Contact Information
Urbana, IL 61801
Biography
Openings: Postdoctoral Research Associate: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pKLDdP8vpLTPtDSSCQ9IREVZyNfQScsi5zm…
I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Climate, Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences (CliMAS) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Prior to joining UIUC in 2024, I was briefly a postdoc at the University of Miami. I was a postdoc in the Advanced Study Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research from 2021-2023. I completed my PhD in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences in 2021 at Princeton University. I completed my B.S. in Mathematics and a minor in Physics in 2016 from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Research Interests
Climate science, atmospheric physics, climate change, global warming, climate variability, radiative forcing, climate feedbacks, radiative transfer, clouds, climate modeling, and satellite observations.
Research Description
How Earth gains and loses energy is key to its habitability because perturbations to the planetary radiation balance alters the entire climate system. Clouds, aerosols, greenhouse gases, land, ocean, and ice, all interact with radiation. Therefore, changes in these constituents manifest as radiative changes at the top-of-the-atmosphere observable from space. We now not only have continuous satellite observations, but also climate models that represent the Earth system better than ever before. My research program takes full advantage of this unprecedented and timely opportunity to provide physical mechanisms and theories that explain how these radiative changes cause Earth to accumulate heat. Clouds are central to Earth’s heat budget as they cover two-thirds of the planet. My research not only provides a process-based understanding of how radiation responds to clouds, but also how clouds respond to surface warming, leading to a holistic understanding of the feedback loop.
Education
Ph.D. Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University, 2021
B.S. Mathematics and Minor in Physics, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 2016
Awards and Honors
External
- Outstanding Early Career Award, Scientific and Technological Activities Commission, American Meteorological Society, 2026 (Link)
- Paul Crutzen Publication Award, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, European Geoscience Union, 2025 (Link)
- Advanced Study Program Fellowship, National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research, 2021-2023
- Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology Award, 2019-2021
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Center for Climate Sciences Summer School, 2018
Internal
- Most Valuable Professor, Illini Soccer, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2025
- Mary and Randall Hack ’69 Graduate Award for Water and the Environment, Princeton University, 2019-2020
- Princeton Energy and Climate Scholar, Princeton University, 2018-2020
- Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Award, University of Minnesota, 2013 & 2015
Courses Taught
- Fall 2026: ATMS 512 - Clouds and Climate, ATMS 492 - Capstone Undergraduate Research, ATMS 490 - Individual Study
- Spring 2026: ATMS 307 - Climate Processes, ATMS 490 - Individual Study
- Fall 2025: ATMS 140 - Climate and Global Change
- Spring 2025: ATMS 512 - Clouds and Climate
Additional Campus Affiliations
Assistant Professor, Climate, Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
External Links
Media Coverage and Highlights of First-Author Research Papers
- Raghuraman et al., 2024 (Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics)
- Raghuraman et al., 2024 (Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres)
- Raghuraman et al., 2023 (Geophysical Research Letters)
- Raghuraman et al., 2021 (Nature Communications)
Invited Presentations
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, 2026
Department of Geography, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2026
Department of the Earth, Atmosphere, and Climate, Iowa State University, 2025
Mathematics Climate Research Network, 2024
School of Mathematics, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 2024
Department of Climate, Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Seminar, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2024
Department of Earth and Climate Sciences Seminar, Tufts University, 2024
Explaining and Predicting Earth System Change, World Climate Research Programme, 2023
Climate and Radiation Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 2023
Center for Climate Sciences, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2023
Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System Science Team Meeting, NASA Langley, 2023
Climate and Weather Seminar Series, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 2023
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Colorado State University, 2022
Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity and Cloud Feedback Virtual Symposium, 2022
Libera Satellite Science Team Meeting, University of Colorado Boulder/NASA, 2021
Libera Satellite Workshop, University of Colorado Boulder/NASA, 2021
Group Members
Graduate Students: Ethan Durham (2nd year), Valerie Gorden (2nd year)
Undergraduate Students: Lauren Frake (Junior),Olivia Samolej (Senior)
Service
Core Team Member, World Climate Research Programme Working Group on Earth’s Energy Imbalance, 2023-present
Conference Session Organizing
- "Spectral Dimension of Shortwave and Longwave Radiation in the Earth System", American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, 2022 – Present
- "Aerosols, ice particles, & clouds", 18th Symposium on Aerosol–Cloud–Climate Interactions (Joint with Third Symposium on Cloud Physics) at the American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting, 2026
- "Insights on Interactions Among Earth System Components", Gordon Research Seminar on Radiation and Climate, 2023
- "The Role of Radiation in Climate Forcing, Feedbacks and Variability", American Meteorological Society 16th Conference on Atmospheric Radiation, 2022
Reviewer
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Communications Earth & Environment, Earth System Dynamics, Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Climate, Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Nature Climate Change, Science Advances
Public Engagement, Outreach, and/or Extension
- Scientific contributor to the Communicating Climate Risk project, World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF)/University College London, 2021-present
- Interviewed by New Scientist (2025), The News-Gazette (2025), New Scientist (2025), Science, (2025), Salon (2024), Mongabay (2021)
Note: if you get a "you do not have access to Sites" error when opening my Personal Website (linked at the top of the page), try opening it in a different browser (e.g., Safari, Firefox, etc.) or an Incognito browser.
Recent Publications
Raghuraman, S. P., & Medeiros, B. (2026). Cloud feedback overestimated in coupled CESM2 simulations relative to AMIP simulations and satellite observations: importance of the pattern effect and implications for climate sensitivity. Environmental Research Letters, 21(8). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae5fab
Yuan, T., Song, H., Kramer, R., Oreopoulos, L., Raghuraman, S. P., Wood, R., & Chin, M. (2026). Aerosol effective radiative forcing increases Earth’s energy imbalance in recent decades. Nature communications, 17(1), Article 6322. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72926-3
Menemenlis, S., Vecchi, G. A., Yang, W., Fueglistaler, S., & Raghuraman, S. P. (2025). Consequential differences in satellite-era sea surface temperature trends across datasets. Nature Climate Change, 15(8), 897-903. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02362-6
Paynter, D., Feng, J., Menzel, R., & Raghuraman, S. P. (2025). The Longwave Spectral Signature of the Hemispheric Asymmetry in Global Warming. Journal of Climate, 38(20), 5725-5741. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-25-0017.1
Hodnebrog, Ø., Myhre, G., Jouan, C., Andrews, T., Forster, P. M., Jia, H., Loeb, N. G., Olivié, D. J. L., Paynter, D., Quaas, J., Raghuraman, S. P., & Schulz, M. (2024). Recent reductions in aerosol emissions have increased Earth’s energy imbalance. Communications Earth and Environment, 5(1), Article 166. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01324-8