Dr. Brad Markle

Director of Academics

Brad is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Brad first participated in JIRP as a student in 2007 (with Seth and Allen!). Since 2011 Brad has been sampling all the various possible roles with JIRP: staff, staffulty, faculty, project lead, academic lead, wizard. On JIRP, Brad teaches about climate, paleoclimate, and geochemistry and has been helping to lead the isotope geochemistry project for the last few years. Brad studies climate variability and climate dynamics in the past using ice core records and climate models. He got his PhD from the University of Washington in 2017, went to New Zealand in 2011 on a Fulbright to get an MSc, and has a BA from Pomona College. He likes to climb, run, ski, drink coffee, and scheme boondoggles. 

Brad on JIRP : "JIRP is the best people in the world, in the best place in the world, having the most fun in world."

Dr. Kiya Riverman

Associate Director of Academics and Research

Academic Council (focus: Glaciology)

Kiya is a Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Portland, studying glacial hydrology and ice flow. She has been spending her summers with JIRP since 2014, leading projects ranging from active seismic and gravity surveys of Taku glacier to modeling the Icefield to supraglacial hydrology of the Llewelyn glacier. Kiya got her PhD in Geosciences from Penn State in 2017, and her B.S. in Earth Science from Oregon State in 2011. Her work tends to take her to far-off corners of the world, including Antarctica, Greenland, and Svalbard. When she’s actually at home in Oregon, she’s a fan of cooking overly complicated recipes, climbing/caving/canyoneering, fostering kittens, and the beautiful pairing of earl grey and a good book.

Kiya on JIRP: "Every year, JIRP reminds me why I study what I do. There's nothing I love quite so much as blowing student's minds over the beautiful complexity of glaciers."

Dr. Sarah Fortner

Academic Council (focus: Biogeochemistry, Pedagogy, and Science Comm.)

Sarah is an earth and environmental justice advocate and the Director of Sustainability at Carleton College. She has 20 years of experience as a geochemist working in glacial, urban, and agricultural environments. In the past she directed the Environmental Science Program at Wittenberg University, mentoring undergraduates in geochemical research including many from JIRP. She works on education and translational research projects that build sustainability literacy and support decision making. She collaborates with scientists, interdisciplinary educators, community stakeholders and policy makers at the local to national level. She's watched glaciers retreat firsthand on the Juneau Icefield since 1995. This is both sad and fueling.

Sarah on JIRP “I’m excited to be part of such an amazing community & working to make it as inclusive as it can be.”

Dr. Allen Pope

Academic Council (focus: Remote sensing, Science Communication)

Allen is a Program Officer in the National Science Foundation, where he manages the Polar Cyberinfrastructure program (bringing together all things Arctic, Antarctic, data, and computing), as well as doing a little bit of research (on glacier change and data rescue). Allen first came to JIRP as a student in 2007 (with Brad and Seth!) and has returned to contribute academically every chance he has gotten since. Allen's remote sensing and GIS background has helped JIRPers visualize and analyze the data from their research, as well as share what they have learned with audiences in Atlin, Juneau, and international scientific conferences. He holds degrees from Harvard University (A.B. in Chemistry and Earth & Planetary Sciences in 2008), Cambridge University (M.Phil and PhD in Polar Studies in 2009 and 2013), and worked at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Washington, Dartmouth College, and the International Arctic Science Committee before starting at NSF. Allen also tweets about polar science (@PopePolar), has taught yoga classes in JIRP cookshacks on stormy days, and is a mentor/dessert critic for the JIRP bakers and pastry chefs. He is also dad to Academic Council dog Tindur (see below).

Allen on JIRP: "For me, science is about processes and about people. On JIRP, we get physically connected to the processes we are trying to understand while learning from and working alongside some of the best people in the world."

Hannah Perrine Mode

Academic Council (focus: Art & Science Communication)

Hannah is an artist and educator working at the confluence of visual art, storytelling, and environmental science. She teaches art as an inclusive tool for creative research, communication, and outreach, and is passionate about expanding the ways we learn about geosciences to include more intersectional, interdisciplinary approaches to these fields. Hannah first came to the Icefield in 2017 as an Artist-in-Residence and has since continued to work with JIRP as Academic Council member, Art Faculty, and JEDI Steering Committee member.

