About me
Earth’s atmosphere is the stuff of small talk (how about that storm?) and big questions: Why is Earth’s atmosphere the way it is? How is it changing? How should we think about these changes?
The combination of weather and climate caught hold of me before I was even a teenager, as I pored over weather models to predict when I could build the next snowfort while also learning that everyday actions by people like me will change the planet for millennia.
Now, I am an atmospheric scientist specializing in stratosphere-troposphere dynamics and photochemistry. I am also a climate communicator.
My work builds rigorous understanding of the atmosphere through the analysis of observations and a hierarchy of models ranging from pencil-and-paper theory to high-performance computer models.
I am currently a postdoc working with Peter Hitchcock at Cornell University. We are working to understand how surface warming affects the tropical tropopause layer and stratosphere, thinking carefully about the effects of uniform versus patterned warming as mediated through changes in convection, the large-scale circulation, waves, ozone, and water vapor. A key tool we are developing, with Peter Blossey and Blaz Gasparini, is the first-ever cloud-resolving model with a (simplified) representation of ozone photochemistry, which will help us explore fundamental questions about the structure and sensitivities of an atmosphere in radiative-convective-photochemical equilibrium.
Previously, I was an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences with Ed Gerber at NYU. We developed a new explanation for the basic shape of the ozone layer, finding that textbook explanations in terms of photochemistry alone omitted the proper effects of transport. We discovered that part of Earth’s upper stratosphere is photochemically destabilizing, i.e., where ozone reductions aloft perturb ultraviolet fluxes to cause further ozone reductions below (the opposite of the well-known phenomenon of “self-healing”, which occurs at lower altitudes). We also showed that model-predicted reductions in tropical lower stratospheric ozone due to global warming arise not only from strengthened upwelling, as was well known, but also from tropospheric expansion.
My Ph.D. is in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from Princeton University where I was advised by Stephan Fueglistaler. We studied the dominant wind pattern in the tropical stratosphere, which is alternating easterly and westerly winds that descend with a period of about 28 months, called the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO). We revisited why the QBO doesn’t descend below 70 hPa (about 18.5 km), finding that the classical explanation had the answer improperly built in through a zero-wind lower boundary condition—a logical circularity. Breaking the circularity revealed that the lower stratospheric QBO vanishes because it is damped by lateral momentum exchange. In response to global warming, the QBO is expected to shift upwards with the expanding troposphere, weakening it at any given altitude, yet this signal has not yet emerged.
Currently, uniting my interests in the QBO and ozone, I am the Community Lead for Working Group 3 of Quasi-biennial oscillation and Ozone Chemistry interactions in the Atmosphere (QUOCA), focused on Analytical Models and Linearized Ozone Parameterizations. Towards these efforts, Peter Hitchcock and I have been developing ModPAC (Modular Photochemistry in an Atmospheric Column). I am also participating in an ISSI group on using observations to learn about QBO-ozone interactions. Reach out if you want to contribute to QUOCA WG3.
Broadly, I believe that climate science will be most useful to society if we (scientists) are open about our uncertainties and welcoming of diverse reactions to our results. Our scientific authority rests on trust that we must continually (re-)earn. I perform climate outreach with scientific colleagues through the non-profit organization I co-founded in 2019 called Climate Up Close. We have gone on seven tours, each consisting of events where we share our understanding of what is certain and uncertain about climate change (benchmarked against the IPCC) in a non-prescriptive and non-judgmental way. We have reached thousands of Americans at places of worship, libraries, bars, and environmental centers. Our 2026 tour will be in North Carolina from October 9-12.
My outreach feeds back onto my research. I have been working with Benjamin Schaffer and Stephan Fueglistaler on the theory of extreme event impact attribution. This work resolves key interpretive questions, and poses new ones, about methods that have been proposed to be used in litigation, reparations, adaptation, and planning.
Happenings
June 2026: A three-part visit to Europe: (1) Visited Thomas Birner’s group at LMU Munich for two weeks, giving a talk: “A conceptual model of the tropical ozone profile through the stratosphere and troposphere”; (2) joined the Princeton AOS field trip and presented an introduction to the stratosphere on a flipchart by a campfire on Lake Sils, Switzerland; and, (3) participated in our second ISSI group meeting in Bern on observations of QBO-ozone interactions.
March 2026: Visited the Yale University Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and presented “Understanding Earth’s changing stratosphere and troposphere”.
January 2026: New paper out in GMD describing a modeling protocol for studying QBO-ozone interactions: Orbe et al., Experimental protocol for phase 1 of the APARC QUOCA (QUasibiennial oscillation and Ozone Chemistry interactions in the Atmosphere) working group [doi]
January 2026: Gave an invited talk at the AMS Annual Meeting in Houston, TX: “Understanding the stratospheric ozone response to surface warming”.
October 2025: Presented “Interpreting differences between the frequency-change and intensity-change approaches for attributing extreme event costs to climate change” at the Cornell University Atmospheric and Climate Science Seminar.
