Alessandro Gagliardi

(he/him)

PhD candidate in Paleoclimate Dynamics

Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research

Professional Summary

Who am I?

I am a PhD candidate in Physics (Paleoclimate Dynamics) at the Alfred Wegener Institute and the University of Bremen. I use Greenland ice cores to study atmospheric rivers, blocking and extreme weather over Europe. I have also joined two research expeditions to the Arctic Ocean, both of which reached the North Pole.

Where do I come from?

I came to climate science from statistics, with a PhD in Statistical Sciences from the University of Padua. I then decided to do a second PhD, not just to train as a climate scientist, but also because I feel a deep rooted sense of belonging to this field.

Where am I going?

I am fascinated by warm and moist air intrusions and extreme events in the polar regions, especially atmospheric rivers, and I am eager to keep learning and grow into an expert in this field.

Education

PhD in Statistical Sciences

University of Padua, Italy

Master's Degree in Computer Science

Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy

Bachelor's Degree in Statistics and Computer Science for Business Management

Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy

Interests

Polar research Atmospheric Rivers Large-scale Atmospheric Circulation Dynamics Climate Variability Paleoclimate Applied Statistics

My Research

My PhD asks what Greenland ice cores can tell us about the weather systems that carry heat and moisture into the Arctic and bring extreme weather to Europe. In my first paper, I showed that ice cores from a transect across northern Greenland record winter extreme events in Europe (Climate of the Past, 2026). I am now studying how atmospheric rivers leave their mark on the oxygen isotopes stored in the ice, and how changes in large-scale circulation are reshaping atmospheric river activity in northern Europe.

I have also contributed to research on past Arctic sea ice, as a co-author of two studies that use bromine enrichment in ice cores to reconstruct it: one on sea ice changes in Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea during the abrupt climate changes of the last glacial period (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022), and one that calibrates Arctic ice core bromine records against satellite sea ice observations, to make these reconstructions more reliable (Science of The Total Environment, 2024).

In addition, I have worked on marine heatwaves, as a co-author of two studies: one on the record-breaking marine heatwaves of 2023–2024 (Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 2025), and one on the biogeochemical impacts of the 2019 marine heatwave in the Northeast Pacific (Geophysical Research Letters, 2025).

Featured Publications

Northern Greenland transect stacked ice cores as a proxy for winter extreme events in Europe

Alessandro Gagliardi

• Jan 1, 2026 • 1 min read

Publications and Conference Proceedings

Alessandro Gagliardi, S. M. Vallejo-Bernal, P. Yiou, D. Faranda (2026). Changes in large-scale circulation reshapes atmospheric river activity in northern Europe. In International Atmospheric Rivers Conference (IARC2026).

Alessandro Gagliardi, C. Leroy-Dos Santos, N. Rimbu, M. Casado, A. Cauquoin, A. Landais, M. Werner, G. Lohmann, M. Ionita (2026). Imprint of atmospheric rivers on stable-oxygen isotopes ratio in Greenland ice cores: an assessment. In EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts.

DOI

Alessandro Gagliardi (2026). Northern Greenland transect stacked ice cores as a proxy for winter extreme events in Europe. Climate of the Past, 22(5), 935–955.

DOI

E. Biscaro, F. Scoto, D. Segato, V. Amoruso, G. Celli, E. Gipponi, S. Matoba, Y. Iizuka, R. Uemura, D. Flocco, Alessandro Gagliardi, B. Stenni, A. Spolaor (2026). Two centuries of Greenland Sea ice dynamics and export from the SouthEast Dome II ice core. In International Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences (IPICS), Banff Centre, Canada.

F. Scoto, N. Maffezzoli, A. Saiz-López, C. A. Cuevas, Alessandro Gagliardi, C. Varin, A. Spolaor (2025). A novel method for sea ice reconstructions using satellite calibration of bromine enrichment records in Arctic ice cores. In EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, EGU25-15866.

DOI

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Conferences