Marianna Linz explores a broad range of topics within climate dynamics, including the distribution of trace gases in the stratosphere, temperature extremes in the troposphere, and heat transport in the ocean. In order to understand what to expect with climate change, it is critical to understand the physics of the current climate system. Dr. Linz’s research seeks to understand the interaction between geophysical flows and the substances they are transporting—be that heat, carbon, ozone, or other physical or chemical tracers. Because observing tracers is much simpler than observing the flow fields themselves, and because the tracers are what cause heat extremes or pollution or ozone depletion, it is critical to understand their interactions with the physics. This research uses a wide range of tools, from simple models to complex chemistry-climate models to satellite and in situ observations. Linz graduated from Harvard in 2011 as the first joint concentrator in Chemistry and Physics and Earth and Planetary Sciences. She has returned after getting her Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Joint Program, and pursuing postdoctoral research at the University of California, Los Angeles.