Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Geography, and Lonnie G. Thompson, Distinguished University Professor in the School of Earth Sciences, were the Class 1 featured speakers at the 2019 American Academy of Arts and Sciences Induction Ceremony on Oct. 12 for the mathematical and physical sciences (one of three classes).

The leading paleoclimatologists "have been called the 'ice hunters,' the 'Indiana Joneses of glaciers' and 'one cool couple,'" said AAAS member Arthur Gelb as he introduced the pair, who presented on global warming and the importance of international collaboration in mitigating anthropogenic climate change.

Mosley-Thompson and Thompson’s research has focused on understanding the complex history of Earth’s climate through ice cores found in glaciers and ice sheets, which scientists can compare with modern climate models to make predictions about the future. Thompson has propelled the field of ice core paleoclimatology out of the Polar regions to the quickly diseappearing tropical and subtropical ice, while Mosley-Thompson has led numerous expeditions to Greenland and Antarctica, including an ice core drilling project on the Bruce Plateau (Antarctic Peninsula) that resulted in the collection of a nearly 1,500-foot ice core. They are both longtime researchers of the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center.

Mosley-Thompson and Thompson’s AAAS induction presentation