Joe Todd

Bio:


My interest in glaciology arose during my undergraduate degree in Geography in St Andrews, which I completed in 2011. I have always been very interested in computers, and so to compensate for my lack of formal mathematical training, I undertook the Polar Studies MPhil at the Scott Polar Research Institute to get a taste of numerical modelling before starting my PhD (also at SPRI). I have now returned to St Andrews for my post-doc, and am very lucky to be able to continue to use and improve the calving model which I developed during my PhD.

When I’m not in the office, I like being in the hills. I am a keen mountain biker, snowboarder and Munro-bagger.

Research Interests:

My current research involves developing 2D and 3D models for the process of iceberg calving using Elmer/Ice. I am interested in the underlying fracture processes which lead to calving, and the environmental factors which link calving rates to climate change.

Calving & Crevasses

My PhD focused on calving model development and implementation for a case study of Store Glacier, West Greenland. Results of the 2D model can be found here, and 3D publications are in the pipeline.

Here’s a video of the 3D model doing it’s thing:

Drones

I managed to escape the curse of the modeller and get some field experience in Uummanaq, West Greenland in 2013 and 2014, helping to build, test and fly UAVs for glaciological survey on Store and Lille glaciers with researchers from the Aberyswyth Glaciology Group. Check out the video below for a quick overview, or read the publication here.