APECS Geophysics Discipline Coordinator

University of Delaware, USA

I am currently working on my PhD in the Geography Department at the University of Delaware.  My aim is to validate the QuickSCAT scatterometer parameters  to provide a better product to be used for operational purposes.  I did my masters degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio at the Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics (LRSG), which is currently working on projects pertaining to remote sensing applications with studies in sea ice geophysics, snow cover in specific regions, watershed, and areas on Mars focusing on hydrological properties.  My background began in the geological sciences, in which I conducted research  to determine the average amount of water vapor in the atmosphere during a seasonal cycle within a period of 5 (Martian) years. This eventually led me to work with geophysical properties of sea ice where we combined previous data with that from the Elysium Planitia region on Mars to correlate sea ice structures found in the Arctic with thos e found in equatorial regions on Mars.  I shifted my interest in focusing primarily on geophysical studies of sea ice in Antarctica. I was fortunate enough to begin my graduate program with the SIMBA (Sea Ice Mass Balance in the Antarctic) cruise in September - October, 2007 to assess the ice thickness distribution for the Bellingshausen Sea during the austral winter/spring seasons.