I’m Sonya Legg!
I am a physical oceanographer based at Princeton University, and collaborating closely with the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, one of the premier climate modeling centers in the USA. My work focuses on the role of small-scale mixing processes in the ocean circulation and climate. Most of my work is computational - running simulations of ocean fluid dynamics - and some of it, particularly recently, has focused on high-latitude processes, such as the dense overflows found around the Arctic and Antarctic continental boundaries. The mixing in these dense overflows sets the properties of the Antarctic bottom water found through much of the abyssal ocean, and the deep and halocline waters in the Arctic.
Be prepared to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves, even if they were not part of your plans. I became an oceanographer by accident, I came to the USA during my PhD thinking it was just for a year, and now 30 years later, I'm glad I took these chances.
As a result of collaborations with observationalists, I have been lucky enough to go to sea a couple of times, including once to the Weddell and Scotia seas to investigate the mixing induced in dense bottom water as it winds its way through complicated sea-floor topography on its way north. Seeing icebergs, whales, and lots of ocean sunrises was amazing!
I enjoy running (completing the Philadelphia marathon shortly before my 50th birthday allowed me to check that off my bucket list), gardening, singing and watercolor painting. Many of these are hobbies I started in highschool, continued through college (despite disapproval from some narrow-minded professors) and wherever I've gone since.
I also like to cook, and making my Sri Lankan grandmother's curry recipes allows me to stay in touch with that part of my heritage.
I grew up in a landlocked tropical country (Zambia), so I never imagined I would become an oceanographer, let alone one who works in high latitude oceans! I was however, always interested in the climate and in working outdoors, encouraged by my geologist father.
I moved into oceanography during my PhD, having originally anticipated I would do dynamical meteorology research, but finding more success with a physical oceanography project suggested by advisor - I have now been an oceanographer for over 30 years.
However, it took me a while to extend my work to polar regions - the first time I went to the Southern Ocean coincided with my 50th birthday!
My English father and Sri Lankan mother have spent most of their lives in the tropics (Southern and Western Africa, South and South-eastern Asia), but are now retired in Britain. The rest of my family is scattered across several continents, but largely in tropics and sub-tropics. I don't think they would want to join me somewhere so cold (NE USA in winter is too cold for them) but they love to hear about my work.
