Connecting Atmospheric Science, Ecosystems, and Applied Solutions

Scientist and research coordinator

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Education

2021-2024, Postdoctoral Researcher at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
The role of coherent air streams in shaping the Gulf Stream’s impact on the large-scale extratropical circulation (GulfImpact)

2021, Ph.D. in Earth Science, University of Gdansk
Thesis: Numerical modeling and observations of the atmospheric boundary layer over sea ice
Supervisor: Dr. hab. Agnieszka Herman, prof. UG.

2015, M.Sc. in Natural Sciences, University of Gdansk
Thesis: Numerical modeling of the influence of albedo, ice thickness, and concentration on the Atmospheric Boundary Layer in the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia
Supervisor: Dr. hab. Agnieszka Herman, prof. UG.

2013, B.A. in Oceanography, University of Gdansk

Research & Environment

A short story about my background

I’m Dr. Marta Wenta, an atmospheric scientist working at the intersection of weather, climate, and ecosystems. I earned a Ph.D. in Earth Science from the University of Gdańsk (2021), focusing on the atmospheric boundary layer over sea ice, and then joined the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral researcher, investigating how Gulf Stream air–sea interactions and coherent air streams shape atmospheric blocking and Euro-Atlantic weather regimes. My work combines Lagrangian trajectory analysis, reanalysis data, and numerical modelling, with a long-standing interest in subseasonal-to-seasonal prediction.

Alongside research, I’ve worked in industry and consulting. I co-founded SeaData, an environmental monitoring company based in Gdynia, Poland, where I served as product manager and consultant for the Port of Gdynia and the Port of Gdańsk and co-designed the YetiSense and CORAL monitoring systems. I’ve authored or co-authored several successful EU proposals under Horizon 2020 and startup acceleration programmes, and I remain involved in SeaData’s grant work today. I later worked as an energy meteorologist at Axpo, delivering weather briefings to traders and developing subseasonal forecasting tools, and as a Lead Specialist at IMGW-PIB, where I developed meteorological analyses and long-range forecasting products.

Today I’m based at the University of Freiburg’s Cluster of Excellence Future Forests, where I combine my own research with a coordinating role. As coordinator of the SES ModelLab, I connect modelling work across the cluster’s research groups, run hands-on sessions on reanalysis and model applications, and maintain a shared registry of models and data. In parallel I continue my meteorological research on large-scale atmospheric dynamics — weather regimes, blocking, and the moisture pathways behind European extremes — and on how these circulation patterns shape the conditions forests experience.

In my free time I’m a trail and ultra runner — Polish Vice Champion in mountain ultrarunning (2017) and a top-ten mountain ultrarunner in Poland.

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Research

Below are some highlights of my publications, conferences, and other scholarly work.

