Sophie NowickiView profile
Professor
Sophie Nowicki is an Empire Innovation Professor at the University at Buffalo's RENEW Institute, Department of Earth Sciences within the College of Arts and Sciences. She serves as Director of the Center for Geological and Climate Hazards. Her research focuses on ice sheet and sea level dynamics, using a combination of applied mathematics, remote sensing observations, and numerical modeling to understand how ice sheets interact with the global climate system. Empire Innovation Professor, University at Buffalo Director, Center for Geological and Climate Hazards Member of UB RENEW Institute Department of Earth Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Nowicki's research interests center on glaciology, ice-sheet modeling, climate modeling, and sea level change. She studies how ice sheets interact with the global climate system and affect sea level change using a spectrum of models from idealized to large-scale continental ice sheet models. Her work is integral to climate models that provide forcing for ice sheet models, particularly through the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP6 (ISMIP6). She teaches courses including Introduction to Computational Earth Science, Environmental Remote Sensing, and various graduate research courses. Her recent publications reveal a strong focus on Antarctic and Greenland ice sheet modeling, sea level rise projections, and the development of advanced modeling frameworks. The research spans from fundamental glaciological processes to large-scale climate impacts, with a particular emphasis on quantifying uncertainties in ice sheet contributions to sea level rise. Her work frequently appears in top journals including Nature, The Cryosphere, and Geophysical Research Letters, and she has made significant contributions to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. Empire Innovation Professor recognition Lead contributor to IPCC AR6 Working Group I Principal Investigator for ISMIP6 (Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project) Dr. Nowicki actively mentors graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, with current advisees working on various aspects of ice sheet dynamics and sea level change. Her research is supported by multiple grants from NASA, NSF, and other agencies focused on improving our understanding and projections of ice sheet behavior in a warming climate. She leads the development of critical tools like the Cryosphere Model Comparison Tool (CmCt) and has been instrumental in establishing community standards for ice sheet modeling. She is involved with several research groups and initiatives including the Ice Sheet & Sea Level Lab at UB, which focuses on understanding how ice sheets will evolve in a warming world and what this means for future sea levels. Her team combines observational data with sophisticated modeling approaches to address key questions about ice-ocean and ice-atmosphere interactions that drive ice sheet changes.










