Lisa M. Beal is a professor at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

known for her work on the

Agulhas Current The Agulhas Current () is the western boundary current of the southwest Indian Ocean. It flows south along the east coast of Africa from 27°S to 40°S. It is narrow, swift and strong. It is suggested that it is the largest western boundary curren ...

. She is the editor-in-chief of the '' Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans''.

Education and career

Beal grew up in the United Kingdom, and was first attracted to aeronautical engineering as an undergraduate at

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

before changing to oceanography. She earned her Ph.D. from the

working on the

. Following her Ph.D. she did postdoctoral work at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and

Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for oceanography, ocean and Earth science research ...

before moving to the University of Miami in 2003. In 2021 Beal was named editor-in-chief for the ''Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans''. She formerly served as editor for the ocean section of ''Geophysical Research Letters'' from 2014 until 2017.

Research

Beal is known for her work on the Agulhas current, a

western boundary current Boundary currents are ocean currents with dynamics determined by the presence of a coastline, and fall into two distinct categories: western boundary currents and eastern boundary currents. Eastern boundary currents Eastern boundary currents are ...

in the southwest Indian Ocean. She first worked on Agulhas Undercurrent and determined the velocity of the current using acoustic measurements. Her work has defined the role of the Agulhas Current in global climate, particularly through her development of high resolution models She has quantified recent widening of the current and its subsequent impact on transport of heat. Her other work in the area includes investigations into monsoons in the Arabian Sea and monitoring climate change in the Indian Ocean using the Indian Ocean Observing System. In Florida, Beal has used cruise ships such as the

Explorer of the Seas ''Explorer of the Seas'' is a owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International, completed in 2000. She can accommodate over 3,000 guests, including scientists making use of a built-in atmospheric and oceanographic laboratory operated by the U ...

to examine water currents in the Florida Straits and worked on sea level rise in the area around Miami.

Selected publications

* * * * *

Awards and honors

*In 2019, Beal delivered the Marie Tharpe lecture at

GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel The GEOMAR - Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR), former ''Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences'' (German: ''Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften'', IFM-GEOMAR), is a research institute in Kiel, Germany. It was formed in 2004 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beal, Lisa Alumni of the University of Southampton University of Miami faculty Living people American oceanographers Women climatologists Year of birth missing (living people)