My current research is focused on the retreat of Columbia Glacier, Alaska, ca. 1980 to present. The glacier has retreated more than 18 km in that time span, and shows now signs of slowing its retreat. More specifically, I am looking at the possibility of using a minimal model (cf. Oerlemans and Nick, 2005, Annals of Glaciology) to model its future retreat. I hope to be able to apply this model to other tidewater glaciers, in order to get a more macroscopic view of glacier calving.


I have also set up time-lapse cameras at Franklinbreen, Vestfonna, Svalbard, in order to monitor the terminus and derive terminus positions and ice velocities. The information gleaned from the photos will hopefully provide some constraints on the calving that occurs there.