Junior Carnegie Mellon University 20 Years Physics

"I had an amazing summer in China, and rather than describe my experience, I’d like to offer some advice to those considering the program.  If you’re reading this then you’re most likely interested in the program and the best advice I can give is to GO FOR IT!  It is an incredible opportunity to be given the chance to do research in China, plus there are few excuses not to go since 1. you get paid and 2. you don’t need to know Chinese.

I’d say that the key to a successful summer is challenging yourself.  This means challenging yourself both with your research and with the culture:

When you first get there, try your best to make a good impression on your mentor.  You may be able to decide on your research project, but the actual details of the project and who you get as a mentor is largely out of your control.  Maybe your mentor will be very busy and seems not to care about your project and maybe your project seems too short (these are just worst case scenarios which could just as easily happen with a REU in the States as in China).  Show your mentor that you’re interested in the project and if necessary search for new topics you can extend your research to.  It’s up to you to make the most of your research, whatever the situation. 

Just as with your research, experiencing the Chinese culture depends solely on you.  Experiencing the culture is not as passive as it sounds, and it requires an active role on your part.  The graduate students in your office may be shy so try to get to know them as best as possible.  Conversation with many of them will be frustrating since there will be difficulties in understanding each other and the conversations will be kept fairly simple.  Don’t let this discourage you.  Communication is much more than just conversation.  Invite the graduate students to lunch, play sports or games with them, visit places in the city with them, whatever it takes to get to know them.  This goes for any other Chinese people you meet.  I feel that getting to know the people is the absolute best way to experience the culture and it will open up many more unexpected opportunities.  Take a course in Chinese too.  This is something that the Dalian group did instead of Qingdao, make us proud future Qindaoers!  Of course visiting new places and trying new things in your city is another essential part of experiencing the culture.  This is even easier than getting to know people, just don’t get lazy about it!  Really experiencing the culture is difficult, maybe even more so than your research.  The hotel offers a very easy escape from this and so again, it’s up to you to challenge yourself.  Start experiencing from the beginning, when it’s easiest, and don’t let up. 

My regret is getting too involved in my project and not getting to know my graduate students or the city as well as I would have liked to, always thinking I would have more time at the end of the summer.  Don’t have regrets like me.  As long as you’re respectful, open, and up for a challenge or two, you’ll have the summer of a lifetime."

We have estimated the Kuroshio axis from east of the Philippines to the beginning of the Kuroshio Extension south of Japan every 10 days from October 1992 to August 2001 with the velocity field of the North Pacific obtained from combining satellite altimeter data with drifting buoy data.  This was done by following the strongest sea-surface velocity in increments of approximately 10 km.  By observing the axis across 11 different sections throughout The Kuroshio’s path, we have shown strong evidence that intraseasonal long Rossby waves are the dominant cause of intraseasonal variations in the position and velocity of the Kuroshio.  We found that the significance of these intraseasonal variations depends on the number of Rossby waves entering the area, which is larger at lower latitudes.  The maximum velocity is also dependent on the intrusion of Rossby waves and is nearly inversely proportional to the variations of the position of the axis.  We have also obtained many properties of the Kuroshio using our model which may be investigated further in future research.