I am part of the glaciology group within the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington. Some of my current research includes:
- Ice evolution of Greenland and Antarctica
- Ice-flow history in the vicinity of ice-core sites
- Martian climate history and flow history of ice masses on Mars
- Dynamics of glacier change
I am interested in the evolution of glaciers and ice sheets in response to climate changes and to internal dynamics. In order to characterize past and future ice behavior we rely on ice-flow models, and these models rely on data. Models with different sophistication have been developed, and modeling objectives can be divided into “process-based studies” and “system-based studies”. A process-based study seeks a simplified explanation for a specific process, compared to a system-based study that, for example, may simulate the entire ice sheet over long time periods. Different tools are appropriate for these different studies. While to this point I have performed process-based studies, system-based studies are major research targets, and evaluating system-scale output against process-based output is a valuable direction. In addition to modeling, I also conduct field work in Antarctica, Greenland, and on mountain glaciers.
Follow the links to read about current and recent research projects: