The launch of Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013 is slated for January at the Joint Math Meetings in San Diego, where a highlight of the scheduled events is the Porter Public Lecture by Ken Golden of the University of Utah. Golden has been to Antarctica seven times and the Artic eight times in pursuit of career-long scientific interest in sea ice; among his other research interests are climate change, composite materials, phase transitions, and inverse problems. He will devote the Porter lecture in part to a discussion of "how mathematical models of composite materials and statistical physics are being used to study key sea ice processes, such as freezing and melting." A better understanding of such processes, he says, is needed "to improve projections of the fate of Earth's sea ice packs, and the response of polar ecosystems."
Named a SIAM Fellow in 2009 "for extraordinary interdisciplinary work on sea ice," Golden sent SIAM a selection of photos from some of his recent expeditions, including the one shown here. Another, showing him at work in the field, appears in "Math of Planet Earth 2013" in this issue, along with a brief introduction to MPE2013.
Polar melt ponds, April 2012.