Academic Appointments

Honors & Awards

  • Gabilan Faculty Fellow, Stanford University (2020-2021)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • Committee Member, American Meteorological Society - Committee on Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics (2020 - Present)
  • Nominating Committee member, American Physical Society - Topical Group on the Physics of Climate (2018 - 2018)
  • Program Committee member, American Physical Society - Topical Group on the Physics of Climate (2016 - 2016)
  • Member-at-Large (elected), American Physical Society - Topical Group on the Physics of Climate (2013 - 2016)
  • Advisory Board member, SHOREline Project, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University (2013 - 2015)

Professional Education

  • B.S., Department of Physics, University of New Hampshire, Physics and Astronomy (2009)
  • Ph.D., Program in Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Atmospheric Sciences (2015)

Contact

  • Academic
    oneillm@stanford.edu
    University - Faculty Department: Department of Earth System Science Position: Assistant Professor

Additional Info

  • Mail Code: 4216
  • Profile:
    I am an atmospheric scientist who studies the physics of hurricanes and other extreme phenomena.

2020-21 Courses

Stanford Advisees

  • Doctoral (Program)
    Hao Fu, Laurel Regibeau-Rockett

All Publications

  • Inertial Waves in Axisymmetric Tropical Cyclones JOURNAL OF THE ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES O'Neill, M. E., Chavas, D. R. 2020; 77 (7): 2501–17

    View details for DOI 10.1175/JAS-D-19-0330.1

    View details for Web of Science ID 000606853600011

  • Exploring Controls on Tropical Cyclone Count through the Geography of Environmental Favorability JOURNAL OF CLIMATE Hoogewind, K. A., Chavas, D. R., Schenkel, B. A., O'Neill, M. E. 2020; 33 (5): 1725–45

    View details for DOI 10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0862.1

    View details for Web of Science ID 000509526900002

  • Diurnal Cloud and Circulation Changes in Simulated Tropical Cyclones GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS Ruppert, J. H., O'Neill, M. E. 2019; 46 (1): 502–11

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2018GL081302

    View details for Web of Science ID 000456938600055

  • Practical rare event sampling for extreme mesoscale weather. Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.) Webber, R. J., Plotkin, D. A., O'Neill, M. E., Abbot, D. S., Weare, J. n. 2019; 29 (5): 053109

    Abstract

    Extreme mesoscale weather, including tropical cyclones, squall lines, and floods, can be enormously damaging and yet challenging to simulate; hence, there is a pressing need for more efficient simulation strategies. Here, we present a new rare event sampling algorithm called quantile diffusion Monte Carlo (quantile DMC). Quantile DMC is a simple-to-use algorithm that can sample extreme tail behavior for a wide class of processes. We demonstrate the advantages of quantile DMC compared to other sampling methods and discuss practical aspects of implementing quantile DMC. To test the feasibility of quantile DMC for extreme mesoscale weather, we sample extremely intense realizations of two historical tropical cyclones, 2010 Hurricane Earl and 2015 Hurricane Joaquin. Our results demonstrate quantile DMC's potential to provide low-variance extreme weather statistics while highlighting the work that is necessary for quantile DMC to attain greater efficiency in future applications.

    View details for DOI 10.1063/1.5081461

    View details for PubMedID 31154764

  • Maximizing simulated tropical cyclone intensity with action minimization JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN MODELING EARTH SYSTEMS Plotkin, D. A., Webber, R. J., O'Neill, M. E., Weare, J., Abbot, D. S. 2019; 11

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2018MS001419

  • Clusters of cyclones encircling Jupiter's poles NATURE Adriani, A., Mura, A., Orton, G., Hansen, C., Altieri, F., Moriconi, M. L., Rogers, J., Eichstaedt, G., Momary, T., Ingersoll, A. P., Filacchione, G., Sindoni, G., Tabataba-Vakili, F., Dinelli, B. M., Fabiano, F., Bolton, S. J., Connerney, J. P., Atreya, S. K., Lunine, J. I., Tosi, F., Migliorini, A., Grassi, D., Piccioni, G., Noschese, R., Cicchetti, A., Plainaki, C., Olivieri, A., O'Neill, M. E., Turrini, D., Stefani, S., Sordini, R., Amoroso, M. 2018; 555 (7695): 216-+

