Andre R. ErlerCurriculum Vitae

504 Glenelm CrescentWaterloo, N2L 5C8H (416) 358 5979

B A.R.Erler@gmail.comgithub.com/aerler

linkedin.com/in/aerlerÍ physics.utoronto.ca/∼aerler

Doctoral Thesis (2015)Title High-resolution Hydro-climatological Projections for Western Canada

Advisor Prof. Dr. W. Richard PeltierDescription An analysis of the impact of anthropogenic climate change on the hydrological

cycle and on hydro-climatic extremes based on an ensemble of global climateprojections that have been dynamically downscaled to 10 km resolution overwestern Canada.

Masters Thesis (Diplomarbeit, 2008)Title The Static Stability of the Tropopause Region in Baroclinic Life-cycle Experi-

mentsAdvisor Prof. Dr. Volkmar Wirth

Description An investigation of the Tropopause Inversion Layer and its formation afterbaroclinic wave-breaking in idealized simulations of cyclogenesis.

Research Interests{ Statistical analysis of hydro-climatic extremes{ Hydrological impacts of climate change{ Regional and global climate modeling{ High performance computing and Big Data in science{ Machine learning techniques in earth sciences{ Climate change adaptation and sustainable development

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Education2009 – 2015 Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (Climate Dynamics), University of

Toronto, Canada.Advisor: W. Richard Peltier (2012 - 2015), Theodore G. Shepherd (2009 - 2011),Thesis: High-resolution Hydro-climatological Projections for Western Canada

2006 – 2008 Diplom in Meteorology (Masters), University of Mainz, Germany.Advisor: Volkmar Wirth (2008), Thesis: The Static Stability of the TropopauseRegion in Baroclinic Life-cycle Experiments

2004 – 2005 Undergraduate Studies in Physics, National University of Singapore,Singapore.Student Exchange Program

2002 – 2006 Undergraduate Studies in Physics, Technical University of Darmstadt,Germany.Vordiplom and one year Hauptstudium

Scholarships, Awards & Stipends2015 OCE TalentEdge Fellowship (Ontario Centres of Excellence)2015 5th NCAR Climate Informatics Workshop Full Travel Award

2014 – 2015 Doctoral Completion Grant (Department of Physics, University of Toronto)2013 Alpine Summer School (Italy) Full Stipend2013 SOSCIP Graduate Stipend2010 Alpine Summer School (Italy) Full Stipend

2009 – 2015 Faculty for Arts and Sciences Graduate Fellowship Award (University of Toronto)

Additional Training and Qualifications2015 Scientific Computing Certificate, SciNet High Performance Computing Centre,

University of Toronto2014 Graduate Professional Skills Program, School of Graduate Studies, University of

Toronto2013 Alpine Summer School: Climate Change and the Mountain Environment, ISAC-

CNR & LMD-ENS, Aosta Valley, Italy2013 High Performance Computing Certificate, SciNet High Performance Computing

Centre, University of Toronto2013 Advanced University Teaching Certificate, Teaching Assistant Training Program,

University of Toronto

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2012 CESM Tutorial (Community Earth System Model), National Center for Atmo-spheric Research, Boulder (CO), USA

2012 WRF Tutorial (Weather Research & Forecast model), National Center forAtmospheric Research, Boulder (CO), USA

2011 Software Carpentry Course, Department of Computer Science, University ofToronto

2010 Alpine Summer School: Buoyancy–driven Flows, ISAC-CNR & LMD-ENS, Italy,Aosta Valley

2009 Parallel Programing in MPI and OpenMP, SciNet High Performance ComputingCentre, University of Toronto

Computer SkillsBasic HTML, R, SQL, Java, C/C++, hadoop, (Open-)Office, Windows, QGIS

Intermediate Matlab, Fortran, bash/Shell, LINUX/UNIX, GDAL, Computer HardwareAdvanced python/IPython, NumPy/SciPy, LATEX

LanguagesNative German Mother tongueFluent English Full professional proficiencyBasic Latin Basic words and phrases (reading only)Basic Chinese Basic words and phrases, some characters

Personal Interests{ Food Security, Sustainable Development and Globalization{ Open Source Software { Computer Security{ Climate Change and Society { Running (Marathon){ Alpine Sports (Mountaineering, Skiing, Rock Climbing)

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Professional Experience

Research2015 – present Post-doctoral Scientist, Aquanty Hydrosphere Analytics, Waterloo, Canada.

{ Implementing and prototyping a real-time monitoring system for soil moistureand flood risk for agricultural applications in Ontario. The system is based thesurface-subsurface hydrologic model HGS and utilizes the Ensemble Kalman-Filterassimilation technique.

{ Leading the climate modeling and downscaling work that generates the meteoro-logical inputs for hydrological modeling. This involves validation and statisticalbias-correction of climate (model) data as well as close collaboration with hydrolo-gists on experimental design, analysis, and interpretation.

