Nanna Karlsson
Prof. Nanna Karlsson (Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland/GEUS) has significantly impacted the field of glaciology, both by advancing our understanding of ice-sheet dynamics and basal processes, and through her exceptional leadership and service.
Prof. Karlsson’s research has been impactful and diverse. Highlights include placing the first ice-sheet-scale constraint on basal melt-water production of the Greenland ice sheet, estimating volumes and testing flow hypotheses for glaciers and ice caps on Mars, constraining past accumulation across key sectors of both the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets, and characterizing the ice dynamic record expressed in englacial layers for the interpretation of radar data and collection of ice cores at both poles.
She has participated in multiple field campaigns to Greenland and Antarctica, and now acts as a field leader in her role at GEUS. She was a key contributor to both the North Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) and East Greenland Ice Core Projects (EGRIP), including a period as science trench leader at EGRIP in 2017, helping to coordinate the large science team responsible for surveying, processing and dividing the ice core so it could be distributed for analysis and archived for the community.
Prof. Karlsson’s community contributions have been extensive. As lead scientist for the GC-NET and PROMICE weather-station maintenance field campaigns, and a key contributor to the radarfilm.studio historical radar data archive, she has devoted significant time to providing critical community data. She has also acted in an extensive range of formal community roles including co-editor-in-chief of The Cryosphere, IGS Council member (including chairing a committee for Actions on Diversity and Inclusion), national representative for the IASC Cryosphere Working Group, and Vice-President of the Cryosphere Division of EGU.
Colleagues highlight Prof. Karlsson’s efforts to make positive cultural change in the glaciological community, bringing her focus to consider how we conduct our science, how we collaborate, how we communicate, and how we enable others. She has taken tangible actions towards cultural change, by championing early-career colleagues, undertaking data-driven research into gender disparity in geosciences, and most recently as part of the organising committee for the Karthaus Summer School, where she has worked to achieve diversity among the instructors and provide more holistic training for the early-career researchers.
Prof. Karlsson has made remarkable and diverse contributions to research, and through her exemplary service, upholds the IGS values of respect, diversity, openness and collaboration.
On behalf of the Awards Committee of the International Glaciological Society
Sue Cooke, Chair.
