{"687191":{"#nid":"687191","#data":{"type":"event","title":"EAS Specially Invited Speaker - Dr. Winnie Chu","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe instability of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets represents the largest uncertainty in future sea-level rise projections. While surface processes are increasingly well-observed, the \u0022hidden half\u0022 of these systems (e.g., the subglacial water networks and basal thermal states that lubricate ice flow) remains critically under-constrained. In this talk, I will demonstrate how my research group, the Polar Geophysics Simulation Lab (PGSL), is closing this gap by bridging the historical divide between observational geophysics and numerical modeling.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI will first present results from our \u0022Frozen Legacies\u0022 program, where we have utilized historical and modern radar sounding data to map basal freeze-on and ice shelf basal channels across Antarctica. I will highlight recent findings from the Amundsen Sea Embayment, where our integration of radar attenuation with ice-flow models has revealed that frozen beds upstream of Thwaites Glacier are poised to thaw under moderate acceleration, producing a feedback mechanism with urgent implications for ice sheet stability.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMoving beyond observation, I will outline the future trajectory of my program, enabled by recent NSF CAREER and Heising-Simons Foundation awards. I will discuss our development of physics-informed AI frameworks that assimilate multi-scale radar observations into hydrologic models, allowing us to infer basal conditions at resolutions previously impossible. By moving from static mapping to dynamic, AI-enabled forecasting, we aim to bridge the gap between observation and prediction, providing the constraints needed to reduce uncertainty in the next generation of ice sheet models.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E*Refreshments: 10:30 - 11:00 AM (Atrium)\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe instability of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets represents the largest uncertainty in future sea-level rise projections. While surface processes are increasingly well-observed, the \u0022hidden half\u0022 of these systems (e.g., the subglacial water networks and basal thermal states that lubricate ice flow) remains critically under-constrained. In this talk, I will demonstrate how my research group, the Polar Geophysics Simulation Lab (PGSL), is closing this gap by bridging the historical divide between observational geophysics and numerical modeling.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI will first present results from our \u0022Frozen Legacies\u0022 program, where we have utilized historical and modern radar sounding data to map basal freeze-on and ice shelf basal channels across Antarctica. I will highlight recent findings from the Amundsen Sea Embayment, where our integration of radar attenuation with ice-flow models has revealed that frozen beds upstream of Thwaites Glacier are poised to thaw under moderate acceleration, producing a feedback mechanism with urgent implications for ice sheet stability.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMoving beyond observation, I will outline the future trajectory of my program, enabled by recent NSF CAREER and Heising-Simons Foundation awards. I will discuss our development of physics-informed AI frameworks that assimilate multi-scale radar observations into hydrologic models, allowing us to infer basal conditions at resolutions previously impossible. By moving from static mapping to dynamic, AI-enabled forecasting, we aim to bridge the gap between observation and prediction, providing the constraints needed to reduce uncertainty in the next generation of ice sheet models.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E*Refreshments: 10:30 - 11:00 AM (Atrium)\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Frozen Legacies: Decoding the Subglacial Boundary Conditions that Control Earth\u2019s Ice Sheets "}],"uid":"36678","created_gmt":"2026-01-12 11:59:24","changed_gmt":"2026-01-12 12:05:19","author":"tbuchanan9","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2026-01-22T11:00:00-05:00","event_time_end":"2026-01-22T12:00:00-05:00","event_time_end_last":"2026-01-22T12:00:00-05:00","gmt_time_start":"2026-01-22 16:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2026-01-22 17:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2026-01-22 17:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"EST L1205","extras":["free_food"],"hg_media":{"678949":{"id":"678949","type":"image","title":"Chu Headshot","body":null,"created":"1768219440","gmt_created":"2026-01-12 12:04:00","changed":"1768219440","gmt_changed":"2026-01-12 12:04:00","alt":"Chu Headshot","file":{"fid":"263052","name":"Chu---Headshot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/01\/12\/Chu---Headshot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/01\/12\/Chu---Headshot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":195394,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/01\/12\/Chu---Headshot.jpg?itok=SUPhcdD2"}}},"media_ids":["678949"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/pgsl.eas.gatech.edu\/index.html","title":""}],"groups":[{"id":"364801","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"175623","name":"EAS Seminar"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}