Dr Steve Rintoul-Physical Oceanographer
Affiliation with Antarctic Science Foundation
Ambassador for ASF on Antarctica Flights Season 2022/23
More About Steve
Dr Stephen Rintoul is a physical oceanographer with a long-standing interest in the Southern Ocean and its role in the earth system. His research has contributed to a deeper appreciation of the influence of the Southern Ocean on regional and global climate, biogeochemical cycles and biological productivity. Born in the USA, he did his graduate studies at the MIT-WHOI Joint Program and postdoctoral work at Princeton before moving to Australia to take up a position at the CSIRO. His scientific interests include the dynamics of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the Southern Ocean overturning circulation, water mass formation, and the influence of Southern Ocean currents on biology and biogeochemistry. Primarily an observational oceanographer, he has led 15 expeditions to the Southern, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Over the last twenty years, Dr Rintoul has co-chaired international panels responsible for each of the major climate research programs carried out in the Southern Ocean. More recently, he led the Climate of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean program of the International Polar Year and the development of international plans for a Southern Ocean Observing System. He was a Coordinating Lead Author of the Oceans chapter in the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). His scientific achievements have been recognised by many national and international awards.
Current Roles
Project Leader
Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRCResearch Team Leader
Southern Ocean TeamProject Leader
National Environmental Science Program, Earth System and Climate Change HubProject Leader
Centre for Southern Hemisphere Oceans Research
Selected Publications
Van Wijk, Esmee; Rintoul, Steve; Wallace, Luke; Ribeiro Santos, Natalia; Herraiz Borreguero, Laura. Vulnerability of Denman Glacier to Ocean Heat Flux Revealed by Profiling Float Observations. Geophysical Research Letters. 2022; 49(18):e2022GL100460.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL100460
Portela, Esther; Rintoul, Steve; Bestley, Sophie; Herraiz Borreguero, Laura; Van Wijk, Esmee; McMahon, Clive; et al. Seasonal Transformation and Spatial Variability of Water Masses Within MacKenzie Polynya, Prydz Bay. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. 2021; 126(12):21.https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017748
Foppert, Annie; Rintoul, Steve; Purkey, Sarah; Zilberman, Nathalie; Kobayashi, Taiyo; Sallee, Jean-Baptiste; et al. Deep Argo reveals bottom water properties and pathways in the Australian Antarctic Basin. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. 2021; 126(12):e2021JC017935.https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017935
