Iain Wheel

Bio:

Iain Wheel

My interest in polar climates originally arose from a fascination in ‘Arctic Blooming’ while completing my undergraduate degree in Marine Biology with Oceanography at the University of Southampton. I became interested in the associated sea ice melt and surface water stratification. In order to gain more insight into ice-ocean interactions I completed a MPhil at the Scott Polar Research Institute, where my research focused on the effects of katabatic winds on fjord circulation, sea-ice export and terminus stability at Sermilik Fjord and Helheim Glacier. I began my PhD at St Andrews in September 2019.

My research is part of the DOMINOS project under the umbrella of the Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. I will be using Elmer/Ice and HiDEM models to investigate ice cliff and ice shelf instability. Currently I aim to apply these to Jakobshavn Isbrae, West Greenland to investigate the possibility of ice cliff failure processes occurring. This is particularly important given the lack of direct observations of these processes and the uncertainty they have created in global sea level rise predictions.

I am a keen road cyclist and can often be found riding around the country lanes of Fife.