Christina Hulbe

Last updated
Christina Hulbe
CLH clocktower cropped.jpg
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology
Ohio State University (MS)
University of Chicago (PhD)
Scientific career
Fields Glaciology
Institutions University of Otago
Website Christina Hulbe at the University of Otago

Christina Hulbe is an American Antarctic researcher, and as of 2016 serves as professor and Dean of Surveying at the University of Otago in New Zealand. [1] She was previously Chair of the Geology Department at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. She leads the NZARI project to drill through the Ross Ice Shelf and is the namesake of the Hulbe glacier. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Hulbe grew up in Sacramento, California, spending a lot of time in the Sierra Nevada and the Warner Mountains to the north. Her father was a geologist and professor (at Sacramento City College and Sacramento State University). She completed a degree in geological engineering from the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology. She completed her Master of Science in 1994 at Ohio State University followed in 1998 by a geophysics PhD from the University of Chicago.

Career and impact

In 1998 she held a NRC Research Associateship, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. From there she moved to Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.

Her work in the late 1990s constituted the first melding together of the types of ice-sheet thermomechanical models (simulating ice-stream dynamics embedded within the flow of the inland ice sheet that behaves according to a different set of dynamics). She contributed to the understanding of ice-shelf instability, with some of the first papers that identified surface meltwater as an agent in the break-up of Larsen B ice shelf (in 2002).

She has developed methods used to identify ice-shelf and ice-stream flow variability as observed by the geometry of flow streaks and other indicators, and this is one of the few ways in which the history of glacial flow over the “medium past” (the past between the reach of direct observation and the more distant reach of ice coring).

Hulbe's work in the understanding of Heinrich Events of the North Atlantic was informed by her experience with Antarctic-based ice-shelf and ice-stream instability (and sedimentology), and this has led to a mechanism that is currently popular in understanding Heinrich Events (the idea of deeper waters warming and destabilizing an ice shelf in the Labrador Sea is her idea).

In 2017 Hulbe led an expedition as part of a New Zealand project seeking to drill through the Ross Ice Shelf [3] which was the first mid-shelf penetration since J9 in the late 1970s. One of the key findings was that the ice in the region was re-freezing. [4] This re-freezing and growth of an ice shelf is not uncommon but the Ross Ice Shelf situation appeared to be very variable as there was no evidence of long-term freezing. [5] A recent analysis attributes this variability in-part to tidal mixing. [6]

Hulbe has been heavily involved with the International Glaciological Society (IGS) and oversaw its transition from a mode of service to the community to an open access publishing provider.

Awards and honours

Hulbe was Vice President (2009 – 2012) of the International Glaciological Society as well as a Fulbright Senior Scholar (New Zealand, 2009). She was awarded the Portland State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, John Elliot Allen Outstanding Teaching Award in 2004 and 2007. She also chairs the University of Otago Equity Advisory Committee and has written a history of women in glaciology and has campaigned extensively against armed conflict. [7]

The Hulbe Glacier on the Siple Coast is named after her. [2]

In 2020, Hulbe was awarded the Richardson Medal by the International Glaciological Society along with Eric Wolff. [8] In 2024, the University of Otago appointed Hulbe as a Poutoko Taiea Distinguished Professor, to begin in January 2025. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate of Antarctica</span>

The climate of Antarctica is the coldest on Earth. The continent is also extremely dry, averaging 166 mm (6.5 in) of precipitation per year. Snow rarely melts on most parts of the continent, and, after being compressed, becomes the glacier ice that makes up the ice sheet. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, because of the katabatic winds. Most of Antarctica has an ice-cap climate with extremely cold and dry weather.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Ice Shelf</span> Ice shelf in Antarctica

The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica. It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than 600 kilometres (370 mi) long, and between 15 and 50 metres high above the water surface. Ninety percent of the floating ice, however, is below the water surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amundsen Sea</span> Arm of the Southern Ocean

The Amundsen Sea is an arm of the Southern Ocean off Marie Byrd Land in western Antarctica. It lies between Cape Flying Fish to the east and Cape Dart on Siple Island to the west. Cape Flying Fish marks the boundary between the Amundsen Sea and the Bellingshausen Sea. West of Cape Dart there is no named marginal sea of the Southern Ocean between the Amundsen and Ross Seas. The Norwegian expedition of 1928–1929 under Captain Nils Larsen named the body of water for the Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen while exploring this area in February 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Antarctic Ice Sheet</span> Segment of Antarctic ice sheet