Publications

Publications

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Conferences

Conferences

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Projects

Projects

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Other

Other

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Publications

  1. Christ, S., Wenta, M., Grams, C. M., Oertel, A. (2024) From sea to sky: understanding the sea surface temperature impact on an atmospheric blocking event using sensitivity experiments with the ICOsahedral Nonhydrostatic (ICON) model (2025), Weather Clim. Dynam., 6, 17–42, doi.org/10.5194/wcd-6-17-2025
  2. Federer, M., Papritz, L., Sprenger, M., Grams, C. M., Wenta, M. (2024) On the Local Available Potential Energy Perspective of Baroclinic Wave Development, J. Atmos. Sci., 81, 871–886, doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-23-0138.1
  3. Dorrington, J., Wenta, M. , Grazzini, F., Magnusson, L., Vitart, F., and Grams, C. M. (2024) Precursors and pathways: dynamically informed extreme event forecasting demonstrated on the historic Emilia-Romagna 2023 flood, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2995–3012, doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2995-2024
  4. Wenta, M., Grams, C. M., Papritz, L., Federer, M. (2024) Linking Gulf Stream air–sea interactions to the exceptional blocking episode in February 2019: a Lagrangian perspective, Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 181–209, doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-181-2024
  5. Herman, A., Wenta, M., Cheng, S. (2021) Sizes and Shapes of Sea Ice Floes Broken by Waves–A Case Study From the East Antarctic Coast, Front. Earth Sci., 9:655977, doi:10.3389/feart.2021.655977
  6. Wenta, M., Brus, D., Doulgeris, K., Vakkari, V., Herman, A. (2021) Winter atmospheric boundary layer observations over sea ice in the coastal zone of the Bothnian Bay (Baltic Sea), Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 33–42, doi:10.5194/essd-13-33-2021
  7. Wenta, M., Cassano, J. J. (2020) The atmospheric boundary layer and surface conditions during katabatic wind events over the Terra Nova Bay Polynya, Remote Sensing, 12, 4160, doi:10.3390/rs12244160
  8. Wenta, M., Brus, D., Doulgeris, K., Vakkari, V., Herman, A. (2020) Winter atmospheric boundary layer observations over sea ice in the coastal zone of the Bothnian Bay (Baltic Sea). PANGAEA, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.918823
  9. Wenta, M., Herman, A. (2019) Area-Averaged Surface Moisture Flux over Fragmented Sea Ice: Floe Size Distribution Effects and the Associated Convection Structure within the Atmospheric Boundary Layer, Atmosphere, 10, 654, doi:10.3390/atmos10110654
  10. Wenta, M., Herman, A. (2018) The influence of spatial distribution of leads and ice floes on the atmospheric boundary layer over fragmented sea ice, Ann. Glaciol., 65(76), doi:10.1017/aog.2018.15
  11. Matciak, M., Bieleninik, S., Botur, A., Podgórski, M., Trzcińska, T., Dragańska, K., Jaśniewicz, D., Wenta, M. (2015) Observations of presumable groundwater seepage occurrence in Puck Bay (the Baltic Sea), Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies, 44(2), 267-272, doi:10.1515/ohs-2015-0025

