Alexis Kaminski

Alexis Kaminski is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and serves as the Chair of the department. She holds a BSc (2010) and MSc (2012) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta, and a PhD (2016) in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics from the University of Cambridge. Prior to joining UC Berkeley in 2021, she worked as a postdoc at the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University and at the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory. Her research focuses on stratified flows, hydrodynamic instabilities, transition to turbulence, mixing and entrainment, internal waves, non-normal stability, upper-ocean dynamics, physical oceanography, geophysical and environmental fluid dynamics.

Alexis Kaminski's research focuses on shear instability, stratified flows, stratified turbulence, and geophysical fluid dynamics. Their work explores the dynamics of stratified shear instabilities, including the effects of boundary proximity on Kelvin–Helmholtz instability and turbulence. Kaminski investigates transient growth in strongly stratified shear layers and the nonlinear evolution of linear optimal perturbations. They also examine the interaction between stratified turbulence and particle sedimentation, with applications to marine carbon dioxide removal. Additionally, their research includes high-resolution observations of oceanic transition layers and acoustic studies of estuarine lutoclines. Kaminski's studies contribute to understanding fluid dynamics challenges in predicting plastic pollution transport and the parameterization of eddy transport of biogeochemical tracers.