Britney’s work explores the Earth, especially its poles, in an effort to understand and protect our home while helping us take the next steps beyond it. Her work has two themes: the first is understanding how climate change is affecting the loss of ice, driving sea level rise and changes to the ocean. The second theme is understanding other planets by studying our own, helping to lay the groundwork for searching for life the universe.
It was the promise of oceans beyond Earth that brought Britney to Antarctica in the first place, trying to understand and develop the tools that we would need to one day reach worlds like Jupiter’s moon Europa, but she quickly was overwhelmed by the impressive power, vastness, and yet fragility of the Antarctic. Through building new robotic exploration tools, her work seeks to acquire data in areas that cannot otherwise be measured, laying the foundation simultaneously for responding to climate change as a social imperative that will define life on our world, as well as the search for life outside it.
Dr. Britney Schmidt, associate professor at Cornell University, specializes in studying ice on Earth and other planets. She is a member of NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission, has conducted 11 polar field expeditions, and has been awarded over $25 million in grants. She was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2023.
