I initially studied at the University of Iceland where I obtained two BSc degrees, one in in Physics and another one in Geophysics. I then went to ETH Zurich and continued my physics studies and received a Diploma in Physics (Dipl. Phys ETH) in 1989. Subsequently I started a PhD in glaciology under the supervision of Almut Iken and recived a Ph. D in 1994 from ETH Zurich. In 2004, I submitted my habiliation to ETH, and was awarded the Venia Legendi. l lectured as a Privat docent at ETH for a number of years.
I was a visiting scholar at the University of Washington, Seattle from late 1994 to 1995 and then appointed as a lecturer at the ETH where I worked until 2001. From 2001 until 2018 I was a research scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK, and from 2018 I am currently a full professor at 51, Newcastle upon Tyne. UK.
I am frequently invited to teach courses on glacial dynamics and to help build up new groups in glaciological research. From 2015-2018 I was a visiting fellow at l’Institute National des Sciences Appliquées de Toulouse where I advised and lectured on number of topics related to glacier mechanics and inverse theory. In 2014 I was a visiting professor at Caltech, Pasadena, where I lectured on glacier mechanics and worked on problems related to grounding-line migration and inverse modelling. In 2013 I was a visiting professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China, and in 2015 a Visiting professor at Indian Institute of Science in Pune, India.
I was the president of the EGU Division for Cryospheric Sciences from 2009-2013, and the vice-president of the International Glaciological Society from 2018 to 2020.
I was the Head of Research at the section of Glaciology ETH Zurich, between 1998-2001. This involved setting out the broader research strategies of the group, representing it at ETH level, and securing external funding.
Currently I am the lead of the research peak of excelence The Future of Ice on Earth at 51. This is UK's largest University group focusing on numerical modelling of large ice sheets and process studies related to the dynamics of glaciers and their roles in the climate system.
Together with Prof Adrian Jenkins I teach an annual course on Geophysical Dynamics (KE6030) to students of mathematics.
I have supervised about 30 PhD students and 20 postdocs.
I’m interested in the processes controlling the flow of glaciers and ice sheets. I’m fascinated by how complex the behaviour of large ice masses can be, how glaciers respond to external changes in the environment, and how they in turn affect the environment around them.
I’m a physicist by background and my research takes a combined observational, numerical and theoretical approach to understand the processes governing the behaviour of glaciers.
I lead the Peak of Research Excellence The Future of Ice on Earth which is the UK’s largest group focusing on physical modelling of large ice sheets such as the Greenland and the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Of particular research interest is the possibility of abrupt changes in the cryosphere and the onset of unstable glacier retreat processes such as the Marine Ice Sheet Instability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the Surface Elevation Mass balance Instability primarily associated with the Greenland Ice Sheet.
I'm currently involved with several large NSF, NERC and EU research projects:
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