Listen to the newest episode of Launchpad: Voices of Innovation as Stephen Ackley, associate professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UT San Antonio and one of the world’s foremost sea ice experts, shares his research and experiences exploring the planet’s most remote polar regions.
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Throughout his career, Ackley has conducted groundbreaking experiments and documented how changes in Antarctic sea ice can have far-reaching impacts on environments and communities thousands of miles away. In fact, an ice-covered point on the southeastern side of Hut Point Peninsula on Ross Island, Antarctica, has been named Ackley Point in recognition of the UT San Antonio professor’s 30-plus years of contributions to sea ice research.
“Every time I’ve been down there, you see something new and interesting, exciting,” Ackley said.
From close encounters with the remarkable wildlife of the polar regions to drifting on free-floating sheets of ice, Ackley has a story or two to tell about his expeditions in Antarctica — the largest single piece of ice on Earth — and the discoveries that continue to shape our understanding of a changing planet.