October 2025: Visited Princeton University for 5 days and co-presented “Interpreting differences between the frequency-change and intensity-change approaches for attributing extreme event costs to climate change” with Ben Schaffer at the Climate Brown Bag Seminar. Thanks to my Ph.D. supervisor, Stephan Fueglistaler, for hosting!
October 2025: Visited the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling (ACOM) for 8 days and presented “Simple models of tropical ozone and its response to surface warming”. Thanks to Bill Randel for hosting!
August 2025: Presented “Exploring coupling between convection and ozone” at the 11th Northeast Tropical Workshop hosted by the University at Albany.
July 2025: Interviewed along with Andrew Williams on the Three Degrees podcast to discuss Climate Up Close, having recently completed our Nebraska tour (our seventh tour). Podcast
June 2025: Presented the essentials of climate change on the Climate Up Close Summer Tour of Nebraska. We held 8 events in Lincoln and Omaha, at churches, an environmental center, a bar, and an observatory, reaching 350 attendees. Our presentation to the Unitarian Church of Lincoln was livestreamed. Recording
June 2025: Podcast-style interview promoting our upcoming Climate Up Close tour on KZUM’s Our Street. Episode (Episode is entitled “Climate change” and aired on 6/23/25)
May 2025: Selected as one of the 2024 Outstanding Reviewers for JGR: Atmospheres.
April 2025: New paper published: Match, A., and Gerber, E. P.,: The double dip: how tropospheric expansion counteracts increases in extratropical stratospheric ozone under global warming, GRL, 52, e2024GL112409, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112409, 2025
April 2025: New paper published: Match, A., Gerber, E. P., and Fueglistaler, S.: Protection without poison: why tropical ozone maximizes in the interior of the atmosphere, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4349–4366, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4349-2025, 2025.
April 2025: Presented A conceptual model for the tropical [O3] profile to the Vecchi/Soden/+ group meeting. Thanks to Ivan Mitevski and Emma Levin for organizing.
April 2025: Participated in an ISSI meeting on investigating QBO-ozone interactions in Bern, Switzerland.
March 2025: Attended the QBOi-SNAP-QUOCA meeting in Cambridge, UK. Gave an invited talk on A conceptual model for the tropical [O3] profile, which was selected as a best talk by an Early Career Researcher. Also led a brainstorming session for future activities by QUOCA Working Group 3 on Analytical Models and Linearized Ozone Parameterizations.
March 2025: Visited University of St. Andrews (Scotland) and presented Protection without Poison: Why tropical ozone number density peaks around 26 km. Much appreciation to Graeme MacGilchrist for hosting the visit.
February 2025: Presented the scientific consensus on climate change to a high school Climate Fiction class in New Hampshire.
December 2024: Gave an invited talk at AGU Fall Meeting 2024 on Protection without Poison: Why tropical ozone number density peaks around 26 km. Thanks to the conveners: Paul Newman, Natalya Kramarova, and Bill Randel. Also presented another talk (The Double Dip: How tropospheric expansion counteracts increases in extratropical stratospheric ozone under global warming) and a poster (On the complementarity of extreme event costs attributed to changes in frequency versus intensity).
November 2024: Presented the scientific consensus on climate change with Climate Up Close to the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Commissions.
October 2024: Moved to Ithaca to begin a postdoc with Peter Hitchcock at Cornell University! We will be funded by the NSF grant we co-wrote called “From surface warming to stratospheric change”. The project includes co-PI Jonathan Lin and unfunded collaborators Peter Blossey, Blaž Gasparini, and Ed Gerber.
September 2024: Presented “Protection without poison: why tropical ozone maximizes in the interior of the atmosphere” at the NYU CAOS seminar. Thus concludes my fruitful postdoc with Ed Gerber.
September 2024: New paper published: Match, A., E.P. Gerber, S. Fueglistaler, 2024: Beyond self-healing: stabilizing and destabilizing photochemical adjustment of the ozone layer. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10305–10322. doi
September 2024: Visited the University of Washington Department of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences for three days, presenting “Protection without poison: why tropical ozone maximizes in the interior of the atmosphere”. Much appreciation to Peter Blossey for hosting my visit and to Clayton Sasaki for his hospitality.
August 2024: Presented the scientific consensus on climate change to New Hampshirites on our 2024 Climate Up Close tour, with 6 events reaching 200 people at churches, a synagogue, a museum, and an environmental center. Press coverage by Granite Geek and NHPR.
July 2024: Presented “Beyond self-healing: Stabilizing and destabilizing photochemical adjustment of the ozone layer” at the Quadrennial Ozone Symposium in Boulder, CO. Recording on Youtube
June 2024: Presented “Protection without poison: why ozone maximizes in the interior of the atmosphere” at AMS AOFD/MA meeting in Burlington, VT. | Recording on Youtube
June 2024: Received an AGU 2023 Editor’s Citation for excellence in reviewing of JGR: Atmospheres.
