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.
Melinda Anne Webster
(Science Collaborator)
| Email: | melinda.a.webster@nasa.gov |
| Org Code: | 615 |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 615 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: | UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND AT COLLEGE PARK |
Brief Bio
Positions/Employment
Research Physical Scientist
NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center
January 2017 - Present
NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow
Universities Space Research Association - Goddard Space Flight Center
September 2016 - January 2017
Research Scientist/Engineer
University of Washington - Polar Science Center
June 2016 - August 2016
Graduate Research Assistant
University of Washington - School of Oceanography & Polar Science Center
September 2010 - June 2016
Research Scientist
University of Washington - Polar Science Center
March 2009 - September 2010
Education
University of Washington, School of Oceanography
June 2016: PhD, Oceanography.
June 2013: MSc, Oceanography.
June 2010: BSc, Oceanography; Minor, Applied Mathematics.
Professional Societies
American Geophysical Union
2009 - Present
American Association for the Advancement of Science
2017 - Present
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
Assessing and improving the seasonal capability of ICESat-2 data for sea ice research
NNH17ZDA001N-NIP: New (Early Career) Investigator Program in Earth Science - NASA - Awarded: 2018-03-05
Dates: 2018-10-01 - 2021-09-30
Refinement and Enhancement of the Terra and Aqua MODIS and Suomi NPP VIIRS Cryosphere Algorithms and Data Products
NNH17ZDA001N-TASNPP: The Science of TERRA, AQUA, and SUOMI NPP - NASA - Awarded: 2018-01-16
Dates: 2018-10-01 - 2021-09-30
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
2022. "Overview of the MOSAiC expedition: Snow and sea ice." Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 10 (1): [10.1525/elementa.2021.000046] [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "Snow in the changing sea-ice systems." Nature Climate Change [10.1038/s41558-018-0286-7] [Journal Article/Letter]
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] [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "Intercomparison of precipitation estimates over the Arctic Ocean and its peripheral seas from reanalyses." Journal of Climate [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "Reconstruction of Snow on Arctic Sea Ice." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 123 (5): 3588-3602 [10.1002/2017jc013364] [Journal Article/Letter]
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] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "Optical properties of melting first-year Arctic sea ice." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 120 (11): 7657-7675 [10.1002/2015jc011163] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "Seasonal evolution of melt ponds on Arctic sea ice." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 120 (9): 5968-5982 [10.1002/2015jc011030] [Journal Article/Letter]
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] [Journal Article/Letter]
2014. "Interdecadal changes in snow depth on Arctic sea ice." J. Geophys. Res. Oceans 119 (8): 5395–5406 [10.1002/2014JC009985] [Journal Article/Letter]