Glenn R. Flierl

Glenn R. Flierl is a Professor of Oceanography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) within the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). He is affiliated with the MIT-WHOI Joint Program and teaches in the areas of Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate. His research focuses on the fluid dynamics of planetary-scale turbulence, geophysical vortices and jets, and the interplay between ocean flows and ecosystems.

• Bachelor's in Physics, Oberlin College (1970)
• PhD in Physics, Harvard University (1975)

Flierl investigates nonlinear ocean eddies, meandering jets like the Gulf Stream, and their role in transporting heat, nutrients, and pollutants. His work spans theoretical modeling of geophysical flows, biological patchiness, and Hamiltonian dynamics, with applications to climate systems, marine ecosystems, and planetary phenomena such as Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and Enceladus’s cryospheric geysers.

The three most recent articles highlight his contributions to geophysical fluid dynamics, including solitary wave modeling, eddy parameterization for biogeochemical transport, and planetary-scale turbulence. These works intersect with subfields like turbulence modeling, nonlinear dynamics, and numerical simulations applied to oceanic and planetary processes.

• Henry Stommel Research Medal (2015)
• Fluid Dynamics in Earth and Planetary Sciences Lecturer, Kyoto (2015)
• Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2014)

Flierl has directed the NSF-funded iGlobe/MIT Project, an educational outreach tool for visualizing Earth systems, and served as a principal lecturer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Summer School. His research has advanced understanding of turbulent ocean-atmosphere dynamics and their ecological impacts.