{ I continue to develop the dynamical downscaling and analysis tools and lines ofinquiry I have developed as part of my dissertation. I am also training two graduatestudents at the University of Toronto in the techniques I have developed.

2008 – 2015 Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Physics, University of Toronto.{ Developed a novel approach to detect changes in rare extreme events due to climate

change using extreme value theory and clustering techniques.{ Designed and implemented a highly efficient, portable, and automated system for

running regional climate model simulations (dynamical downscaling) that is nowbeing used by other colleagues and students.

{ Since 2012 I collaborated with hydrologists from Aquanty in modeling and assess-ment of climate change impacts in the Athabasca river basin (Alberta, Canada).

{ Continuing development of an in-house Python package to manipulate geo-spatialdatasets: reprojection/regridding, statistical analysis, and graphical display usingNetCDF4, GDAL, Numpy, SciPy, SciKit-learn, and Matplotlib.

{ Contributed to an open-source Python package (PyGeode).2007 – 2008 Undergraduate Research Assistant, Institute for Atmospheric Physics, Uni-

versity of Mainz.Working on my Masters Thesis (Diplomarbeit) I performed idealized simulations usinga numerical weather prediction model in a high performance computing environment;I also developed extensive Matlab code for post-processing and analysis.

2005 Summer Student, Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing, Na-tional University of Singapore.Developed an artificial neural network approach to estimate coastal water depth fromsatellite images based on color channels (using Matlab).

2004 Summer Student, European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany.Assisted scientists in simple scientific computation and visualization tasks (using IDL).

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Teaching (TA)2014 The Magic of Physics, University of Toronto.

A 1st year breadth-requirement course that introduces the basic concepts of modernphysics without any mathematics. I conducted a bi-weekly tutorial and marked essays.

2014 Physics of Everyday Life, University of Toronto.A 2nd year breadth-requirement course for students with no mathematical backgroundthat introduces common physical phenomena and concepts. I conducted a bi-weeklytutorial and marked assignments.

2010 – 2013 Physics and Chemistry of Planet Earth, University of Toronto.An introductory course that covers the basics of Planetary Science, Geophysics,Climate Science, and Renewable Energy for environmental science student (2nd yearor higher). I was in charge of the tutorials, including the syllabus, teaching, andevaluation. The latter involved grading of essays on various environmental topics.

2008 – 2012 Introduction to Physics (specialist, non-specialist), University of Toronto.A standard 1st year introductory physics course. I have taught tutorials and labs andmarked assignments and tests for physics specialist and non-specialist sections.

2008 Atmospheric Dynamics, University of Mainz.An advanced undergraduate course in atmospheric fluid dynamics (3rd year or higher).

Additional Academic Activities2015 – present Contributor to the Scientific Coders student group, University of Toronto2013 – 2014 Contributor to the Climate and Society Reading Group, School of the Environ-

ment, University of Toronto2011 – 2013 Contributor to the Computing and Climate Reading Group, Department of

Computer Science, University of Toronto2009 – 2013 Contributor to the Atmospheric Physics Journal Club, Department of Physics,

University of Toronto2011 Science Rendezvous outreach volunteer, University of Toronto2010 Contributor to WIDEN (Workshop for Interdisciplinary Engagement and Novelty),

University of Toronto

Membership in Professional Societies2013 – present American Geophysical Union2011 – present American Meteorological Society2010 – present Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society2007 – 2012 Deutsche Meteorologische Gesellschaft (German Meteorological Society)

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Miscellaneous2001 – 2002 Military Service (Medic), Medical Service, German Army.

Assisted physicians; managed pharmacy inventory; on-call medical duties.

Extra-curricular Activities2015 – present Member of the Alpine Club of Canada2009 – 2013 Active Member of the University of Toronto Karate Club2011 – 2012 University of Toronto Outing Club trip leader

2012 Wilderness First Aid Certificate2009 – 2011 Running Group Leader, Graduate House Residence, Toronto

2003 – present Long distance running (completed 6 full marathons)2002 – 2005 Active Member of the TU Darmstadt Taekwondo Club

2002 PADI Open Water Diver (Scuba Diving License)2000 – 2006 Active Member of the German Alpine Club (DAV, Sektion Frankfurt/Main)

References

{ Prof. Dr. W. Richard Peltier (PhD supervisor): peltier@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca{ Prof. Dr. Paul J. Kushner (committee member): paul.kushner@utoronto.ca{ Prof. Dr. Dylan B. A. Jones (committee member): dbj@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca{ Prof. Dr. Brian Menounos (collaborator): Brian.Menounos@unbc.ca

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Publications

Journal ArticlesAndre R. Erler and W Richard Peltier. Projected changes in precipitation extremes forwestern canada based on high-resolution regional climate simulations. Journal of Climate,2016.

Andre R. Erler, W. Richard Peltier, and Marc d’Orgeville. Dynamically Downscaled High-Resolution Hydroclimate Projections for Western Canada. Journal of Climate, 28(2):423–450,2015.