    Abstract

    The familiar axisymmetric zones and belts that characterize Jupiter's weather system at lower latitudes give way to pervasive cyclonic activity at higher latitudes. Two-dimensional turbulence in combination with the Coriolis β-effect (that is, the large meridionally varying Coriolis force on the giant planets of the Solar System) produces alternating zonal flows. The zonal flows weaken with rising latitude so that a transition between equatorial jets and polar turbulence on Jupiter can occur. Simulations with shallow-water models of giant planets support this transition by producing both alternating flows near the equator and circumpolar cyclones near the poles. Jovian polar regions are not visible from Earth owing to Jupiter's low axial tilt, and were poorly characterized by previous missions because the trajectories of these missions did not venture far from Jupiter's equatorial plane. Here we report that visible and infrared images obtained from above each pole by the Juno spacecraft during its first five orbits reveal persistent polygonal patterns of large cyclones. In the north, eight circumpolar cyclones are observed about a single polar cyclone; in the south, one polar cyclone is encircled by five circumpolar cyclones. Cyclonic circulation is established via time-lapse imagery obtained over intervals ranging from 20 minutes to 4 hours. Although migration of cyclones towards the pole might be expected as a consequence of the Coriolis β-effect, by which cyclonic vortices naturally drift towards the rotational pole, the configuration of the cyclones is without precedent on other planets (including Saturn's polar hexagonal features). The manner in which the cyclones persist without merging and the process by which they evolve to their current configuration are unknown.

    View details for PubMedID 29516997

  • Accessible Environments for Diurnal-Period Waves in Simulated Tropical Cyclones JOURNAL OF THE ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES O'Neill, M. E., Perez-Betancourt, D., Wing, A. A. 2017; 74 (8): 2489–2502

    View details for DOI 10.1175/JAS-D-16-0294.1

    View details for Web of Science ID 000409133100005

  • Galileo probe interpretation indicating a neutrally stable layer in the Jovian troposphere GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS O'Neill, M. E., Kaspi, Y., Fletcher, L. N. 2017; 44 (9): 4008–17

    View details for DOI 10.1002/2017GL073305

    View details for Web of Science ID 000402143700007

  • Slantwise convection on fluid planets GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS O'Neill, M. E., Kaspi, Y. 2016; 43 (20): 10611–20

    View details for DOI 10.1002/2016GL071188

    View details for Web of Science ID 000388293800047

  • Weak Jets and Strong Cyclones: Shallow-Water Modeling of Giant Planet Polar Caps JOURNAL OF THE ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES O'Neill, M. E., Emanuel, K. A., Flierl, G. R. 2016; 73 (4): 1841–55

    View details for DOI 10.1175/JAS-D-15-0314.1

    View details for Web of Science ID 000400888000002

  • Polar vortex formation in giant-planet atmospheres dues to moist convection NATURE GEOSCIENCE O'Neill, M. E., Emanuel, K. A., Flierl, G. R. 2015; 8 (7): 523–U118

    View details for DOI 10.1038/ngeo2459

    View details for Web of Science ID 000357404200012

  • PRECISION POINTING OF IBEX-Lo OBSERVATIONS ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT SERIES Hlond, M., Bzowski, M., Moebius, E., Kucharek, H., Heirtzler, D., Schwadron, N. A., Neill, M., Clark, G., Crew, G. B., Fuselier, S., McComas, D. J. 2012; 198 (2)

    View details for DOI 10.1088/0067-0049/198/2/9

    View details for Web of Science ID 000300414700002

  • Diagnosing the Neutral Interstellar Gas Flow at 1 AU with IBEX-Lo SPACE SCIENCE REVIEWS Moebius, E., Kucharek, H., Clark, G., O'Neill, M., Petersen, L., Bzowski, M., Saul, L., Wurz, P., Fuselier, S. A., Izmodenov, V. V., McComas, D. J., Mueller, H. R., Alexashov, D. B. 2009; 146 (1-4): 149–72

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s11214-009-9498-5

    View details for Web of Science ID 000269881300007