Tresa Mary Thomas
INSPIRE Faculty Fellow
Earth and Climate Science
Intersection of atmospheric sciences and hydrology
tresamarythomas@acads.iiserpune.ac.in
Tresa completed her B.Tech in Civil Engineering from NIT Calicut (2010-2014), following which she worked as a Graduate Engineering Trainee at Larsen and Tubro for a year (2014-2015). Later, she pursued an M.Tech in Hydraulics Engineering from IIT Roorkee (2015-2017) and a PhD in the Interdisciplinary Center for Water Research (ICWaR) at IISc Bengaluru (2017-2022). Before joining IISER Pune, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford (January 2023–May 2024).
Research
Dr. Tresa Mary Thomas is currently an INSPIRE Faculty Fellow at IISER Pune. Her broad area of research falls in the intersection of atmospheric sciences and hydrology. She uses stylized climate model studies to understand atmospheric processes and its effect on hydrologic extremes, especially in the context of the Indian monsoon. Use of idealized aerosols in climate models to understand radiative forcing and effects also falls in her domain of interest. Currently, she works on monsoon low-pressure systems (LPS), especially their dynamics and impacts.
Selected Publications
Thomas, T.M., & Bala, G. (2025). Robust changes in tropical monsoon circulation under warming climate in CMIP6 models: a topical review. Frontiers in Climate,7, 2624-9553, 10.3389/fclim.2025.1713513.
Thomas, T.M., Caldeira, K., Duan, L. & Bala, G. (2025). A stylized study of the climate response to longwave and shortwave forcing at the altitude of contrail-induced cirrus. Earth's Future, 13, e2025EF006201. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EF006201.
Thomas, T.M., Bala, G. Srinivas, V.V. & Boos, W.R. (2023). Opposite changes in monsoon precipitation and low pressure systems frequency in response to orographic forcing. Journal of Climate, 36, 6309– 6329. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0476.1.
Thomas, T.M., Bala, G. & Srinivas, V.V. (2023). How do the characteristics of monsoon low pressure systems over India change under a warming climate? A modeling study using the NCAR CESM. Climate Dynamics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-023-06837-0.
Thomas, T.M., Bala, G. & Srinivas, V.V. (2021). Characteristics of the monsoon low pressure systems in the Indian subcontinent and the associated extreme precipitation events. Climate Dynamics, 56, 1859–1878. doi:10.1007/s00382-020-05562-2.