Conferences

  1. Wenta, M., Grams C. M., Papritz L., Federer M., From Ocean to Atmosphere: The mechanistic link between North Atlantic Air-Sea Interactions and Blocking Weather Regimes, presentation at: The International NAWDIC (The North Atlantic Waveguide, Dry Intrusion, and Downstream Impact Campaign) Workshop 2025, Karlsruhe, Germany, 15-18 Sep 2025
  2. Wenta, M., Grams C. M., Papritz L., Federer M., Air-sea interactions and diabatic processes in the Gulf Stream region and their role in the development of a blocking anticyclone, presentation at: XXVIII General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) 2023, Berlin, Germany, 11-20 Jul 2023
  3. Wenta, M., Grams C. M., Papritz L., Federer M., Air-Sea Interactions and Diabatic Processes in the Gulf Stream Region and Their Role in the Life-Cycle of a Blocking Anticyclone: A Case Study of European Blocking in Feb 2019, presentation at: AMS Annual Meeting 2023, Denver, US, 7–13 Jan 2023.
  4. Wenta, M., Grams C. M., Papritz L., Federer M., Air-sea interactions and diabatic processes in the Gulf Stream region and their role in the life-cycle of a blocking anticyclone: a case study of European Blocking in Feb 2019, presentation at: EMS Annual Meeting 2022, Bonn, Germany, 5–9 Sep 2022, EMS2022-252, https://doi.org/10.5194/ems2022-252, 2022.
  5. Wenta, M., Grams C. M., Papritz L., Federer M., Air-sea interactions and diabatic processes in the Gulf Stream region and their role in the life-cycle of a blocking anticyclone: a case study of European Blocking in Feb 2019, presentation at: Stormtrack Workshop 2022, Oléron Island, France, 29 May - 3 June 2022.
  6. Wenta, M., Cassano J., Gina J., Herman, A.,Brus, D., Doulgeris, K., Vakkari, V., Evaluation of NWP models results in the Ross Sea (Antarctica) and Bay of Bothnia (Baltic Sea) based on small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) measurements, presentation at: AMS, 16th Conference on Polar Meteorology and Oceanography, Online, 1-4 June, 2021
  7. Wenta, M., Brus, D., Doulgeris, K., Vakkari, V., and Herman, A., Evaluation of regional NWP results for sea ice covered Bothnia Bay (Baltic Sea) in winter 2020, presentation at: EGU 2021, Online, 19-30 April, 2021
  8. Wenta, M.; Brus, D.; Doulgeris, K.; Vakkari, V.; Herman, A., Winter atmospheric boundary layer observations and numerical modelling over sea ice in the coastal zone of the Bothnian Bay (Baltic Sea) , poster presentation at: American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2020, Online, 1-17 December, 2020
  9. Wenta, M.; Brus, D.; Doulgeris, K.; Vakkari, V.; Herman, A., Winter atmospheric boundary layer observations and numerical modelling over sea ice in the coastal zone of the Bothnian Bay (Baltic Sea) , poster and video presentation at: The 3rd International Electronic Conference on Atmospheric Sciences , 16-30 November 2020, doi:10.3390/ecas2020-08122
  10. Wenta, M. and Herman, A.: Submesoscale physical processes in the atmospheric boundary layer above fragmented sea ice , presentation at: EGU General Assembly 2020 , Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-4980, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-4980, 2020 
  11. Wenta M., Floe size distribution influence on the spatial arrangement and intensity of convection, oral presentation at: Polar-CORDEX (Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment - Arctic and Antarctic Domains) meeting 2019, Danish Meteorological Institute, Copenhagen, 7-9 October 2019.
  12. Wenta M., The influence of sea-ice floe-size distribution on the area-averaged values of surface fluxes, oral presentation at: International Symposium on Sea Ice at the Interface (International Geophysical Union), 18-23 August 2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
  13. Wenta. M., The sea ice floes size distribution influence on the turbulent and moisture fluxes in the atmospheric boundary layers, oral presentation at: 15th Conference on Polar Meteorology and Oceanography , American Meteorological Society, 19-23 May 2019, Boulder, USA
  14. Wenta. M., Wpływ wielkości i rozmieszczenia kier lodowych na procesy fizyczne w warstwie granicznej atmosfery, oral presentation at: XXIX Seminarium Meteorologii i Klimatologii Polarnej, Zakład Klimatologii i Ochrony Atmosfery Instytutu Geografii i Rozwoju Regionalnego Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego , 9-10 May 2019, Wrocław, Poland.
  15. Wenta. M., The influence of ice fragmentation on the atmospheric boundary layer processes, oral presentation at: Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) Arctic Science Workshop , Finnish Meteorological Institute, 14-16.01.2019, Helsinki, Finland.
  16. Wenta. M., The influence of sea ice floes size and distribution on the area averaged turbulent fluxes , oral presentation at: Polar-CORDEX (Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment - Arctic and Antarctic Domains) meeting 2018, Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Science, 17-19 October 2018, Warszawa
  17. Wenta M., The atmospheric boundary layer response to sea ice fragmentation , oral presentation at: POLAR 2018 ,15-26 June 2018, Davos, Switzerland.
  18. Wenta M., Convective structures above fragmented sea ice (Struktury konwekcyjne nad pofragmentowanym lodem morskim) , oral presentation at: XVI Symposium of Young Oceanographers , Institute of Oceanography, University of Gdańsk, 24 November 2017, Gdynia, Poland.
  19. Wenta M., Herman A., The influence of ice fragmentation on the atmospheric boundary layer processes , poster presentation at: International Glaciological Society Symposium 2017 - Polar Ice, Polar Climate, Polar Change, 14 - 19 August 2017, Boulder, Colorado, doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28348.54408
  20. Wenta M., Submesoscale Atmospheric Boundary Layer Processes over Fragmented Sea Ice, oral presentation at: International Sopot Youth Conference 2017: Where the World is Heading , Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Science, 26 May 2017, Sopot, Poland.
  21. Wenta M., Herman A., Submesoscale Atmospheric Boundary Layer Processes over Fragmented Sea Ice , poster presentation at: The 97th AMS Annual Meeting, 14th Conference on Polar Meteorology and Oceanography , 23-28 January 2017, Seattle, Washington, doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20830.02885.

