Catrin Thomas

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About

Dr. Catrin Thomas is a polar oceanographer and robotic exploration scientist whose work focuses on the critical, yet inaccessible, grounding zones of Antarctic glaciers—where ice meets the ocean floor. She is best known for her pioneering role in the 2020 MELT project of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, where she led the first long-range robotic exploration of the Thwaites Glacier grounding zone using the underwater vehicle Icefin. This landmark study, published in 2020, provided unprecedented direct observations of melting processes at the ice-ocean interface, revealing complex melt patterns and warm water pathways that are reshaping our understanding of glacier stability. Though early in her career, her work has already garnered significant attention, with her most-cited paper accumulating over 3 citations as a foundational reference in cryosphere research. Dr. Thomas’s contributions are vital for improving sea-level rise projections, and she continues to push the boundaries of in-situ polar observation, combining engineering ingenuity with urgent climate science.