Short History
Julia Engdahl is a Programmer and Data Analyst at the RUCOOL, where she specializes in the intersection of physical oceanography and data science. She holds a B.S. in Directed Marine Studies and Fisheries (2019) from Rutgers University, where she also graduated as a member of the first MOO cohort in 2020. Her research roots lie in biological oceanography; her undergraduate work investigated the arrival of American shad and river herring in relation to physical water properties. This work evolved during her master’s studies, where she developed automated analyses of fish migration using computer vision algorithms such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Following her graduate work, Julia served as a federal contractor supporting NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). Transitioning from an Oceanographic Data Specialist to a Physical Oceanographer, she utilized her expertise to generate historical high tide flooding statistics and the annual High Tide Flooding Outlook, disseminating critical frequency predictions to the public. Her contributions to the agency, which included creating interactive visualizations for sea level trends, earned her multiple Director’s Awards for Leadership and Professional Excellence.
Since returning to Rutgers as Research Staff in 2022, Julia initially led the implementation of real-time onboard processing for glider acoustic data. Currently, her work focuses on physical oceanographic processes affected by offshore wind and storm events. She develops specialized code to execute large-scale spatial and temporal data pulls, synthesizing extensive glider and model data to understand ocean mixing during extreme weather events and assess risks such as glider-turbine interactions. In addition to her research, she remains an active educator and mentor, organizing internal workshops and assisting students with their computational needs.