Evan Amato

Evan Amato is a Professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, affiliated with the Department of Climate, Atmospheric Science, and Physical Oceanography. His research focuses on dust storm dynamics, climate sciences, and ocean-atmosphere interactions. He leads the Evan Research Lab, studying dust emissions from the Salton Sea region and their impacts on radiative forcing and weather patterns. Current projects include analyzing dust impacts on atmospheric rivers and the role of warming in mountain snowpack depletion through UC Dust, a multi-UC center.

Research topics emphasize field measurements, satellite remote sensing, and numerical modeling. Key studies involve dust-radiative interactions, Saharan dust transport mechanisms, and dust effects on precipitation. His work addresses anthropogenic impacts on dust cycles and historical climatic records from the Holocene. Collaboration extends to institutions like California Sea Grant and the PIRATA ocean-atmosphere observation network.

Lab activities include maintaining a field site in the Salton Sea region for continuous aerosol measurements, and data from this site are publicly archived through UCSD Library Digital Collections. Recent research trends highlight interdisciplinary approaches linking aerosol dynamics with global climate systems, particularly in tropical and Mediterranean regions.