I’m Adam Michael Bauer, postdoctoral researcher at the Univeristy of Chicago’s Department of Geophysical Sciences and the Climate Systems Engineering Initiative (CSEi). I am jointly advised by B. B. Cael and David Keith. My work leverages insights from climate science and economics to guide sound decision-making about climate policy under uncerainty. Check out my CV if you want more information on my research and academic background.
Research manifesto
I am an interdisciplinarian, working at the nexus of climate physics, economics, and policy (with a little computational science mixed in for good measure). My style of research isn’t necessarily to hone in and be “the world expert” on one particular topic (though I have written papers for subject-specific field journals, like Journal of Climate and Environmental and Resource Economics). Rather, I prefer to sit at the nexus between fields, in my case, between climate physics and economics, and write papers that are insightful for both. I especially love building bridges between disciplines to bring about new collaborations and ideas that push the frontier of our understanding.
Here’s a short-list of topics I’m interested in and/or have worked on:
- Decision-making under uncertainty
- Climate engineering (i.e., solar radiation management)
- Stochastic modeling
- Variational data assimilation and machine learning
- Deep uncertainty modeling
- Earth’s systems models (or ESMs, I’m particularly interested in how end-users should utilize ESMs in decision-making)
- Decarbonization investment strategies
- The physics of heat waves
Past lives
I completed my Ph.D. in physics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in November of 2024. I was co-mentored by Cristi Proistosescu, PI of the Climate Dynamics and Data Science @ UIUC group, and Gernot Wagner, a climate-economist at Columbia Business School. I was fortunate to win the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in 2022, which supported me for the latter part of my degree. I was extra lucky to be a consultant for the World Bank Group’s Climate Change Division during the final two years of my degree, where I worked in the global practice office under Stephane Hallegatte and Florent McIsaac.
I did my undergraduate studies at the University of Arizona (UArizona), where I graduated with a B.S. in physics (with honors) and a B.S. in mathematics, along with a minor in astronomy and astrophysics. I worked on numerous projects during my undergraduate years, including projects related to understanding massive galaxy clusters, the fluid mechanics of the solar wind, and the inner horizon(s) of black holes. I won the Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award from the UArizona College of Science for my contributions to each of these fields.
I grew up in Buffalo, New York, an upbringing that prepared me well for the cold midwestern winters. In my spare time, I rock climb. A lot. I also play chess (poorly) and try to study it as often as I can. I enjoy reading, especially books on history, economics, and philosophy, as well as really, really corny self-help books. (Check out my book reviews if you’d like to learn more.) I also listen to way too many podcasts and music across a variety of genres (especially EDM). I also love sports, and closely follow college and professional football, as well as basketball and soccer.
