Freilich, Mara

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Mara Freilich

Thomas J. and Alice M. Tisch Assistant Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences and Applied Mathematics, Assistant Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences and Applied Mathematics

Overview

I use mathematical modeling and observations to study the role of ocean and ecological dynamics in the climate system and biosphere with the aim of projecting and mitigating the impacts of climate change through a predictive understanding of the ways that components of the climate system interact across spatial and temporal scales. My research focuses on fluid dynamics, microbial ecology, nutrients in aquatic systems, and stochastic modeling. I use methods including theoretical analysis, numerical modeling, interdisciplinary observations, and community-engaged research.

Brown Affiliations

Research Areas

ecology | mathematical biology | mathematical modeling | microbial ecology | Oceanography | Physical oceanography

On the Web

Publications

Centeno D, Lopez AG, Palomino A, Taboada J, Sinclair R, Montgomery Q, Marquez C, Sanchez MN, Arzeno-Soltero IB, Freilich MA. "Hypereutrophication, Hydrogen Sulfide, and Environmental Injustices: Mechanisms and Knowledge Gaps at the Salton Sea." GeoHealth, vol. 9, no. 6, 2025, pp. e2024GH001327.

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Freilich MA, Poirier C, Dever M, Alou-Font E, Allen J, Cabornero A, Sudek L, Choi CJ, Ruiz S, Pascual A, Farrar JT, Johnston TMS, D'Asaro EA, Worden AZ, Mahadevan A. "3D intrusions transport active surface microbial assemblages to the dark ocean." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 121, no. 19, 2024, pp. e2319937121.

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Arboleda-Baena C, Freilich M, Pareja CB, Logares R, De la Iglesia R, Navarrete SA. "Microbial community and network responses across strong environmental gradients: How do they compare with macroorganisms?." FEMS microbiology ecology, vol. 100, no. 3, 2024.

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Hung C, Diamond C, Sinclair R, Lee MC, Stenstrom M, Freilich MA, Montgomery Q, Marquez C, Lyons TW. "Nutrient loading as a key cause of short- and long-term anthropogenic ecological degradation of the Salton Sea." Scientific reports, vol. 14, no. 1, 2024, pp. 31247.

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Hsu TY, Mazloff MR, Gille ST, Freilich MA, Sun R, Cornuelle BD. "Response of sea surface temperature to atmospheric rivers." Nature Communications, vol. 15, no. 1, 2024, pp. 5018.

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Lenain, Luc, Smeltzer, Benjamin K., Pizzo, Nick, Freilich, Mara, Colosi, Luke, Ellingsen, Simen Å., Grare, Laurent, Peyriere, Hugo, Statom, Nick. "Airborne Remote Sensing of Upper‐Ocean and Surface Properties, Currents and Their Gradients From Meso to Submesoscales." Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 50, no. 8, 2023.

Freilich, Mara, Lenain, Luc, Gille, Sarah T. "Characterizing the Role of Non‐Linear Interactions in the Transition to Submesoscale Dynamics at a Dense Filament." Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 50, no. 15, 2023.

Esposito, Giovanni, Donnet, Sebastien, Berta, Maristella, Shcherbina, Andrey Y., Freilich, Mara, Centurioni, Luca, D’Asaro, Eric A., Farrar, J. Thomas, Johnston, T. M. Shaun, Mahadevan, Amala, Özgökmen, Tamay, Pascual, Ananda, Poulain, Pierre‐Marie, Ruiz, Simón, Tarry, Daniel R., Griffa, Annalisa. "Inertial Oscillations and Frontal Processes in an Alboran Sea Jet: Effects on Divergence and Vertical Transport." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, vol. 128, no. 3, 2023.

Aravind, H.M., Verma, Vicky, Sarkar, Sutanu, Freilich, Mara A., Mahadevan, Amala, Haley, Patrick J., Lermusiaux, Pierre F.J., Allshouse, Michael R. "Lagrangian surface signatures reveal upper-ocean vertical displacement conduits near oceanic density fronts." Ocean Modelling, vol. 181, 2023, pp. 102136.

Plummer, Abigail, Freilich, Mara, Benzi, Roberto, Choi, Chang Jae, Sudek, Lisa, Worden, Alexandra Z., Toschi, Federico, Mahadevan, Amala. "Oceanic frontal divergence alters phytoplankton competition and distribution." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 2023.

Cutolo, Eugenio, Pascual, Ananda, Ruiz, Simón, Shaun Johnston, T. M., Freilich, Mara, Mahadevan, Amala, Shcherbina, Andrey, Poulain, Pierre‐Marie, Ozgokmen, Tamay, Centurioni, Luca R., Rudnick, Daniel L., D’Asaro, Eric. "Diagnosing Frontal Dynamics From Observations Using a Variational Approach." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, vol. 127, no. 11, 2022.

