Mary Albert is a Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth College’s Thayer School of Engineering. She earned a B.S. in Mathematics from Pennsylvania State University, a B.E. and M.S. in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences from the University of California, San Diego in 1991. Prior to joining the Dartmouth faculty in 2008, she worked nearly 30 years as a research engineer at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, developing computational models for two-dimensional heat conduction in freezing processes.

Albert’s research centers on snow physics, firn properties, air-snow transport processes, ice core paleoclimate records, and climate change impacts on polar ice sheets and Arctic communities. Her highly cited publications include “The extreme melt across the Greenland ice sheet in 2012” (Geophysical Research Letters, 2012), “Snow physics as relevant to snow photochemistry” (Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2008), “Snow and firn properties and air–snow transport processes at Summit, Greenland” (Atmospheric Environment, 2002), and “Climate change and forest fires synergistically drive widespread melt events of the Greenland Ice Sheet” (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2014). She has led expeditions to Greenland and Antarctica. Since 2010, Albert has served as Executive Director of the U.S. Ice Drilling Program, overseeing ice coring and drilling efforts. She secured a $17.4 million NSF grant in 2015 for the Science and Technology Center for Emerging Polar Systems and a $2.6 million NSF grant for renewable energy transitions in Qaanaaq, Greenland. At Dartmouth, she leads participation in the NSF Center for Oldest Ice Exploration, mentors students, and established the Ice and Climate Seminar series.

Professional Email: mary.r.albert@dartmouth.edu