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is the segment of the continental ice sheet that covers West Antarctica, the portion of Antarctica on the side of the Transantarctic Mountains that lies in the Western Hemisphere. It is classified as a marine-based ice sheet, meaning that its bed lies well below sea level and its edges flow into floating ice shelves. The WAIS is bounded by the Ross Ice Shelf, the Ronne Ice Shelf, and outlet glaciers that drain into the Amundsen Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larsen Ice Shelf</span> Ice shelf in Antarctica

The Larsen Ice Shelf is a long ice shelf in the northwest part of the Weddell Sea, extending along the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula from Cape Longing to Smith Peninsula. It is named after Captain Carl Anton Larsen, the master of the Norwegian whaling vessel Jason, who sailed along the ice front as far as 68°10' South during December 1893. In finer detail, the Larsen Ice Shelf is a series of shelves that occupy distinct embayments along the coast. From north to south, the segments are called Larsen A, Larsen B, and Larsen C by researchers who work in the area. Further south, Larsen D and the much smaller Larsen E, F and G are also named.

Smith Glacier (75°05′S112°00′W is a low-gradient Antarctic glacier, over 160 km long, draining from Toney Mountain in an ENE direction to Amundsen Sea. A northern distributary, Kohler Glacier, drains to Dotson Ice Shelf but the main flow passes to the sea between Bear Peninsula and Mount Murphy, terminating at Crosson Ice Shelf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Glaciological Society</span> International glaciology academic organization

The International Glaciological Society (IGS) was founded in 1936 to provide a focus for individuals interested in glaciology, practical and scientific aspects of snow and ice. It was originally known as the "Association for the Study of Snow and Ice". The name was changed to the "British Glaciological Society" in 1945. With more and more non-British glaciologists attending its readings and submitting papers for publication, the name was changed to the "Glaciological Society" in 1962 and finally the Society acquired its present name in 1971. The IGS publishes the Journal of Glaciology, Annals of Glaciology and ICE, the news bulletin of the IGS; the Journal of Glaciology won the ALPSP/Charlesworth Award for the "Best Learned Journal of 2007".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amery Ice Shelf</span> Ice shelf in Antarctica

The Amery Ice Shelf is a broad ice shelf in Antarctica at the head of Prydz Bay between the Lars Christensen Coast and Ingrid Christensen Coast. It is part of Mac. Robertson Land. The name "Cape Amery" was applied to a coastal angle mapped on 11 February 1931 by the British Australian New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) under Douglas Mawson. He named it for William Bankes Amery, a civil servant who represented the United Kingdom government in Australia (1925–28). The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names interpreted this feature to be a portion of an ice shelf and, in 1947, applied the name Amery to the whole shelf.

Whillans Ice Stream is a glaciological feature of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, formerly known as Ice Stream B, renamed in 2001 in honor of Ohio State University glaciologist Ian Whillans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Totten Glacier</span> Glacier in Antarctica

Totten Glacier is a large glacier draining a major portion of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, through the Budd Coast of Wilkes Land in the Australian Antarctic Territory. The catchment drained by the glacier is estimated at 538,000 km2 (208,000 sq mi), extending approximately 1,100 km (680 mi) into the interior and holds the potential to raise sea level by at least 3.5 m (11 ft). Totten drains northeastward from the continental ice but turns northwestward at the coast where it terminates in a prominent tongue close east of Cape Waldron. It was first delineated from aerial photographs taken by USN Operation Highjump (1946–47), and named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) for George M. Totten, midshipman on USS Vincennes of the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–42), who assisted Lieutenant Charles Wilkes with correction of the survey data obtained by the expedition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Naish</span> New Zealand scientist (born 1951)

Timothy Raymond Naish is a New Zealand glaciologist and climate scientist who has been a researcher and lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington and the Director of the Antarctic Research Centre, and in 2020 became a programme leader at the Antarctic Science Platform. Naish has researched and written about the possible effect of melting ice sheets in Antarctica on global sea levels due to high CO2 emissions causing warming in the Southern Ocean. He was instrumental in establishing and leading the Antarctica Drilling Project (ANDRILL), and a Lead Author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (2014).

