Henry Peterson

Henry Peterson is a Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate in Environmental Science and Engineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), within the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences. He completed his B.A. in applied mathematics with a focus on fluid mechanics at UC Berkeley in 2019 and has been conducting graduate studies at Caltech since then. His research explores abyssal ocean circulation dynamics, turbulent mixing, and boundary layer interactions with the ocean interior. He was awarded a fellowship from the Schmidt Academy for Software Engineering to develop an open-source finite element model of abyssal circulation.

Education

• B.A. in Applied Mathematics, UC Berkeley (2019)
• Graduate Studies in Environmental Science and Engineering, Caltech (2019–present)

Research Interests

Henry’s work centers on understanding how turbulent mixing and boundary layer dynamics influence oceanic circulation patterns. His projects include numerical and analytical modeling of abyssal processes and their implications for global climate systems. He actively contributes to open-source computational tools for geophysical fluid dynamics.

Awards

• Fellowship from the Schmidt Academy for Software Engineering (2025)

Advising & Grants

His research is advised by Jörn Callies. The Schmidt Academy fellowship supports his development of finite element models for ocean circulation analysis.

Labs/Teams

Henry collaborates closely with the Caltech Environmental Science and Engineering department, focusing on numerical simulations and theoretical modeling of Earth’s fluid systems.