Report from SAGES Theme 1 PECRE Exchange Scheme
Visit by Dr. Robert Bingham (University of Aberdeen) to Pennsylvania State University, June 2013
Introduction
During the summer of 2013 SAGES funded a research visit for me to work with members of the
internationally leading Ice and Climate group based at Pennsylvania State University (PSU). My principal
collaborator and host was Professor Sridhar Anandakrishnan, an international leader in glacial geophysical
research and sub-ice landscape dynamics. Over the last decade, Anandakrishnan has led research across
Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica, while I have for the last five years had a focus on its neighbour Pine
Island Glacier – these glaciers together constitute the chief Antarctic contributors to predicted 21st century
global sea-level rise.
PSU is also home to the internationally leading glaciologist Professor Richard Alley, leading icesheet modeller Dr. David Pollard, and a 15-strong diverse group of researchers spread across the
Geosciences, Geography and Engineering Departments of this top-ranked university.
Objectives of the visit were to: (a) formalise and deepen collaboration with a group that is
unquestionably leading both in the USA and internationally; (b) gain some experience from their success in
obtaining industry support for geophysical (especially seismic) research; (c) develop a future joint project in
Antarctic sub-ice research; and (d) bring these skills and connections back to the Scottish (SAGES Pool)
community.
Actions during visit
I was based in the Department of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University from 3 rd to 30th June 2013.
During the first week, I presented a seminar to the “PSICE” (Pennsylvania State Ice and Climate Exploration)
group on the research that I and Scottish collaborators have been doing over the last 4 years (since my
commencing a Lectureship at University of Aberdeen). This precipitated some useful discussions with a
range of PSICE members on work that could be done together in the future (more on this below). The PSICE
group met for discussion and seminars each following Friday of my visit, and their model of spreading
useful research news in this way, and including all staff from undergraduates to Professors, was an
excellent example to all research groups.
During my visit, I had regular meetings with Sridhar Anandakrishnan in which we (a) worked
together on data from Pine Island Glacier and Ferrigno Ice Stream, West Antarctica, which I have acquired
in earlier field seasons; (b) discussed some new geophysical techniques from Sridhar’s seismic background
that could be applied to my radar analyses; (c) spoke about ways of developing new innovative probes for
exploring the sub-ice environment of the polar ice sheets; and (d) started to explore actively how we can
collaborate on future research in Antarctica or Greenland. I also had some useful and inspiring discussions
with Richard Alley on the above.
An unexpected bonus was sharing an office for four weeks with Dr. Atsuhiro Muto, currently
working as a PDRA for Sridhar Anandakrishnan on geophysical exploration of the polar ice sheets. I had
many fruitful discussions with Muto, including an afternoon of analysing “Operation IceBridge” data
collected over Ferrigno Ice Stream. We have discussed using this analysis in a forthcoming presentation at
the European Geosciences Union 2014, as a precursor to applying for funding to continue research in this
region.
Conclusions and next steps
Reflecting on the objectives of my visit as outlined above, I conclude the following:
 Having the opportunity to visit Pennsylvania State University and to work with such a vibrant team of
researchers was a huge inspiration, and I thank both SAGES for funding this and the PSU group for
hosting me. My overall objective was to progress from my previous state of working in parallel with this
group to one of looking actively at future projects on which we could work actively together as part of
an international collaboration, and this visit provided an essential step in this objective.
 In this highly research-active environment I was able to revisit some old data from Pine Island Glacier
and analyse it in some new ways advised by seismic-expert Anandakrishnan. I am now progressing this
reanalysis towards publication, anticipated 2014. (In fact, firstly I will return to Pine Island Glacier in
2013-14 as part of the NERC Ice Sheet Stability Programme.) This paper will represent one clear output
from the visit.
 We have discussed actively working on new Antarctic/Greenland collaborations together, with a view on
my side to seeking some NERC funding in January 2015 and for Anandakrishnan’s group to source NSF
funding. Our goal is to get US & UK-based researchers in glacial geophysics working together at a single
field site on an important science question. From the UK side, this would involve SAGES members
recruited into Bingham’s group.
 As a first step towards the previous point, Bingham and Anandakrishnan’s group will present a talk at
the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in spring 2014, as a momentum-gaining exercise.
Some further developments
In October 2013, after my SAGES visit to PSU was completed, I was appointed to the position of Reader in
Glaciology and Geophysics at the University of Edinburgh. In this new role, one of my objectives is to
enhance the geophysical capability of the glaciology group (hence that of Scottish universities in general),
and I plan to continue my association with PSU in this objective. Anandakrishnan’s experience in sourcing
industrial funding for his seismic experiments in Antarctica has guided me in efforts to begin dialogue with
appropriate industry back in the UK.