Sybren Drijfhout

Professor Sybren Drijfhout is a leading climate scientist specializing in physical oceanography at Utrecht University's Faculty of Science. He holds the prestigious Buys Ballot Chair in Climate Dynamics, which he occupies for one day per week. His work is jointly funded by the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), where he works three days per week as a senior scientist in the department of research and development of weather and climate models, and the University of Southampton, where he spends one day per week at the National Oceanography Centre in the Faculty of Ocean and Earth Sciences. Drijfhout served as a lead author for the IPCC AR6 report chapter on 'Ocean, Sea-level, and Cryosphere,' demonstrating his international recognition in climate science.

His primary research interests span multiple critical areas of climate science, with expertise in Paleoclimate, Climate Modelling, Climate Change, and Oceanography. His computational modeling skills enable sophisticated analysis of complex climate systems. His recent work focuses on:

• Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation dynamics and stability
• Sea level rise mechanisms and projections for coastal regions
• Antarctic Ice Sheet modeling and ice-ocean interactions
• Paleo-oceanography and climate tipping points
• Atmosphere-ocean coupling along major current systems
• Climate model evaluation and improvement

Drijfhout's publication record demonstrates a consistent focus on understanding ocean dynamics and their role in climate variability and change. His research spans from fundamental ocean processes to applied climate projections, with particular emphasis on the North Atlantic circulation, sea level rise mechanisms, and polar climate systems. A significant portion of his recent work involves analyzing CMIP6 model outputs to understand climate projections and their uncertainties, often bridging observational data with modeling approaches.

He leads and participates in numerous significant research projects including ODYSEA (Ocean forcing atmospheric variability), SMURPHS (Role of the ocean in the climate hiatus), Blue Action (Connection between North Atlantic and Arctic Sea-Ice and Weather over Europe), and PRIMAVERA (Impact of mesoscales and high resolution in the ocean on coupled climate variability). At KNMI, he serves as project-leader for 'sea-level rise' and is responsible for the new sea-level rise scenarios.

As an educator, Drijfhout supports the course 'Waves in geostrophical fluids' taught by Professor Leo Maas and supervises Master's thesis students. His laboratory work primarily involves computational modeling using advanced climate models including the UK Met Office coupled climate model 'HadGEM3' and the ice-sheet model 'PISM' for Antarctic studies. His research has important implications for climate policy and adaptation planning, particularly regarding sea level rise projections that inform coastal management decisions across Europe.