Argonne is pleased to welcome Pengfei Xue as a Joint Appointee–Scientist in the Environmental Science Division. As an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan Technological University (MTU) and the Director of the Numerical Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at MTU’s Great Lakes Research Center, Dr. Xue brings his experience in hydrodynamic and regional climate modeling to bear on interdisciplinary studies of all five of the Great Lakes. His research at MTU focuses primarily on the development and application of an integrated regional earth system model (IRESM) for the Great Lakes region. An IRESM — which consists of fully coupled atmosphere, lake, ice, wave, sediment, land surface, and other modeling components — can be applied to a wide range of important hydrodynamic, environmental, climate, and ecosystem problems. Thus, his initial efforts at Argonne will focus on the Great Lakes region and will include analyzing and predicting short-term and long-term responses of the system to climate stressors.

Dr. Xue’s doctoral study in Oceanography at the University of Massachusetts Intercampus Marine Science program and post-doctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology provided broad exposure to a number of marine systems, including the Maritime Continent, the Persian/Arabian Gulf, the East China Sea, the Gulf of Maine, and Massachusetts Coastal Waters.

Xue’s joint appointment will expand the already deep capabilities of both institutions, including the following:

• Building a more comprehensive predictive understanding of coastal systems by applying IRESMs across broader scales.
• Developing efficient means to integrate coastal processes, climate impact, and environmental sustainability into IRESMs.
• Transforming our understanding of interactions between natural and anthropogenic dimensions.
• Strengthening research ties by developing a bi-directional network to advance research individually and between Argonne and MTU, supporting research dissemination and information exchange, providing access to unique resources at both institutions, and increasing awareness of career opportunities for students and scientists.

Great Lakes Research Center Director Dr. Andrew Barnard agrees, ​“Dr. Xue’s collaborative work with Argonne, resulting in this joint appointment, will develop stronger ties between Michigan Tech and Argonne, resulting in cutting-edge science and engineering solutions in predictive hydrodynamics. The Great Lakes Research Center at Michigan Tech is pleased to support Dr. Xue and his Argonne collaborators to improve Great Lakes and coastal ocean modeling.”

This joint appointment is the first between Argonne and MTU.