Meet the Founding Editor
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL, retired November 2020), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hanover, NH; former editor of the Arctic Report Card.
How many years have you been involved in the Arctic Report Card?
From 2011-2016 and 2018-2019.
Tell us about your research.
I am no longer actively engaged in research, but when I was, prior to 2006, I investigated the physical properties of sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctica; ice shelves and icebergs in the High Canadian Arctic; and freshwater ice in Alaska. Perhaps the most personally and professionally satisfying project I led was ALISON—Alaska Lake Ice and Snow Observatory Network—an integrated ice research and science education project that involved K-12 teachers and students as our scientific partners in the study of ice growth, snow accumulation and heat flow on lakes and ponds throughout Alaska.
What has drawn you to research in the Arctic?
Two professors at the University of Sheffield, UK, sparked my interest in snow and ice, which encouraged me to pursue graduate studies at the Victoria University of Manchester, UK, where I earned an MSc for research on glacier hydrology in Norway. That hooked me on snow and ice research as a career option, and I went on to the University of Calgary, Canada, where I studied the Ellesmere ice shelves for my PhD. I’ve never looked back. Although I ceased to be an active researcher in 2006, I remained engaged in the Arctic research enterprise as a program officer at the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research, and an Arctic science advisor at CRREL.
What do you want the public to know about the Arctic Report Card?
It’s a reliable and authoritative source for information about the state of different physical and biological components of the Arctic environmental system. It’s one-stop shopping, almost, for all you ever wanted to know about the Arctic, but didn’t dare ask!
What do you see as the greatest legacy of the Arctic Report Card?
The Arctic Report Card provides an outstanding peer-reviewed product and service to the Arctic science community, and beyond to a broader audience. Posterity will judge it well for documenting the state of the Arctic environmental system during a time of rapid change. Also, the Arctic Research Program provides support for the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO), a significant international collaboration in long-term observing of the marine ecosystem of the Bering Sea-Chukchi Sea-Beaufort Sea region adjacent to Alaska. The DBO has been featured in the Arctic Report Card.
What do you hope to see in the Arctic or with Arctic science and research in the future?
I hope to see continued growth and success of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) and IARPC Collaborations, the platform and practice for the implementation of the Arctic Research Plan through collaboration among federal government researchers and program officers, and the IARPC stakeholders that include Alaska Natives, the State of Alaska, academia, NGOs and the private sector.