David Rounce
Carnegie Mellon University, PA·Earth & Environmental Science
Glaciers are shrinking quickly around the world. This affects sea level, water supplies, ecosystems and the people who depend on them.
- Fields
Earth & Environmental Science
Engineering
Ecology & Evolution
- Topics
glaciers
glacier mass balance
glacier retreat
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Conduct the first systematic study of glacier mass balance on inner-tropical Andean volcanoes in Ecuador, using field and remote sensing observations and modeling.
- Trace how glacier retreat changes hidden underground meltwater paths, stream timing, plant succession, soils and nutrient release in páramo watersheds, co-producing predictive models with Kichwa communities.
- Assess how sulfur and metals control páramo carbon stores, and whether these stores could become a source of greenhouse gases as glaciers retreat.
- Develop new representations in glacier energy-balance and evolution models for how wildfire black and brown carbon darkens Alaskan glacier snow and speeds melting.
- Produce the first projections of Alaskan glacier mass loss that include wildfires, heatwaves and snow-albedo feedbacks, using in situ data, remote sensing and climate models.
More about the research
Most glacier research focuses on mid- and high-latitude regions, and current models leave out some processes that may speed melting. This research uses field measurements, satellite data and computer models to understand what drives glacier loss and its effects downstream. It focuses on two very different settings: tropical Andean volcanoes in Ecuador, and Alaska.
Why it matters
Better projections of glacier loss can support planning for sea-level rise and changing water supplies. Modeling soot from wildfires and heatwaves may make forecasts of Alaskan glacier loss more accurate as these events become more frequent. In Ecuador, the work could help Kichwa communities and water managers anticipate changes in water, vegetation and land use. It could also show whether páramo soils may become a source of greenhouse gases.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Collaborative Research: From Peaks To Slopes To Communities, Tropical Glacierized Volcanoes As Sentinels of Global Change: Integrated Impacts On Water, Plants and Elemental Cycling
NSF · Sep 2023 – Aug 2027
Glacier Extremes: The Role of Glacier Snow Albedo Feedbacks From Wildfires and Heatwaves in Enhancing Present and Future Mass Loss in Alaska
NSF · Jul 2022 – Jun 2027
Closest labs
William Armstrong
Appalachian State University, NC·Earth & Environmental Science
Quantify ice lost through iceberg calving and underwater melt at three lake-terminating glaciers of the Juneau Icefield, using ground-based radar, GPS and satellite measurements of ice thickness and speed.
Rawad Saleh
University of Georgia, GA·Earth & Environmental Science·Early-career
Conduct three intensive measurement campaigns of simulated wildland and prescribed fires at the U.S. Forest Service Center for Forest Disturbance Science combustion facility, testing how fuel type, firing technique and moisture content alter emissions of light-absorbing particles.
Shaun Marcott
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Earth & Environmental Science
Date the thinning of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet by measuring 135 beryllium-10 exposure ages along about 15 vertical mountain transects in western Canada, known as the "glacial dipstick" approach.
The school
Carnegie Mellon University: 28 labs on PI Pages, $505M a year on research, 346 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
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