Abigail L. S. Swann is an

Associate Professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

Atmospheric Sciences Atmospheric science is the study of the Earth's atmosphere and its various inner-working physical processes. Meteorology includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics with a major focus on weather forecasting. Climatology is the study ...

and

Ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. Her research group focuses on questions that examine the interactions between plants and climate.

Early life and education

Swann grew up in Glen Ellen, CA and now resides in

Seattle, WA Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. She received her bachelor's degree in earth and planetary sciences at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. She then attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

for her master's degree in earth and environmental sciences. She returned to the

to complete her Ph.D. Her thesis advisor was

Inez Fung Inez Fung (; born April 11, 1949) is a professor of atmospheric science at the University of California, Berkeley, jointly appointed in the department of earth and planetary science and the department of environmental science, policy and managemen ...

. She was also a competitive youth and collegiate

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

, winning the

US Sailing The United States Sailing Association (US Sailing) is the national governing body for sailing in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Bristol, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. US Sailing offe ...

Junior Women's Doublehanded Championship (Ida Lewis Trophy) and the collegiate sailing Robert Hobbes Sportsmanship Award.

Career and research

Swann is an Associate Professor of

Atmospheric Science Atmospheric science is the study of the Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere and its various inner-working physical processes. Meteorology includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics with a major focus on weather forecasting. Clima ...

and

at the

. She uses

climate model Numerical climate models (or climate system models) are mathematical models that can simulate the interactions of important drivers of climate. These drivers are the atmosphere, oceans, land surface and ice. Scientists use climate models to st ...

s to simulate the way that

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

s influence

Earth's climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorolog ...

. She has made a number of discoveries about how changes in the

biosphere The biosphere (), also called the ecosphere (), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also be termed the zone of life on the Earth. The biosphere (which is technically a spherical shell) is virtually a closed system with regard to mat ...

may influence our climate. For example, she predicts that the addition of

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

forests in the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

may cause warming both by reducing the amount of area covered by reflective ice and by increasing the amount of

water vapor Water vapor, water vapour, or aqueous vapor is the gaseous phase of Properties of water, water. It is one Phase (matter), state of water within the hydrosphere. Water vapor can be produced from the evaporation or boiling of liquid water or from th ...

in the

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

through

evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the combined processes which move water from the Earth's surface (open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation) into the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of w ...

. While additional forests in mid latitudes across North America and Eurasia, may influence forests as far away as the tropics. Her group also examines how plants adapt to shifts in climate. For example, she found that plants use less water as CO₂ increases, decreasing the severity of drought response and thus changing the way climate models should be built. Her findings on the influence of plants on the environment have been reported by ''Quanta'' magazine, ''Geographical'' Magazine, ''Inside Science'', and multiple UW news publications. Swann serves as a co-chair of the Biogeochemistry Working Group, Community Earth System Model, and National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Notable publications

* * * * *

Awards and honors

* American Geophysical Union Global Environmental Change Early Career Award, 2019 * Ecological Society of America Early Career Fellow, 2019 * Science News 10 Scientists to Watch, 2019 * Jon C. Graff, Ph.D. Prize for Excellence in Science Communications, 2019 * Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow, 2018 *

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

CAREER Faculty Early Career Development Award, 2016 * DISCCRS VI Scholar, 2011 * Giorgio Ruffolo Post-Doctoral fellow in Sustainability Science, 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swann, Abigail Year of birth missing (living people) Living people University of California, Berkeley alumni Columbia University alumni University of Washington faculty Academics from California

Early life and education

Career and research

Notable publications

Awards and honors

See also

References