Research

I am inspired by observed phenomena in the Earth system and motivated to understand their underlying fluid physics. My interests span the ocean and its interactions with the atmosphere and sea ice. My current research focuses on ocean dynamics, the air–sea interface, and surface waves.

Trained as a mathematician, I approach problems by formulating and analyzing equations, interpreting observational data and model output, and conducting numerical experiments. I particularly enjoy stochastic methods, asymptotic analysis, geospatial statistics, and scientific computing.

Publications

Submitted

• The impact of two-dimensional filtering on SWOT observations with white noise
  Dù, R. S., Hell, M., Lenain, L., Ardhuin, F., Villas Bôas, A. B. (2026) · Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, In revision

  

Peer-reviewed

• Emergent vorticity asymmetry of one and two-layer shallow water system captured by a next-order balanced model
  Dù, R. S., Smith, K. S. (2025) · Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 1025, A62

  

• Next-order balanced model captures submesoscale physics and statistics
  Dù, R. S., Smith, K. S., Bühler, O. (2025) · Journal of Physical Oceanography, 55(10), 1679–97

  

• The Impact of Frequency Bandwidth on a One-Dimensional Model for Dispersive Wave Turbulence
  Dù, R. S., Bühler, O. (2023) · Journal of Nonlinear Science, 33(5), 81

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• Statistical energy minimization theory for systems of drop-carrier particles
  Du, R. S., Liu, L., Ng, S., Sambandam, S., Hernandez Adame, B., Perez, H., Ha, K., Falcon, C., de Rutte, J., Di Carlo, D., Bertozzi, A. L. (2021) · Physical Review E, 104, 015109

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Invited presentations

• Colorado School of Mines Carl Heiland Lecture, April 2026
• CU Boulder Mathematical Geosciences Seminar, March 2026
• Brown LCDS Applied Math Seminar, December 2025
• WHOI Physical Oceanography Seminar, August 2025

Conference and workshop presentations

• Quantifying wave groups’ contributions to submesoscale variability in observed SWH:
  AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM26 ), February 2026;
  NCAR Polar Climate and Ocean Model Working Group Meeting , February 2026.
• Next-order in Rossby SQG+1 model for reconstructing velocity from sea surface height:
  AGU Annual Meeting (AGU24 ), December 2024.
• Next-order balanced model for shallow water captures vorticity asymmetry:
  AGU Annual Meeting (AGU24 ), December 2024.
• Next-order balanced model captures submesoscale physics and statistics:
  AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM24 ), February 2024.
• SQG+1 as a Model for Submesoscale Asymmetry:
  FilaChange 2022, August 2022 (funded by a conference travel grant).
• Domain dependence of wave turbulence theory for the Majda-McLaughlin-Tabak (MMT) model:
  23rd Conference on Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics (AOFD23 ), June 2022;
  2022 Gordon Conference: Ocean Mixing, June 2022 (partially funded by the conference).