Conference: Support for International Glaciological Society Ice-Ocean Symposium IGS2026

The ability to observe, understand, and predict changes in glaciers and ice sheets is important for informing coastal planning, maritime operations, and long-term infrastructure decisions. Maintaining U.S. leadership in polar and Earth system science requires strong connections among researchers, access to emerging observational and analytical techniques, and opportunities for students and early-career scientists to engage with the broader scientific community. Scientific meetings play a critical role in accelerating the exchange of knowledge, fostering new collaborations, and developing the workforce needed to address complex challenges involving the cryosphere and the ocean. This proposal requests support for participation in the 2026 International Glaciological Society Symposium, “Interactions of Glaciers and Ice Sheets with the Ocean,” to be held at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in July 2026. The symposium will convene approximately 150–200 researchers from the international glaciology, oceanography, and remote sensing communities to assess current understanding of ice–ocean interactions and identify priorities for future observations, process studies, and numerical modeling. Scientific sessions will focus on processes occurring at glacier termini, grounding zones, and beneath floating ice shelves, where ocean conditions influence the behavior of marine-terminating glaciers and ice sheets. This project will provide participant support for students, postdoctoral scholars, early-career researchers, and participants from institutions with limited travel resources, thereby broadening participation and strengthening scientific exchange across disciplines and career stages. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. NSF Award ID: 2626299 | Program: 0100CYXXDB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Helen Fricker | Institution: University of California-San Diego Scripps Inst of Oceanography, LA JOLLA, CA | Award Amount: $34,999 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2626299 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2626299.html