Elizabeth Ultee (Middlebury College)

Math & Stats Department Colloquium

Friday, January 28th, 2022

Time: 2:30 p.m.  Place: Online (via Zoom)

Speaker: Elizabeth Ultee (Middlebury College)

Title: Mathematical avenues toward climate science

Abstract: Global climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing humankind. From a wide variety of mathematical starting points, we have the opportunity to address important open questions in climate science. I will highlight some of those open questions and sketch emerging approaches. I will then give a detailed example from my own work: how to find a "speed limit" on glacier retreat and the resulting global mean sea-level rise. Whether climate intersects your research, teaching, or simply your human interests, I encourage you to join the conversation.

Elizabeth Ultee is an Assistant Professor of Geology at Middlebury College, Vermont. She held Postdoctoral positions at Georgia Institute of Technology in 2021, and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2018-2021. She got her Ph.D.~in Climate and Space Science from the University of Michigan in 2018, and B.Sc.~in Mathematical Physics from Queen’s University in 2013. She is a glaciologist focused on describing the processes and societal impacts of glacier and ice sheet change. Her current projects include glacial water supply, ice fracture, and global sea level rise. She received the Early Career Scientist Medal from the International Glaciological Society in 2021.