Our Research

As climate changes, how do Earth's frozen areas affect our planet and impact society?

Staff Scientists

John Cassano
NSIDC Lead Scientist, Teaching Faculty
Specialties:
Polar weather and climate, atmosphere - ice - ocean - land interaction, weather and climate modeling, atmospheric boundary layer, autonomous observing systems (atmosphere), artificial neural networks (self-organizing maps)
Matthew Druckenmiller
Research Scientist III
Specialties:
Science policy, coastal sea-ice dynamics, collaborating with Indigenous experts and traditional knowledge holders, community-based monitoring, data management, Arctic observing systems, sea ice and marine mammals, and communicating the societal implications of Arctic change.
Noor jehan Johnson
Research Scientist II
Specialties:
Arctic environmental governance, Indigenous food security and sovereignty, equity in climate change research and policy, community-based monitoring, data management for Indigenous and community-driven research
Walter Meier
Senior Research Scientist, DAAC Scientist
Specialties:
Sea ice, passive microwave remote sensing, climate data records of sea ice, Arctic climate change, climate change
Twila Moon
Research Scientist III, Deputy NSIDC Lead Scientist and CEEE Climate Science Engagement Lead
Specialties:
Ice dynamics, ice sheet-ocean interaction, ice loss and freshwater flux, ice-ecosystem connections, hydrology of glaciers and ice sheets, glacier-sea ice interaction, observational science, GIS data tool development, research community organization, science communication
Bruce Raup
Senior Associate Scientist
Specialties:
Remote sensing of glaciers, software development for geospatial and remote sensing applications, web-based client interfaces, data tool development, algorithm development
Mark Seefeldt
Research Scientist III
Specialties:
Polar meteorology and climatology, measurement of precipitation, meteorology field work in the polar regions, Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, self-organizing maps (SOMs), python applications with meteorology and climate data, semi-automated quality control of observations
Mark Serreze
NSIDC Director, Distinguished Professor of Geography
Specialties:
Arctic climate, climate warming in the Arctic, sea ice variability and trends, water and energy cycles, permafrost, economic and geopolitical aspects of Arctic change
Julienne Stroeve
Senior Research Scientist
Specialties:
Remote sensing of sea ice concentration, ice thickness, snow depth, surface albedo and temperature; sea ice-ocean-atmopshere interactions; short and long-term sea ice forecasting, ocean primary productivity, global climate change

Postdoctoral Scientists

Joshua Brown
Postdoctoral Researcher
Specialties:
Joshua is a postdoctoral researcher with the Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic, focusing on Indigenous data and storytelling. These projects also co-produce knowledges that Indigenous communities employ in documenting and sharing their history, lifeways, and languages, along with information about climate change and ecological changes in their areas.
Young hyun Koo
Specialties:
Polar region research, including sea ice, icebergs, and ice sheets; Geographic Information Systems (GIS): remote sensing; machine learning and data models
Chen Zhang
Visiting Postdoctoral Researcher
Specialties:
Arctic weather and climate, climate warming in the Arctic, atmospheric dynamics, data science, big data analysis

CU Research Affiliates with NSIDC

Siri Khalsa
Senior Research Scientist Emeritus
Specialties:
Multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing, geographic information systems, machine learning and natural language processing, data modeling and metadata, data tool development
Alia Khan
Research Affiliate
Specialties:
Light-absorbing particles in the cryosphere, black carbon, snow algae, snow and glacial hydrology, spectral geophysics, surface optical properties, aquatic biogeochemistry

Emeritus

Kevin Schaefer
Senior Research Scientist Emeritus
Specialties:
Permafrost dynamics, fire impacts on permafrost, economic impacts of thawing permafrost, subsea permafrost and methane hydrates, land surface modeling, carbon cycle modeling, mercury cycle modeling, land-atmosphere interactions, soil thermodynamics, soil hydrology, atmospheric and soil radiative transfer modeling, inversion theory, remote sensing, project management, orbital mechanics, mercury dynamics in plants and soils