June 2024: New pre-print posted: “Protection without poison: Why tropical ozone maximizes in the interior of the atmosphere” for discussion in ACP. Feedback and comments welcome.
April 2024: Presented “Protection without poison: why ozone maximizes in the interior of the atmosphere” at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory OCP Seminar. Thanks to Dhruv Balwada, Sam Bartusek, and Clare Singer for helping to organize the visit. | Recording on Youtube
February 2024: Presented “Explaining ozone layer structure and self-healing” at NASA GISS Lunch Seminar Series. Thanks to Clara Orbe and Maggie DeLessio for hosting my visit. | Recording on Youtube
January 2024: Co-led an informal workshop at Princeton University, “Extreme Event Attribution: A critical review” with Ben Schaffer.
January 2024: New pre-print posted: “Beyond self-healing: Stabilizing and destabilizing photochemical adjustment of the ozone layer”. Feedback and comments welcome.
January 2024: Presented “Beyond self-healing: Stabilizing and destabilizing photochemical adjustment of the ozone layer” to the Princeton AOS Dynamics Seminar.
April 2023: Presented “Understanding the stratospheric ozone response to global warming” at the 2023 EGU General Assembly session on Dynamics and Chemistry of the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere.
April 2023: Presented “Simple models of stratospheric ozone photochemistry” while visiting several institutions around Europe, with many thanks to my hosts at each stop: University of Reading (Keith Shine), Cambridge University (Alison Ming), Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (Hauke Schmidt), Free University of Berlin (Stephan Pfahl), and Institute of Atmospheric Physics and the University of Munich (Thomas Birner and Hella Garny).
March 2023: Commenced a five-week academic tour around Europe by participating in the QBO workshop at Oxford. Gave a talk on the buffer zone of the QBO and its sensitivity to global warming. Thanks to the organizers for a splendid workshop!
February 2023: Presented “Revisiting simple models of ozone photochemistry: structure, self-healing, and sensitivity to global warming” at Harvard ClimaTea. Thanks to Stephen Bourguet for organizing the visit.
December 2022: Presented a talk at the AGU Fall Meeting entitled “Revisiting the ozone response to global warming” in the session on Stratospheric and Tropospheric Composition Changes: Observations and Modeling of Special Events, Feedback Mechanisms, and Long-Term Trends.
November 2022: Presented at the Columbia University SEAS Colloquium in Climate Science: “Understanding how stratospheric ozone responds to global warming”. Thanks to Simon Lee and Lorenzo Polvani for helping arrange the visit.
November 2022: Visited Professor Peter Hitchcock and numerous undergraduate mentors at the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences department at Cornell University, where I presented recent work: “Understanding how stratospheric ozone responds to global warming”.
October 2022: Presented a poster, “Understanding the stratospheric ozone response to global warming”, at the SPARC General Assembly (Boulder hub).
September 2022: First paper from my postdoc is out: Match, A., E.P. Gerber, 2022: Tropospheric expansion under global warming reduces tropical lower stratospheric ozone. Geophysical Research Letters. 49, 19, 1-12. doi
August 2022: Presented “Ozone at Spectroclim: Why does ozone have an interior maximum? How does ozone respond to global warming?” at From Spectroscopy to Climate hosted by the Princeton University Center for Theoretical Science.
August 2022: Climate Up Close toured Central New Jersey, with public events at the Somerset County Environmental Education Center and Princeton Friends Meeting.
June 2022: Presented “The Decade the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation Faltered: Have disruptions provoked a crisis in QBO science?” at 23rd Conference on Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics in Breckenridge, CO, USA. Recording from AMS | Recording on Youtube
March 2022: Climate Up Close presented to the Good Food Institute, a non-profit working to accelerate the alternative protein industry.
March 2022: Presented my Ph.D. work on “The Unified Internal Dynamics and Global Interactions of the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation” to my new colleagues at the NYU Center for Atmosphere Ocean Science.
February 2022: Co-presented a climate outreach talk “Setting climate activism in a broader context of environmental and social action” at Chisuk Emuna Congregation in Harrisburg, PA along with Ben Schaffer and Emma Ignaszewski.
January 2022: Presented an invited talk on “The Buffer Zone of the QBO: Theory of Formation and Future Projections” at the 21st Conference on the Middle Atmosphere at the 2022 AMS Annual Meeting.
January 2022: Our climate science communication tour with Climate Up Close in Florida’s Forgotten Coast reached hundreds of folks in Port St. Joe, Eastpoint, Tallahassee, Wakulla Springs, and Apalachicola. Local news coverage
December 2021: Began my NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences working with Ed Gerber at NYU.
December 2021: The final paper from my Ph.D. work with Stephan Fueglistaler is out in Journal of Climate: "Large Internal Variability Dominates over Global Warming Signal in Observed Lower Stratospheric QBO Amplitude". Link
November 2021: I created this new website. Thanks to Henri Drake for providing a tutorial to our department.