I conduct research on coastal sea ice growth processes including remote sensing and in situ observations. My research interests are aimed at understanding ocean-sea ice-atmosphere interactions in areas with partial sea ice cover. During my graduate research work, I look at freeze-up in the Arctic – how the upper ocean cools, and what difference a delayed freeze up date makes on the thickness of ice at the end of the season. My research is observational in nature, often using unmanned aircraft as sensing platforms. In addition to research, I am active in the leadership of the Association of Early Career Polar Scientists, and I enjoy many sports in the Colorado mountains.

My parents were scientists, and a career in science always seemed like the obvious choice (it’s too much fun to do anything else!). In college, I majored in electrical engineering because I’ve always been very interested in the question of how you measure things. After a year in the defense industry, I decided I was definitely meant for science, and so I started looking for graduate programs. I wanted to study remote sensing (measuring the environmental from far away, often with instruments either on satellites or carried by aircraft), but at the time I was not sure whether I wanted to study ice or the upper atmosphere. I came to University of Colorado in part because I could do either. In my first week of graduate school, my advisor handed me two proposals and told me to decide which – the formation of sea ice in an especially windy part of the Antarctic, or plasma motion in the ionosphere – I found more interesting. From that day on, I’ve been a polar scientist.