In the last week of term, before the students broke up for their Christmas break, Dr Jonathan Ryan, OH 1999-2009 spoke online to the school's Geography Society about Polar Research.

After leaving Hymers College, Johnny furthered his education, first studying Geography at the University of Nottingham before gaining a master’s degree in Polar Studies from the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge.  He then completed a Ph.D at Centre for Glaciology at Aberystwyth University, Wales in 2018.  He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.

As a glaciologist, he is particularly interested in researching ice sheet surface processes and has investigated several key components that influence the accumulation and ablation of ice sheets, including snowfall, clouds, melt-albedo feedbacks, and supraglacial hydrology.  To conduct this research, he primarily relies on satellite remote sensing, which has earned him selection onto NASA’s ICESat-2 and Terra/Aqua/Suomi Science Teams.

Johnny also conducts field research and has spent many summers surveying ice sheets and glaciers with uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) or drones. His primary research site is the Greenland Ice Sheet, where he has worked out of Kangerlussuaq and Uummannaq and he has also conducted research on the Northern Patagonia Icefield and the Oregon Cascades.

Thank you, Jonathan, for speaking to the students.