Brief Bio

Dr. Melinda Webster joined the Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in January 2017 as a Research Physical Scientist. Prior to joining the lab, Dr. Webster received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Washington, all with a theme on Arctic sea ice. Her work has covered a breadth of sea ice topics including small-scale processes such as melt pond evolution, to large-scale trends such as snow on Arctic sea ice. In her current role, Dr. Webster is investigating the geophysical properties, processes, and trends of sea ice through the synthesis of remote sensing, in situ, and model data.

Positions/Employment

Education

University of Washington, School of Oceanography
June 2016: PhD, Oceanography. 
June 2013: MSc, Oceanography.
June 2010: BSc, Oceanography; Minor, Applied Mathematics.

Professional Societies

Professional Service

GSFC Science Director's Committee, 2017 - Present

Awards

- NASA postdoctoral program fellowship, Goddard Space Flight Center, 2016 - 2017.
- Science communication fellow, Pacific Science Center, 2011 - 2013.
- NASA's Group Achievement Award to NASA’s ICESCAPE Team, 2011.
- Best poster award, Graduate Professional Student Senate’s Science & Policy Summit, 2011.
- Applied Physics Laboratory - University of Washington fellowship, 2010 - 2011.
- Egtvedt endowed scholarship, Fisheries and Oceanography, 2009 - 2010.
 

Grants

Special Experience

- Upcoming: The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC): June 2020 - August 2020: Central Arctic Ocean. 
- Sea Ice Summer Camp May - June 2016: Barrow, Alaska.
- Snow on Sea Ice Workshop April 2015: Barrow, Alaska.
- Field Techniques in Interdisciplinary Sea-ice Research Field Course May - June 2013: Barrow, Alaska.
- NASA’s BRomine Ozone and Mercury EXperiment (BROMEX) March - April 2012: Barrow, Alaska.
- NASA’s Impacts of Climate on the Eco-Systems & Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment (ICESCAPE) campaign June - July 2011: USCGC Healy 1101, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.
- Beaufort Sea Moorings September 2010: USCGC Healy 1003, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.
- International Polar Year Field School June 2009: Svalbard, Norway.

Publications

Refereed

Nicolaus, M., D. K. Perovich, G. Spreen, et al. M. A. Granskog, L. von Albedyll, M. Angelopoulos, P. Anhaus, S. Arndt, H. J. Belter, V. Bessonov, G. Birnbaum, J. Brauchle, R. Calmer, E. Cardellach, B. Cheng, D. Clemens-Sewall, R. Dadic, E. Damm, G. de Boer, O. Demir, K. Dethloff, D. V. Divine, A. A. Fong, S. Fons, M. M. Frey, N. Fuchs, C. Gabarró, S. Gerland, H. F. Goessling, R. Gradinger, J. Haapala, C. Haas, J. Hamilton, H.-R. Hannula, S. Hendricks, A. Herber, C. Heuzé, M. Hoppmann, K. V. Høyland, M. Huntemann, J. K. Hutchings, B. Hwang, P. Itkin, H.-W. Jacobi, M. Jaggi, A. Jutila, L. Kaleschke, C. Katlein, N. Kolabutin, D. Krampe, S. S. Kristensen, T. Krumpen, N. Kurtz, A. Lampert, B. A. Lange, R. Lei, B. Light, F. Linhardt, G. E. Liston, B. Loose, A. R. Macfarlane, M. Mahmud, I. O. Matero, S. Maus, A. Morgenstern, R. Naderpour, V. Nandan, A. Niubom, M. Oggier, N. Oppelt, F. Pätzold, C. Perron, T. Petrovsky, R. Pirazzini, C. Polashenski, B. Rabe, I. A. Raphael, J. Regnery, M. Rex, R. Ricker, K. Riemann-Campe, A. Rinke, J. Rohde, E. Salganik, R. K. Scharien, M. Schiller, M. Schneebeli, M. Semmling, E. Shimanchuk, M. D. Shupe, M. M. Smith, V. Smolyanitsky, V. Sokolov, T. Stanton, J. Stroeve, L. Thielke, A. Timofeeva, R. T. Tonboe, A. Tavri, M. Tsamados, D. N. Wagner, D. Watkins, M. Webster, and M. Wendisch. 2022. "Overview of the MOSAiC expedition: Snow and sea ice." Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 10 (1): [10.1525/elementa.2021.000046]

Webster, M. A., S. Gerland, M. Holland, et al. E. Hunke, R. Kwok, O. Lecomte, R. Massom, D. Perovich, and M. Sturm. 2018. "Snow in the changing sea-ice systems." Nature Climate Change, [10.1038/s41558-018-0286-7]

Zhang, J., A. Schweiger, M. Webster, et al. B. Light, M. Steele, C. Ashjian, R. Campbell, and Y. Spitz. 2018. "Melt pond conditions on declining Arctic sea ice over 1979-2016: Model development, validation, and results." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, [10.1029/2018jc014298]

Boisvert, L., M. A. Webster, A. A. Petty, et al. T. Markus, D. Bromwich, and R. I. Cullather. 2018. "Intercomparison of precipitation estimates over the Arctic Ocean and its peripheral seas from reanalyses." Journal of Climate,

Blanchard-Wrigglesworth, E., M. A. Webster, S. L. Farrell, and C. M. Bitz. 2018. "Reconstruction of Snow on Arctic Sea Ice." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 123 (5): 3588-3602 [10.1002/2017jc013364]

Kwok, R., N. T. Kurtz, L. Brucker, et al. A. Ivanoff, T. Newman, S. L. Farrell, J. King, S. Howell, M. A. Webster, J. Paden, C. Leuschen, J. A. Macgregor, J. Richter-Menge, J. Harbeck, and M. Tschudi. 2017. "Inter-comparison of snow depth retrievals over Arctic sea ice fromradar data acquired by Operation IceBridge." The Cryosphere, 2571-2593 [10.5194/tc-2017-103]

Light, B., D. K. Perovich, M. A. Webster, C. Polashenski, and R. Dadic. 2015. "Optical properties of melting first-year Arctic sea ice." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 120 (11): 7657-7675 [10.1002/2015jc011163]

Webster, M. A., I. G. Rigor, D. K. Perovich, et al. J. A. Richter-Menge, C. M. Polashenski, and B. Light. 2015. "Seasonal evolution of melt ponds on Arctic sea ice." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 120 (9): 5968-5982 [10.1002/2015jc011030]

Polashenski, C., D. K. Perovich, K. E. Frey, et al. L. W. Cooper, C. I. Logvinova, R. Dadic, B. Light, H. P. Kelly, L. D. Trusel, and M. Webster. 2015. "Physical and morphological properties of sea ice in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas during the 2010 and 2011 NASA ICESCAPE missions." Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 118: 7-17 [10.1016/j.dsr2.2015.04.006]

Webster, M. A., I. G. Rigor, S. V. Nghiem, et al. N. T. Kurtz, S. L. Farrell, D. K. Perovich, and M. Sturm. 2014. "Interdecadal changes in snow depth on Arctic sea ice." J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 119 (8): 5395–5406 [10.1002/2014JC009985]