Rough Schedule

Plan to arrive Tuesday, September 16 for a light dinner and socializing. The workshop is 2½ days, concluding with lunch on Friday, September 19. We will have around 40–45 talks that cover all aspects of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet system or other marine ice-sheet systems, including research from glaciologists, oceanographers, atmospheric scientists, biologists, computer scientists, and engineers at all career stages. Following each set of oral presentations, a panel (the session’s speakers) and the moderator will lead an open discussion about the general theme, and examine what the significance of new insights presented in the talks is for WAIS and other marine ice-sheet systems. This open, engaged discussion helps identify the core research directiosn for our community.

In addition to talks, WAIS will have space for about 30-40 posters. There will be an opportunity to give a very brief overview of a poster topic to the audience just prior to the poster sessions. Posters receive a great deal of attention at WAIS Workshop and frequently launch new research directions.

2025 Science Sessions

For 2025, we have six thematic science sessions. If you do not feel like your research fits into one these sessions, never fear: the WAIS Workshop Organizing Committees takes these sessions as a suggestion and will reorganize presentationsn and sessions as needed. The sessions for 2025 WAIS Workshop are:

• WAIS and marine ice sheets across timescales: Marine ice sheets change on timescales ranging from seconds to millenia. How do we observe and integrate research and scientific discoveries across several disciplines in support of big-picture, scientific pursuits in West Antarctica? We seek contributions for multi-disciplinary and integrative topics that are important to WAIS and marine ice sheet dynamics such as atmosphere-ice-ocean-bed-ecosystem interactions, linkages of surface and basal processes, and connections between modern-day observations and the paleo record.
• Notes from the Underground: The future of marine ice-sheets depends on what is happening within and underneath the ice. What are the new observational and modeling tools that have recently or are soon to come on line that enable us to peer within and beneath WAIS?
• Connect Four: Ice, Ocean, Atmosphere, Rock: New discoveries and insights relating to the atmospheric (such as surface mass balance, firn processes, extraordinary snow events, and atmospheric rivers), the ocean (such as grounding line processes, ice-shelf stability, connections to sea ice conditions, sub-ice-shelf processes), rock (such as glacial isostatic adjustment, geothermal heat, erosion), and their interconnected ice-atmospheric-ocean-rock system. We seek contributions that look at connections and feedbacks between these key systems—past, present and future—to help us understand modern and future change in West Antarctica, including insights from other glaciers and ice sheets that may inform our understanding of WAIS.
• What does the future hold? Projections of marine-ice sheet contribution to sea level continue to be (somewhat infamously) subjected to “deep uncertainty”. What are the current projections? How do we quantify and communicate uncertainty in a complex, interconnected, multidisciplinary, non-linear system? What processes are still missing from these projections and how do they impact global coastal change? What are the key pathways for defining, quantifying, reducing, accepting, and communicating uncertainty in the marine ice-sheet system?
• What Did I Miss? We invite contributions about research that highlights data and modeling gaps that limit our ability to advance our understanding of any or all components of the Antarctic system. What are the community needs for future satellite, airborne, and ground measurements? How do we easily access and analyze the growing volume of model output?
• WAIS impacts across the US: Actionable science about the impact of WAIS and marine ice-sheet change requires engaging federal, state, and local governments and populations across the country to co-produce knowledge and solutions. We seek contributions that describe efforts to bring WAIS science into the general population and promote funding opportunities for our research. We particularly appreciate case studies from outside the US, which can provide strategies to implement domestically.

Detailed Agenda

Stay tuned for a detailed agenda after abstract submission closes.