In addition, she has worked with organizations, schools, and institutions such as Inspiring Girls* Expeditions, Chulengo Expeditions, Central Michigan University, the International Arctic Science Committee (with Allen!), Mills College, Education Outside, and NPS/Parks Canada. She has exhibited at museums and galleries around the country, in addition to creating large-scale permanent public artworks at Google HQ and the Center for Environmental Studies at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland. She is the Design Director at Storyroot, a small communication studio specializing in environmental and social impact strategy. She holds an MFA in Studio Art from Mills College and a BS in Studio Art from Skidmore College. She spends her summers in Alaska, but when she’s not in the field you can find her in Providence, RI making art in her studio, taking long walks in search glacial erratics, drinking too much coffee, and snuggling Academic Council cat Goose (see below).

Hannah on JIRP: “I love being part of the camaraderie, silliness, and support of the JIRP team – learning together and sharing in the insane beauty and solitude of the Icefield.”

Elizabeth Case

Academic Council (focus: Glaciology & Art)

Elizabeth (she/they) is a PhD student at Columbia University studying how glaciers form and move. She came up to JIRP in 2018 as research faculty and has never looked back. Before glaciology, they worked as an enviornmental journalist in California, a sci-clist with Cycle for Science, and received a B.S. in physics at UCLA. Elizabeth interweaves art and literature into climate science and education, and is currently excited about how zines can be used for inexpensive, aesthetic science communication.

Dr. Daniel Shapero

Academic Council (focus: Modeling & Physics)

Daniel is the lead developer of the software package icepack (https://icepack.github.io), a tool for modeling the flow of glaciers and ice sheets and for solving inverse problems. In the past, flow modeling has largely been the province of experts in computational physics, but virtually all practicing glaciologists — from students to senior researchers — need to use flow models. The main design goal for icepack is to lower the barrier to entry and make a tool that is useful for experts and novices alike. Additionally, Daniel is developing new algorithms for assimilating the entire time series of satellite and airborne remote sensing observations of ice sheets into models using icepack. The aim of this research is to gain a better understanding of how glaciers have responded to environmental changes over the recent past, with the hope of using this knowledge to make better predictions. This work is supported by the NSF Office for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure and the NASA Office of Polar Programs.

Daniel received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Applied Mathematics in 2017 under the supervision of PSC’s Ian Joughin, continued on at UW through the eScience Institute’s postdoc program, and became a PI at the Polar Science Center in 2020. In his free time, he enjoys playing classical guitar and climbing things. He is also the parent of Academic Council cat Mayhem (see below).

Dr. Lindsey Nicholson

Academic Council (focus: Glaciology)

Lindsey is a glaciologist, who, since 2013, has been coming to JIRP to teach whenever she can spare summer weeks from studying the glaciers in the European Alps. Lindsey did a BSc in Geography before going on to earn a PhD studying the glaciers of the Himalaya. Since then she has worked in a snow and ice core chemistry lab in Canada, moved to Chile to study glaciers and snow hydrology in the arid Andes, and finally landed in Austria, which has proved hard to leave. She is currently a senior researcher and glaciology group leader at the University of Innsbruck. On JIRP Lindsey teaches mainly about glaciers and their interaction with climate, but being a bit of a jack-of-all-trades she can turn her hand to many aspects of Earth and atmospheric sciences. Lindsey still aspires to learn the guitar one day but snowboarding, hiking, climbing, mountain biking, and hanging out with Academic Council dog Mika (see below) often get in the way.

Lindsey on JIRP:  JIRP is how life should be: Cooperative, challenging, caring, adventurous, educational and delightful - everyone bringing their very best to the game.

Annie Boucher

Director of Operations

Annie’s primary focus at JIRP is on everything not directly related to the academic program, but there’s no real way to separate academics from operations at JIRP. Annie helps the Academic Council integrate the academic plans with the logistic components of the field program. She also plays a leading role in implementing many of the tremendous changes JIRP has undergone in recent years.

Ali Dibble

Program Manager

Like Annie, Ali mostly works on solving operational puzzles at JIRP, but those puzzles often involve the Academic Council. Ali helps the Academic Council with field season planning and curriculum development. She is also passionate about making JIRP a more accessible and inclusive organization, so she works with the Academic Council to implement equity initiatives proposed by the JEDI Steering Committee.

Mayhem

Sower of Chaos, Bringer of Discord, Thief of Salmon Skins, Light of [Dr. Daniel Shapero’s] Life

Tindur

Scampering Scientist

Mika

Trouble Hound, Slovakian Street Dog, Keeper of the Stoke

Kinley

Professional Howler

Goose

Obsessed with water, house plants, and his toy mousie. Either wreaking havoc, hamming it up for photos, or snoozing – no in between.