UAS, Partners Receive NSF Grant to Confront Glacier Outbursts

A team of interdisciplinary researchers from the University of Alaska Southeast, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Carnegie Mellon University has been awarded a $990,437 federal grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Juneau, Alaska

Date of Press Release: January 21, 2025

A team of interdisciplinary researchers from the University of Alaska Southeast, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Carnegie Mellon University has been awarded a $990,437 federal grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation. The five-year grant will be used to create a detailed assessment of current and future outburst flood hazards posed by the Mendenhall Glacier (Tlingit: Áakʼw Tʼáak Sít’) in Juneau and to improve glacial flood forecasts across northwest North America. 

Researchers will use field and remote sensing data to help model the evolution of Mendenhall Glacier and its impact on outburst flood dynamics. The results from this study will be used to create a large-scale flood hazard model that will be used to improve glacial flood forecasts in Juneau and across northwest North America. Tools developed by the study will be useful for forecasting floods, assessing emerging outburst flood hazards, and communicating information about outburst flood hazards to communities.

The research team members include Environmental Science Professors Jason Amundson and Eran Hood from University of Alaska Southeast, Gabriel Wolken from University of Alaska Fairbanks, and David Rounce from Carnegie Mellon University. 

“We have been investigating the Mendenhall Glacier outburst floods for over 10 years, but with minimal support. This grant will greatly enhance our ability to improve flood forecasts, assess the outburst flood hazard over the coming years and decades, and inform engineering solutions. We look forward to continuing our work with local, state, and federal partners, and to developing new partnerships with tribal organizations,” remarked Dr. Jason Amundson, Principal Investigator and Professor of Geophysics at University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau Campus. 

The project is jointly funded by the NSF Division of Research, Innovation, Synergies, and Education (RISE) in the Directorate for Geosciences, and the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure through the National Discovery Cloud for Climate initiative.