomena, including extreme events, by considering the slower components of the climate system, not only surface processes (such as ocean, sea ice and snow) but also stratospheric circulations that through stratosphere-troposphere coupling can improve predictive skill on seasonal time scales.

Magnusdottir has served in numerous leadership roles in the atmospheric sciences community. She was elected to the Board of Trustees of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) for two terms (2014-2017 and 2018-2021), where she served on the Executive Committee and chaired the Personnel Committee. She served as Chair of the US CLIVAR Scientific Steering Committee (2021-2022) and has been Editor of Geophysical Research Letters since 2018. She previously served as Editor of the Journal of Climate (2004-2007) and Chair of the American Meteorological Society's Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics committee (2004-2007). She has also served on advisory boards for the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Department of Energy's Energy Exascale Earth System Model.

Magnusdottir is an elected Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (2021). She served as Chair of the Department of Earth System Science at UC Irvine from 2013 to 2017. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Energy, NASA, and the California Department of Water Resources. She has supervised twelve Ph.D. students to completion and mentored numerous postdoctoral researchers.

Education

• B.S. in Physics, University of Iceland, 1979
• M.S. in Atmospheric Science (Radiation), Colorado State University, 1982
• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science (Dynamics), Colorado State University, 1989

Distinctions

• The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics coordinator of a 10-week program, 2025
• Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, 2022
• Award from the CA Dept of Water Resources for excellence in service, 2022
• The Rossby Fellowship, 2012
• Award by the Royal Society, 1995
• Award by the Royal Meteorological Society, 1993
• UCI School of Physical Sciences Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1997