HOMEPAGE OF WILLIAM MCKIVER

Vortex Dynamics Research Group

School of Mathematics and Statistics

Unversity of St. Andrews

Fife, KY16 9SS

Scotland

E-mail: william@mcs.st-and.ac.uk

Room 317, Tel: 44 (0)1334 463769


Research Interests

I am currently a post-doctoral researcher in the vortex dynamics research group in St Andrews. The main aim of my research has been to understand vortex interactions in geophysical turbulence using both numerical simulations and analytical or reduced models. As vortices are highly energetic entities and collectively give rise to turbulence they are a crucial driving force within the atmospheric and oceanic circulation. I also do research in the area of biological fluid dynamics, specifically looking at how plankton species are affected by the ocean circulation.

Higher Education

2000-2003 University of St Andrews: PhD in Applied Mathematics "The motion of a quasi-geostrophic ellipsoidal vortex in a background shear flow"

1999-2000 Trinity College Dublin: M.Sc in High Performance Computing.

1995-1999 National University of Ireland, Maynooth: B.Sc. in Mathematical Physics and Experimental Physics.

Papers

W. J. McKiver and D. G. Dritschel 2003.
"The motion of a fluid ellipsoid in a general linear background flow", J. Fluid Mech. 474, 147-173.

D. G. Dritschel, J. N. Reinaud and W. J. McKiver 2004.
"The quasi-geostrophic ellipsoidal vortex model", J. Fluid Mech. 505, 201-223.

W. J. McKiver and D. G. Dritschel 2006.
"The stability of a quasi-geostrophic ellipsoidal vortex in a background shear flow", J. Fluid Mech. 560, 1-17.

W. J. McKiver and D. G. Dritschel 2008.
"Balance in non-hydrostatic rotating stratified turbulence", J. Fluid Mech. 596, 201-219.

W. J. McKiver and Z. Neufeld 2009.
"Influence of turbulent advection on a phytoplankton ecosystem with nonuniform carrying capacity", Phy. Rev. E, 79, 061902.

W. J. McKiver, Z. Neufeld and I. Scheuring 2009.
"Plankton bloom controlled by horizontal stirring", Nonlin. Processes Geophys. 16, 623-630.

W. J. McKiver and Z. Neufeld 2011.
"Resonant plankton patchiness induced by large scale turbulent flow", Phy. Rev. E, 83, 016303.

Conferences, Courses and Seminars

2001, 19-31 Aug Cargese International School, Corsica. Dynamical Barriers, Stirring and Mixing in Geophysical FLows

2002, 9-20 Sep University of Cambridge, UK. Geophysical and Envirnonmental Fluid Dynamics Summer School

2003, 22-27 Jun Keele University, UK. Hydrodynamic Stability Theory

2004, 19-22 Apr University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. BAMC. "Stability of a quasi-geostrophic ellipsoidal vortex in a background shear flow"

2005, 4 Feb NUI Maynooth, Ireland. Seminar on "Introduction to vortex dynamics in geophysical turbulence"

2005, 24-29 Apr Vienna, Austria. EGU. "Diagnosing balance in rotating stably stratified turbulence"

2005, 18 May University of Edinburgh, UK. 18th Annual Scottish Fluid Mechanics meeting. "Diagnosing balance in geophysical turbulence"

2005, 29-31 Aug Toulouse, France. International conference on High Reynolds Number Vortex Interations. "Balance in rotating stably stratified turbulence"

2006, 2-7 Apr Vienna, Austria. EGU. "Nonlinear quasi-geostrophic balance"

2006, 24-27 Apr Keele University, UK. BAMC. "A new balance model for rotating stratified flows"

2006, 7-11 Aug University of Washington, USA. Spontaneous Imbalance Workshop. "Balance and imbalance in non-hydrostatic rotating stratified turbulence"

2008, 21 Mar University of St Andrew, UK. Seminar on "The role of advection in the distribution of plankton"

2008, 13-18 April Vienna, Austria. EGU. "Statistical properties of plankton ecosystems in turbulent flows"

2008, 2-4 Jul Castro Urdiales, Spain. Nonlinear Processes in Oceanic \& Atmospehric Flows. "Model of swimming zooplankton in turbulent flows"

2008, 1-5 Sep Vilanova, Spain. Summer School on Turbulence, Plankton, and Marine Snow

2009, 13 Nov UCD Fluid Dynamics working group, Ireland. Seminar on "The influence of turbulent advection on plankton ecosystems in the ocean"

2010, 31 May - 2 Jun Aber Wrac'h, France. Influence of Meso- and Submesoscale Ocean Dynamics on the Global Carbon Cycle and Marine Ecosytems. "The role of ocean transport in the distribution of plankton"

2011, 13 Jun - 15 Jun Otranto, Italy. CMCC Annual Meeting. "GreenSeas: Development of a global plankton database and model system for eco-climate early warning"

2012, 30 Jan - 1 Feb Grenoble, France. Drakkar Annual Workshop. "PELAGOS025: Using the biogeochemical flux model (BFM) at ORCA025 resolution"

My CV