Sophie Nowicki

Dr. Sophie Nowicki is a Professor in the Department of Geology and RENEW Institute at the University at Buffalo. Through applied mathematics, remote sensing observations and numerical modeling, her work spans the spectrum of local processes, such as understanding the physics of ice sheet grounding lines, or the impact of bedrock topography on ice dynamics, to that of large-scale continental ice sheet models and their use in projections of sea level change. As sea level projections from ice sheet models require knowledge of atmospheric and oceanic conditions that drive ice sheet evolution, Sophie is also interested in how to improve climate models in the polar regions, as well as the use of multiple models for projections. Prior to joining the University at Buffalo, Sophie was a civil servant in the Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. Sophie was a science team member for NASA's Operation IceBridge and has been involved with the NASA Sea Level Change team since its beginning. She has co-lead the SeaRISE (Sea-Level Response to Ice Sheet Evolution), an international effort that investigated the sensitivity of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to external environmental forcings. Sophie led an effort to couple an ice sheet model to the two Goddard climate models (GEOS-5 and ModelE), and an effort that investigates the feedbacks, processes and impacts of contemporary changes in the Arctic using satellite observations, ice sheet and climate models. She is an excecutive committee member for the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise, phase 2 (IMBIE2), serves on the Land Ice Action Team (LIAT) of the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH), a member of the IARPC Glaciers and Sea Level Modeling, and co-leads the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP6 (ISMIP6).