Marc d’Orgeville, W. Richard Peltier, Andre R. Erler, and Jonathan Gula. Climate changeimpacts on Great Lakes Basin precipitation extremes. Journal of Geophysical Research:Atmospheres, 119(18):10–799, 2014.

Bel Helen Burgess, Andre R. Erler, and Theodore G. Shepherd. The troposphere-to-stratosphere transition in kinetic energy spectra and nonlinear spectral fluxes as seen inECMWF analyses. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 70(2):669–687, 2013.

Andre R. Erler and Volkmar Wirth. The static stability of the tropopause region in adiabaticbaroclinic life cycle experiments. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 68(6):1178–1193,2011.

In PreparationSteven Frey, Andre R. Erler, and Young-Jin Park. The Impact of Climate Change on WaterResources in the Grand River Watershed. TBA, 2017. In preperation.

Andre R. Erler, Brian Menounos, and W. Richard Peltier. Very High Resolution Simulationsof Orographic Precipitation and Snowmelt. TBA, 2017. In preperation.

Marc d’Orgeville, W. Richard Peltier, and Andre R. Erler. Uncertainty in Future SummerPrecipitation on the Great Lakes Basin due to Drought in the South-Western US. Journal ofGeophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2016. In preperation.

Andre R. Erler and W. Richard Peltier. Projected Hydrological Changes in Two Major RiverBasins in Western Canada. Journal of Climate, 2016. Submitted.

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Talks and Presentations

Conference Papers2016 Erler, Andre R., M. d’Orgeville, W. R. Peltier: Hydro-climate Projections for

the Great Lakes Region. IAGLR Conference, Guelph, Canada2015 Erler, Andre R., W. R. Peltier: Clustering of Station Observations for Extreme

Value Analysis. Climate Informatics Workshop, Boulder (CO), USA. (Poster)2013 Erler, Andre R., W. R. Peltier: High Resolution Hydro-Climate Projections for

Western Canada. AGU Annual Fall Meeting, San Francisco (CA), USA. (Talk)2012 Erler, Andre R., B. H. Burgess, T. G. Shepherd: The Atmospheric Kinetic

Energy Spectrum and Nonlinear Spectral Fluxes as seen in ECMWF OperationalAnalyses. CIRES IMARGe Workshop (NCAR), Boulder (CO), USA. (Talk)

2011 Erler, Andre R., R. Field, T. G. Shepherd: The Thermal and DynamicalTropopause in Baroclinic Eddies. AOFD Conf., Spokane (WA), USA. (Talk)

2011 Erler, Andre R., R. Field, D. B. Jones, T. G. Shepherd: An Objective Definitionof the Tropopause. CMOS Congress, Victoria, Canada. (Talk)

2010 Erler, Andre R., and V. Wirth: The Static Stability of the Tropopause Regionin Baroclinic Life-cycle Experiments. CMOS Congress, Ottawa, Canada. (Talk)

2009 Erler, Andre R., and V. Wirth: The Tropopause Inversion Layer in BaroclinicLife-cycle Experiments. AOFD Conference (AMS), Stowe (VT), USA. (Poster)

2008 Erler, Andre R., and V. Wirth: The impact of conservative dynamics on theLagrangian mean static stability in the extratropical tropopause region. EGUGeneral Assembly 2008, Vienna, Austria. (Poster)

Public Talks2016 “Climate Projections for Western Canada”, Alberta Federation of Agriculture

Annual General Meeting, Red Deer, Canada2016 “A Class to Manage Large Ensembles and Batch Execution in Python”,

PyCon Canada, Toronto2015 “An Example of SciKit-learn and SciPy used for the Analysis of Extreme Weather”,

PyCon Canada, Toronto2015 “Orchestrating a climate modeling data pipeline”, PyCon Canada, Toronto2010 “Sustainable Energy — Without the Hot Air”, WIDEN, University of Toronto

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Seminars and Technical Talks2016 ”High Resolution Hydro-climatological Projections for the Great Lakes Region“,

Great Lakes Seminar Series, GLERL, Ann Arbor (MI), USA2015 ”High Resolution Hydro-climatological Projections for Western Canada“, Institute

for Atmospheric Physics, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany2015 ”High Resolution Hydro-climatological Projections for Western Canada“, Re-

search Application Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research2013 ”The Atmospheric Kinetic Energy Spectrum and Nonlinear Spectral Fluxes as seen

in ECMWF Operational Analyses“, Institute for Atmosphere and Environment,University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt/Main, Germany

2013 ”Dynamical Downscaling of Climate Projections over Complex Terrain“, Institutefor Atmospheric Physics, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany

2013 ”Dynamical Downscaling of Climate Projections over Western Canada“,8th Northern High Performance Computing Spring Conference, University ofNorthern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada

2010 ”The Dynamical Formation of a Tropopause Inversion Layer in Baroclinic Life—cycle Experiments“, Institute for Atmospheric Physics, University of Mainz,Mainz, Germany

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