Daniel Shapero

Daniel is the lead developer of the software package icepack (https://icepack.github.io), a tool for modeling the flow of glaciers and ice sheets and for solving inverse problems. In the past, flow modeling has largely been the province of experts in computational physics, but virtually all practicing glaciologists — from students to senior researchers — need to use flow models. The main design goal for icepack is to lower the barrier to entry and make a tool that is useful for experts and novices alike. Additionally, Daniel is developing new algorithms for assimilating the entire time series of satellite and airborne remote sensing observations of ice sheets into models using icepack. The aim of this research is to gain a better understanding of how glaciers have responded to environmental changes over the recent past, with the hope of using this knowledge to make better predictions. This work is supported by the NSF Office for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure and the NASA Office of Polar Programs.

Daniel received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Applied Mathematics in 2017 under the supervision of PSC’s Ian Joughin, continued on at UW through the eScience Institute’s postdoc program, and became a PI at the Polar Science Center in 2020. In his free time, he enjoys playing classical guitar and climbing things.

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