The Mulock Glacier is a large, heavily crevassed glacier which flows into the Ross Ice Shelf 40 kilometers south of the Skelton Glacier in the Ross Dependency, Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamb Ice Stream</span> Glaciological area in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica

Kamb Ice Stream, a glaciological feature of the Ross Ice Shelf of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, formerly known as Ice Stream C, the ice stream was renamed in 2001 in honor of Caltech Glaciologist Dr. Barclay Kamb. Its margins were the focus of a sequence of scientific borehole expeditions in 2019 and 2021 where a New Zealand team melted their way through the ice to sample the oceanographic conditions below.

Elizabeth Mary Morris,, also known as Liz Morris, is a glaciologist and Senior Associate at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge. She has been a visiting professor at the University of Reading since 1995. She was head of the ice and climate division at the British Antarctic Survey, from 1986 to 1999, and president of the International Glaciological Society, from 2002 to 2005.

Hulbe Glacier is a glacier about 10 nautical miles (20 km) long draining the north side of Siple Island, Antarctica. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names after Christina Hulbe, faculty member of the University of Otago, New Zealand, and a theoretical and field researcher of ice motion in Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Langhorne</span> Scottish professor and Antarctic sea ice researcher

Patricia Jean Langhorne is a British-New Zealand Antarctic sea ice researcher. She retired as Professor in the physics department at the University of Otago, New Zealand in 2020. She was previously head of department (2012–2015). She was New Zealand's leading sea ice physicist. For a time she led the observational component of one of New Zealand’s National Science Challenges – the Deep South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Pattyn</span> Belgian glaciologist

Frank Jean-Marie Léon Pattyn is a Belgian glaciologist and professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles. He is best known for developing ice-sheet models and leading model intercomparisons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natalie Robinson</span> Antarctic, climate and atmospheric researcher

Natalie Robinson, a New Zealand Antarctic researcher. She is based at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand. She led the final two K131 Science Events on the sea ice of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. In 2023, she was appointed Deputy Director of the N.Z. Antarctic Science Platform.

Kirsteen Jane Tinto is a glaciologist known for her research on the behavior and subglacial geology of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob McKay</span> New Zealand scientist

Robert Murray McKay is a paleoceanographer who specialises in sedimentology, stratigraphy and palaeoclimatology, specifically gathering geological evidence to study how marine-based portions of the Antarctic ice sheet behave in response to abrupt climate and oceanic change. He has been involved in examination of marine sedimentary records and glacial deposits to show melting and cooling in Antarctica over the past 65 million years and how this has influenced global sea levels and climate. This has helped climate change scientists overcome uncertainty about how the ice sheets will respond to global warming and how this can be managed effectively in the 21st century. He has participated in international projects including ANDRILL and the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), led major New Zealand government-funded research teams and has received several awards in recognition of his work. Since 2023 McKay has been a full professor at Victoria University of Wellington and from 2019, director of the Antarctic Research Centre.

References

  1. "The people of the School of Surveying". University of Otago. Retrieved 2016-08-08. Head of Department[:] Prof. Christina Hulbe (Dean)
  2. 1 2 "Antarctica Detail". geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  3. "Ice research could help protect Dunedin | Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News". www.odt.co.nz. 2016-02-10. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  4. "Deep Bore Into Antarctica Finds Freezing Ice, Not Melting as Expected". National Geographic News. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  5. Hulbe, Christina; Stevens, Craig. "Climate scientists explore hidden ocean beneath Antarctica's largest ice shelf". The Conversation. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  6. Stevens, C., Hulbe, C., Brewer, M., Stewart, C., Robinson, N., Ohneiser, C. and Jendersie, S., 2020. Ocean mixing and heat transport processes observed under the Ross Ice Shelf control its basal melting. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(29), pp.16799-16804. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910760117
  7. Hastings, Tom H. Nonviolent response to terrorism. McFarland, 2004.
  8. "The Richardson Medal". International Glaciological Society (IGS). Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  9. Otago, University of (2024-06-27). "Poutoko Taiea appointments recognise impactful contributions". www.otago.ac.nz. Retrieved 2024-06-27.