Freilich, Mara A., Flierl, Glenn, Mahadevan, Amala. "Diversity of Growth Rates Maximizes Phytoplankton Productivity in an Eddying Ocean." Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 49, no. 3, 2022.

Hall, Caitlyn A., Illingworth, Sam, Mohadjer, Solmaz, Roxy, Mathew Koll, Poku, Craig, Otu-Larbi, Frederick, Reano, Darryl, Freilich, Mara, Veisaga, Maria-Luisa, Valencia, Miguel, Morales, Joey. "GC Insights: Diversifying the geosciences in higher education: a manifesto for change." Geoscience Communication, vol. 5, no. 3, 2022, pp. 275-280.

Freilich, Mara, Mahadevan, Amala. "Coherent Pathways for Subduction From the Surface Mixed Layer at Ocean Fronts." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, vol. 126, no. 5, 2021.

Freilich, Mara, Mignot, Alexandre, Flierl, Glenn, Ferrari, Raffaele. "Grazing behavior and winter phytoplankton accumulation." Biogeosciences, vol. 18, no. 20, 2021, pp. 5595-5607.

Ranganathan, Meghana, Lalk, Ellen, Freese, Lyssa M., Freilich, Mara A., Wilcots, Julia, Duffy, Margaret L., Shivamoggi, Rohini. "Trends in the Representation of Women Among US Geoscience Faculty From 1999 to 2020: The Long Road Toward Gender Parity." AGU Advances, vol. 2, no. 3, 2021.

Dever, Mathieu, Freilich, Mara, Farrar, J. Thomas, Hodges, Benjamin, Lanagan, Tom, Baron, Andrew J., Mahadevan, Amala. "EcoCTD for Profiling Oceanic Physical–Biological Properties from an Underway Ship." Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, vol. 37, no. 5, 2020, pp. 825-840.

Freilich, Mara A., Rebolledo, Rolando, Corcoran, Derek, Marquet, Pablo A. "Reconstructing ecological networks with noisy dynamics." Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 476, no. 2237, 2020.

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Shroyer, Emily L., Gordon, Arnold L., Jaeger, Gualtiero Spiro, Freilich, Mara, Waterhouse, Amy F., Farrar, J. Thomas, Sarma, V.V.S.S., Venkatesan, R., Weller, Robert A., Moum, James N., Mahadevan, Amala. "Upper layer thermohaline structure of the Bay of Bengal during the 2013 northeast monsoon." Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, vol. 172, 2020, pp. 104630.

Freilich, Mara A., Mahadevan, Amala. "Decomposition of Vertical Velocity for Nutrient Transport in the Upper Ocean." Journal of Physical Oceanography, vol. 49, no. 6, 2019, pp. 1561-1575.

Freilich, Mara A., Wieters, Evie, Broitman, Bernardo R., Marquet, Pablo A., Navarrete, Sergio A. "Species co-occurrence networks: Can they reveal trophic and non-trophic interactions in ecological communities?." Ecology, vol. 99, no. 3, 2018, pp. 690-699.

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Lucas, Andrew, Nash, Jonathan, Pinkel, Robert, MacKinnon, Jennifer, Tandon, Amit, Mahadevan, Amala, Omand, Melissa, Freilich, Mara, Sengupta, Debasis, Ravichandran, M., Le Boyer, Arnaud. "Adrift Upon a Salinity-Stratified Sea: A View of Upper-Ocean Processes in the Bay of Bengal During the Southwest Monsoon." Oceanography, vol. 29, no. 2, 2016, pp. 134-145.

Gordon, Arnold, Shroyer, Emily, Mahadevan, Amala, Sengupta, Debasis, Freilich, Mara. "Bay of Bengal: 2013 Northeast Monsoon Upper-Ocean Circulation." Oceanography, vol. 29, no. 2, 2016, pp. 82-91.

Mahadevan, Amala, Spiro Jaeger, Gualtiero, Freilich, Mara, Omand, Melissa, Shroyer, Emily, Sengupta, Debasis. "Freshwater in the Bay of Bengal: Its Fate and Role in Air-Sea Heat Exchange." Oceanography, vol. 29, no. 2, 2016, pp. 72-81.

Freilich, Mara A., Connolly, Sean R. "Phylogenetic community structure when competition and environmental filtering determine abundances." Global Ecology and Biogeography, vol. 24, no. 12, 2015, pp. 1390-1400.