The Glacier Dynamics Group at the University of Idaho reveals the factors controlling the motion and rapid mass loss of glaciers and ice sheets. Our approach to research is fundamentally interdisciplinary. We draw on seismology and other geophysical techniques to understand glacier dynamics, including iceberg calving, water flow through glaciers, dynamic thinning, and the ice flow response to variable glacier hydrology. Through theory and numerical analysis, we test explanations for our glaciological observations. This work is motivated by the need to understand rapid glacier change, its impact on sea level, and on landscape change.
Specifically, our research interests and expertise include:
- glacier dynamics (the factors that make a glacier speed up or slow down, advance or retreat),
- the generation and transmission of seismic waves,
- iceberg calving and submarine melt at the fronts of tidewater glaciers,
- water flow through and beneath glaciers, and
- processes that act on and shape the earth’s surface.
The Glacier Dynamics Group is led by Dr. Timothy Bartholomaus in Moscow, ID. Dr. Bartholomaus is a glaciologist, geophysicist, educator and Associate Professor. He was formerly a Research Associate and Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, in Austin, TX. He received a Ph.D. in Geophysics from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks in December 2013, completed a master’s degree at the University of Colorado Boulder, and a bachelor’s degree at Dartmouth College.
Selected Publications
Recent News
Gearing up to host FOGSS 2024
The University of Idaho will host the 2024 Future of Greenland ice Sheet Science (FOGSS) workshop April 3-5. The workshop will take place on the UI campus, in Moscow, and also be accessible... READ MORE
Strong showing at AGU 2023!
The UI Glacier Dynamics lab group and alums made an outstanding impression at the AGU fall meeting in SF last week. Six of us attended and shared their most recent work: Grace Barcheck,... READ MORE
UI Glacier Dynamics hosts meeting of Northwest Glaciologists
Our group was so proud to host the 50th anniversary of the meeting of Northwest Glaciologists, here at UI, on Oct. 14-15, 2022. We had nearly 60 attendees for about 40 talks and... READ MORE
Congratulations to Chris Miele and Dakota Pyles!
We’re so proud of our two most recent lab group graduates, who graduated this last summer. Dr. Chris Miele received his Ph.D. with a dissertation titled “Shearing shelves, mathematical modeling, and fracture factories:... READ MORE
UI Glacier Dynamics participates in Symposium on Maritime Glaciers
Lab group members Verenis Lucas, Yoram Terleth, Bruno Belotti, and Tim Bartholomaus participated in the International Glaciological Society’s Symposium on Maritime Glaciers, in Juneau, Alaska. Verenis presented her work on snowpack warming and... READ MORE
Three new Ph.D. students join UI Glacier Dynamics lab
With the addition of Verenis Lucas, Yoram Terleth, and Bruno Belotti, our lab group has grown to five graduate student researchers. Verenis will be working on early-season glacier hydrology, Yoram on glacier surges... READ MORE