I am an oceanographer at the Laoshan Laboratory in Qingdao, China. Prior to this appointment, I was a postdoc at the California Institute of Technology and an Assistant Professor at Florida State University. I obtained my PhD from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 2019.

Research in my group advances fundamental understanding of climate dynamics from the perspective of ocean dynamics, with a focus on the physical mechanisms governing ocean circulation and its response to climate change — from the meridional overturning circulation to its variability and coupling with the broader climate system. More broadly, I am interested in how the ocean interacts with the atmosphere, cryosphere, and marine ecosystems.

Get in Touch

If you are interested in joining the group, please feel free to reach out.

News

• Aug, 2026 Transient global overturning following the shutdown of North Atlantic deep water formation accepted for publication in AGU Advances.

• Transient global overturning following the shutdown of North Atlantic deep water formation
  Sun, S. and A. F. Thompson
  AGU Advances, 2026
  Preprint
• Bipolar oceanic processes drive Indonesian Throughflow declines under climate warming
  Wang, W., S. Sun, and L. Wu
  Geophysical Research Letters, 2026
  DOI: 10.1029/2026GL121630
• Limited impacts of the Agulhas Leakage on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation under present-day climate conditions
  Zhang, R., S. Sun, Z. Chen, and L. Wu
  Communications Earth & Environment, 2025
  DOI: 10.1038/s43247-025-02097-4
• Transient overturning changes cause global upper-ocean nutrient decline in a warming climateEditor's Highlight
  Sun, S., A. F. Thompson, J. Yu, and L. Wu
  Nature Communications, 2024
  DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52200-0
• Role of the Labrador Current in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation responses to greenhouse warming
  Shan, X., S. Sun, L. Wu, and M. Spall
  Nature Communications, 2024
  DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51449-9
• Rapid 21^st century weakening of the Agulhas Current in a warming climate
  Zhang, R., S. Sun, et al.
  Geophysical Research Letters, 2023
  DOI: 10.1029/2022GL102070
• Indo-Pacific warming induced by a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
  Sun, S., A. F. Thompson, S.-P. Xie, and S.-M. Long
  Journal of Climate, 2022
  DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0346.1
• Observed Antarctic sea ice expansion reproduced in a climate model after correcting biases in sea ice drift velocity
  Sun, S. and I. Eisenman
  Nature Communications, 2021
  DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21412-z
• Centennial changes in the Indonesian Throughflow connected to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: The ocean's transient conveyor beltEos Editor's Highlight
  Sun, S. and A. F. Thompson
  Geophysical Research Letters, 2020
  DOI: 10.1029/2020GL090615
• Transient overturning compensation between Atlantic and Indo-Pacific basins
  Sun, S., A. F. Thompson, and I. Eisenman
  Journal of Physical Oceanography, 2020
  DOI: 10.1175/JPO-D-20-0060.1