Thanks to the tireless efforts of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Director G. Michael Purdy, Columbia University trustees approved the establishment of a new title, exclusive to the Observatory, for some of Columbia’s most distinguished earth science researchers.
Robin Bell will soon become one of the most senior Observatory researchers to receive the title of Lamont Research Professor, which elevates the status of Lamont’s distinguished researchers to something akin to tenure in the University setting, and which will support Lamont’s recruitment efforts of such dedicated educator/researchers well into the future.
Most recently, Bell received a $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation to outfit New York Air National Guard Hercules LC-130s—which fly numerous re-supply missions to Antarctica’s McMurdo outpost each week—with radar imaging systems that will measure ice thickness and water distribution at the base of ice sheets. Studies of ice sheet flow are essential to improving the mathematical models scientists use to predict sea level rise.
In this engaging audio slideshow, Dr. Bell and PhD student Adrienne Block report on their trip to Antarctica in the winter of 2009 and discuss the importance of the teacher/student relationship.
