"We're still in discovery mode: Every few years, a new discovery makes us fundamentally reassess how we think of Antarctica, both by itself and within the entire Earth system," said Matthew Siegfried, a postdoctoral researcher in Geophysics who works with Dustin Schroeder in Stanford's Radio Glaciology lab. "It's fun to think that I can go down to Antarctica and make observations of glacier processes that no one else has before." His research involves combining ground, air, and satellite datasets to better understand the dynamics and variability of the subglacial system in places such as Greenland and Antarctica.
In addition to making fundamental discoveries about how ice sheets function, Siegfried enjoys serving as a mentor for students working across disciplines at Stanford. "When I started college, I didn't even know 'Earth Science,' let alone 'Geophysics,' let alone 'Glaciology,' were fields I could study. Now it's not uncommon that I talk to students who learned some geophysics in high school," he said. "These kids are going to solve the problems we need solving in glaciology." Siegfried is the 2017 recipient of the Thompson Postdoctoral Fellowship, which provides funding for up to two years of postdoctoral study in geophysics.
In January 2019, Siegfried began a position as Assistant Professor at the Colorado School of Mines.
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