Projects

  1. PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (2026 – )
    Project of the Polish National Science Centre (NCN), SONATA 21 call; Title: "Lagrangian analysis of the influence of diabatic processes on Atlantic–European atmospheric blocking."
  2. PROJECT AUTHOR (JUNE 2024- JUNE 2025)
     ESABIC Poland program Title: "Comprehensive air quality protection program utilizing drones and satellite data."
  3. Project Manager and Leader (July 2019 - June 2021)
    GALATEA, CORAL project; Project carried out by companies from Poland, Spain and France. CORAL provides a comprehensive solution for small and medium ports that enables them to digitize their data management, become more environmentally friendly, and optimize vessel management.
  4. FIRST CO-INVESTIGATOR (July 2019 - June 2021)
    Project of the Polish National Research Center No. 2018/31/B/ST10/00195; Title: "Observations and modeling of sea ice interactions with the atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers."
  5. PROJECT CONTRACTOR (2020) (July 2020-June 2021)
    "Bridge of Data. Multidisciplinary Open Knowledge Transfer System - stage II: Open Research Data" project co-financed by the European Regional Development FundED under the Operational Program Digital Poland 2014-2020
  6. PROJECT LEADER (October 2019 - October 2020)
    Project of the Polish National Research Center No. 2019/32/T/ST10/00171; Title: "Submesoscale atmospheric boundary layer processes over inhomogenous sea ice."
  7. PROJECT LEADER (October 2017 - March 2018)
    Space3ac Accelerator Program; Title: "Air quality monitoring for Port of Gdansk."
  8. FIRST CO-INVESTIGATOR (August 2016 - January 2020)
    Project of the Polish National Research Center No. 2015/19/B/ST10/01568; Title: "Discrete-element sea ice modeling - development of theoretical and numerical methods."

Other Scholarly Work

Supervision

Awards and Scholarships

Experience

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

As a postdoctoral researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (2021–2024), I worked on the GulfImpact project, investigating how coherent air streams communicate the Gulf Stream's influence to the large-scale extratropical circulation.

Using Lagrangian trajectory analysis of ERA5 reanalysis alongside ICON model experiments, I traced the diabatic processes linking North Atlantic sea surface temperature gradients to warm conveyor belt ascent, downstream ridge building, and European blocking. I also co-supervised Master's and Bachelor's theses on these topics.

SeaData Ltd.

Co-founder of SeaData Ltd., a company focusing on environmental monitoring services.

Responsibilities:

  • Project manager in EU-funded projects (CORAL)

  • Lead Product Manager / Data Scientist

  • Environmental monitoring consultant

Co-designer of YetiSense and CORAL air pollution monitoring systems, and creator of a risk assessment tool predicting the risk of coal dusting and high pollution levels caused by weather conditions. I am also the author or co-author of several EU research proposals under Horizon 2020 (successful submissions: Space3ac, ESABIC, and CORAL).

Axpo

As an Energy Meteorologist at Axpo, I delivered daily weather briefings to traders, assessed weather-related risks for energy markets, and improved forecasting tools and methodologies. My role also included developing tools for enhanced subseasonal weather prediction and collaborating with risk optimization and origination teams to support their decision-making processes.

IMGW-PIB

As a Lead Specialist at the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management – National Research Institute (IMGW-PIB), I developed subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) prediction tools and weather regime forecasts, together with advanced meteorological analyses supporting long-range forecasting.

During this time I was awarded a SONATA 21 grant from the Polish National Science Centre (NCN) for the project Lagrangian analysis of the influence of diabatic processes on Atlantic–European atmospheric blocking.

Internships

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PhD Student Internship

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), Boulder, Colorado (2020-2021). Under supervision of Prof. John J. Cassano, focusing on sUAS-based weather observations.

Student Internship

Renard Center for Marine Geology, Ghent University, Belgium (2012). Investigating deep-sea sediment dynamics and ecosystems in the Whittard Canyon (120 working hours).

Skills & Hobbies

Skills

Numerical Modeling

• WRF (Weather Research & Forecasting)
• CESM (Community Earth System Model)

Programming

• Python, LAGRANTO, MATLAB
• Working with Big Data

Computer Skills

• Linux/Ubuntu, TeX, MS Office

Project Management & Environmental Consulting

• Coordination of multi-partner EU-funded projects (Horizon 2020, CORAL)
• Designing and implementing environmental monitoring solutions
• Advising ports and organizations on risk assessment and sustainability

Hobbies & Volunteer Work

Trail & Ultra Running

Avid trail runner, Polish Vice Champion in mountain ultrarunning (2017) and top ten mountain ultrarunner in Poland in 2024.

Volunteer & Youth Programs

Co-Coordinator of youth programs and leader of a Polish youth group during an international exchange in Lithuania, Center of Youth Cooperation, Gdynia, Poland (1 Oct 2012 – 1 Jun 2014).

Ticketing Volunteer, UEFA EURO 2012 (1 Jun 2012 – 10 Jul 2012)

Scout Instructor and team leader in Kartuzy, Związek Harcerstwa Rzeczypospolitej (Scouting Association of the Republic of Poland), active: 2007–2012.