Predicting Instabilities in Transient Landforms and Interconnected Ecosystems
Dr. Taylor Smith
On Thursday, 20 November 2025, Dr. Taylor Smith (Universität Potsdam) will give a lecture in the Geocolloquium series.
20.11.2025
13:15, Lecture hall C.011
Dr. Taylor Smith (Universität Potsdam)
Predicting Instabilities in Transient Landforms and Interconnected Ecosystems
Abstract: Many parts of the Earth system are thought to have multiple stable equilibrium states, with the potential for rapid and sometimes catastrophic shifts between them. A lot of recent scholarship has focused on understanding tipping points in large-scale systems – such as the Amazon Rainforest, Greenland Ice Sheet, and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation – using similar time-series based methods. In my talk I will present two main findings: (1) a novel method for examining tipping points in seasonal and spatio-temporal fields of data, and (2) applications of this new method to a system that has so far not been studied using the framework of tipping points: glacier surge events.
Scientific Vita: My research focuses on extracting signals from diverse environmental datasets. I completed a PhD at Uni Potsdam (2018) in Remote Sensing, with a focus on changes in snow-water storage across High Mountain Asia. My current projects are focused on monitoring high-altitude rivers in Nepal, quantifying the state and fate of snow-water resources throughout Eurasia, and understanding the resilience of natural ecosystems. Link to homepage: https://tasmi.github.io/