Jatan Buch

I am a postdoctoral research scientist in the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, and a member of the interdisciplinary research group led by Profs. Park Williams and Pierre Gentine. Our primary research objective is to develop physics-informed machine learning models to study wildfires in the western United States using multiscale climate, vegetation, and population datasets.

More broadly, I am interested in using causal inference, deep learning, and physics to address complex real-world problems, in particular ones that involve quantifying the ecological and socioeconomic impact of climate change. In the medium-to-long term, I am also interested in exploring new financial systems to facilitate transitions to sustainable renewable energy sources in developing countries.

Previously, I was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics at Brown University for Spring 2021, in charge of designing and teaching the course “Statistical Physics of Inference and (Deep) Learning.” I received my physics PhD from Brown in February 2021, where my research focused on phenomenological searches for dark matter — a problem that lies at the intersection of particle physics, astrophysics, and probabilistic modeling.

The Research tab contains a detailed description of my research experience; a summary of my scientific output and skills is outlined in my curriculum vitae.

A complete list of my published papers and their citation record is available on Google Scholar. My ORCiD ID is: 0000-0001-6672-6750.

You can reach me at: jb4625<insert @>columbia.edu