Primary Convener:
Asa Rennermalm, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Convener:
Asa Rennermalm, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Keith Jennings, University of Vermont
Mohammad Afzal Shadab, Princeton University
Gifford Wong, IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute

Early Career Convener:
Mohammad Afzal Shadab, Princeton University

Chair:
Asa Rennermalm, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Keith Jennings, University of Vermont
Mohammad Afzal Shadab, University of Texas at Austin
Gifford Wong, Dartmouth College

The cryosphere is essential for understanding global climate dynamics and future environmental change. Yet U.S. investment in polar and cryosphere science and the institutions supporting it are increasingly uncertain. This raises concerns about the future of long-term monitoring and research in the cryosphere. This panel will examine the societal role of cryosphere science, the consequences of the loss of institutions, and what is at stake when research funding and pathways for graduate students and early-career researchers are eroded. The panel will also examine whether cryospheric science requires a more strategically articulated public narrative to maintain its visibility and relevance within broader scientific and policy frameworks. As funding priorities shift and institutional support wanes, the field’s continued viability may depend on its ability to communicate the systemic importance of polar/cryospheric processes, such as ice-sheet dynamics, permafrost thaw, and cryosphere-climate feedbacks, to a range of stakeholders and the general public.

Index Terms
0738 Ice
6324 Legislation and regulations
6610 Funding
6620 Science policy

Cross-Listed:
SY - Science and Society

Neighborhoods:
3. Earth Covering