Dr Jules Kajtar
Biography
Research Interests
- Measuring the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and understanding its climate impacts
- Drivers and predictability of marine heatwaves
- Large scale patterns of climate variability, and their connections and impacts
PhD students
- Jiaxin Shi (2022 - ): Marine heatwave hazards, risks, and emerging stress-scapes under global warming
- John Reilly (2022 - ): Dynamical downscaling of Australia's marine climate
- Darren Li Shing Hiung (2022 - ): Determining marine heatwave baselines
- Yuxin Wang (2020 - 2024): Understanding the predictability of marine heatwaves
Engagement highlights
- Into the Blue Podcast: Why are we experiencing marine heatwaves and How Do We Tackle Them?
- UKRI Reels interview: What is a marine heatwave?
- UKRI Reels interview: Do we need to worry about the Gulf Stream?
- Scientist Spotlight: Understanding Ocean Physics
- Interviewed for a piece by the Science Museum: UK suffers extreme marine heatwave
Links
Committee Memberships
Member of the International Commission on Climate (ICCL), which is one of the commissions of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS) and the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG)
Member of the Challenger Society for Marine Science
Projects
Co-investigator on RAPID-Evolution
Designing and demonstrating the accuracy of a more sustainable, lower cost RAPID 26N observing system for future observations of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.
Roles Provided
Member of the NOC Ocean Circulation and Processes Subgroup
Convenor of the weekly Marine Physics and Ocean Climate Southampton (MPOC-S) meetings
Publications
Jacobs, Zoe 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7348-0699; Smith, Kathryn E.; Kajtar, Jules B.; Smale, Dan A.; Moore, Pippa J.; Stephenson, Fabrice; Burrows, Michael T.; Rowland, Caroline; Renshaw, Richard; Oliver, Sophy; Jakins-Pollard, Martyn; Palmer, Freya Ivy; Kloker, Alice; Baker-Austin, Craig; Townhill, Bryony; Rees, Sian; Coulthard, Sarah; Popova, Ekaterina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2012-708X.
2026
40 priority questions to advance understanding of the risks and opportunities of UK marine heatwaves.
npj Ocean Sustainability, 5 (1).
10.1038/s44183-025-00171-0
2026
Article
Shi, Jiaxin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3969-1633; Bennett, Scott ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2969-7430; Kajtar, Jules B.; Wernberg, Thomas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1185-9745; Barrett, Neville S.; Edgar, Graham J.; Holbrook, Neil J..
2026
Warm edge kelp populations show elevated volatility to marine heatwaves.
Ecology Letters, 29 (1).
10.1111/ele.70307
2026
Article
Smeed, D. A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1740-1778; Johns, W. E.; Smith, R. H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9824-6989; Petit, T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7922-9363; McDonagh, E. L.; Rayner, D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2283-4140; Volkov, D. L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9290-0502; Elipot, S.; Kajtar, J. B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0114-6610; King, B. A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1338-3234; Firing, Y. L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3640-3974; Moat, B. I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8676-7779.
2026
Overturning Circulation of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre Computed in Density Coordinates at 26°N.
Geophysical Research Letters, 53 (5).
10.1029/2025GL118277
2026
Article
Li Shing Hiung, Darren L. C. Y. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3396-2604; Holbrook, Neil J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3523-6254; Kajtar, Jules B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0114-6610.
2026
Improved characterization of coral bleaching patterns from a percentile‐based threshold model.
Geophysical Research Letters, 53 (7).
10.1029/2025GL119516
2026
Article
Petit, T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7922-9363; Smeed, D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1740-1778; Blaker, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5454-0131; Elipot, S.; Johns, W.; Kajtar, J. B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0114-6610; Rayner, D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2283-4140; Sinha, B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7303-3175; Smith, R. H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9824-6989; Volkov, D. L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9290-0502; Moat, B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8676-7779.
2025
Evaluation of a reduced RAPID array for measuring the AMOC.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 130 (11).
10.1029/2025JC023093
2025
Article
Malan, Neil ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7568-3908; Gupta, Alex Sen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5226-871X; Schaeffer, Amandine ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8320-4951; Zhang, Shujing ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8830-7565; Doblin, Martina A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8750-3433; Pilo, Gabriela Semolini ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8590-8645; Kiss, Andrew E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8960-9557; Everett, Jason D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6681-8054; Behrens, Erik ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9713-7227; Capotondi, Antonietta ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3594-5472; Cravatte, Sophie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2439-8952; Hobday, Alistair J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3194-8326; Holbrook, Neil J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3523-6254; Kajtar, Jules B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0114-6610; Spillman, Claire M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0853-8190.
2025
Lifting the lid on marine heatwaves.
Progress in Oceanography, 239, 103539.
1, pp.
10.1016/j.pocean.2025.103539
2025
Article
Wang, Yuxin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7205-1921; Holbrook, Neil J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3523-6254; Kajtar, Jules B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0114-6610.
2025
Western Pacific easterly wind extremes drive marine heatwaves off Western Australia with La Niña as the preconditioning symptom.
Journal of Climate, 38 (14).
3381-3398.
10.1175/JCLI-D-24-0395.1
2025
Article
Kent, Elizabeth C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6209-4247; Chan, Duo; Cornes, Richard C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7688-4485; Nielsen-Englyst, Pia; Kajtar, Jules B.; Merchant, Christopher J.; Thorne, Peter W.; Wallis, Emily J.; Woolway, R. Iestyn.
2025
Global surface temperatures.
In: Letcher, Trevor; Fthenakis, Vasilis M., (eds.)
Energy and Climate Change: Our New Future.
Elsevier.
2025
Book section