Skip to content

Dr. Sarah Das

Associate Scientist with Tenure
Geology & Geophysics

Contact Information:
Work: 508-289-2464
sdas@whoi.edu
Building: 275 Clark South

Mailing Address:
266 Woods Hole Road, MS # 24
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole, MA 02543

Research Interests

My research interests are in glaciology and paleoclimatology, and the role of the cryosphere in the Earth System. Research topics include: the reconstruction of past climate from ice-cores; understanding and measuring polar ice sheet mass balance and ice dynamics; exploring the interaction between the coupled cryosphere-atmosphere-ocean systems; and investigating biogeochemical processes in polar environments.

Teaching Interests

My teaching interests are in polar science, climate change, and experiential and outdoor science education, including citizen science.

Recent Publications and News Coverage

For full publication list please see my Google Scholar page

Osman, M., S. B. Das, L. D. Trusel, J. McConnell, M. J. Evans, M. M. Grieman, E. S. Saltzman, H. Fischer, S. Kipfstuhl (2019), Industrial-era onset of a subarctic Atlantic productivity decline, Nature, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1181-8

Wagner, T. J. W., Straneo, F., Richards, C. G., Slater, D. A., Stevens, L. A., Das, S. B., and Singh, H. (2019). Large spatial variations in the frontal mass budget of a Greenland tidewater glacier, The Cryosphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2018-143

Trusel, L. D., S. B. Das, M. B. Osman, M. J. Evans, B. E. Smith, X. Fettweis, J. R. McConnell, B. P. Noel, M. R. Broeke (2018), Non-linear rise in Greenland runoff in response to post-industrial Arctic warming.  Nature, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0752-4

Slater, D. A., F. Straneo, S. B. Das, C. G. Richards, T. J. W. Wagner, P.W. Nienow (2018), Localized plumes drive front-wide ocean melting of a Greenlandic tidewater glacier, Geophys. Res. Lett. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080763

Chaput, J., Aster, R. C., McGrath, D., Baker, M. G., Anthony, R. E.,
Gerstoft, P. Bromirski, P., A. Nyblade, R. A. Stephen, D. Wiens, S. B. Das, L. A. Stevens (2018). Near-surface environmentally forced changes in the Ross Ice Shelf observed with ambient seismic noise, Geophy. Res. Lett. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL079665

Stevens, L.A., I.J. Hewitt, S.B. Das, M. D. Behn (2018) Relationship between Greenland Ice Sheet surface speed and modeled effective pressure, J. Geophys. Res. https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JF004581

Arendt, C.A., S. M. Aciego, K. W. W. Sims, S. B. Das, C. Sheik, and E. I. Stevenson (2018), Influence of glacial runoff on global seawater ∂34U, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2018.01.007

Osman, M., S. B. Das, O. Marchal, M. J. Evans (2017), Methanesulfonic acid (MSA) migration in polar ice: data synthesis and theory, The Cryosphere, https://doi:10.5194/tc-2017-84

Osman, M., Zawadowicz, M. A., Das, S. B., and Cziczo, D. J. (2017), Real time analysis of insoluble particles in glacial ice using single particle mass spectrometry, Atmos. Meas. Tech., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2017-151

Arienzo, M. M., J. R. McConnell, L. N. Murphy, N. Chellman, S. Das, S. Kipfstuhl (2017), Holocene black carbon in Antarctica paralleled insolation-driven Southern Hemisphere climate, J. Geophys. Res.https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD026599

Stevenson, E. I., M. S. Fantle, S. B. Das, H. M. Williams, S. M. Aciego (2017), Fractionation of iron isotopes from subglacial systems in Greenland: Indicator of incipient silicate weathering? Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.06.002

Scambos, T., R. Bell, R. Alley, S. Anandakrishnan, D. Bromwich, K. Brunt, K. Christianson, T. Creyts, S. B. Das, R. DeConto, H. Amanda Fricker, D. Holland, J. MacGregor, B. Medley, J. Nicholas, D. Pollard, M. Siegfried, A. Smith, E. Steig, L. Trusel, D. Vaughan, P. Yager (2017), How Much, How Fast?: A Review and Science Plan for Research on the Instability of Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier in the 21st century, Global and Planetary Change, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2017.04.008

Lab news and congratulations!

Congratulations to MIT-WHOI student Matthew Osman for being awarded a 2018 Ocean Outlook Fellowship!  Matt is spending the spring semester at the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research in Bergen, Norway.

Congratulations to MIT-WHOI student Dr. Laura Stevens for successfully defending her Ph.D. in August 2017! Laura is now a Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory

Congratulations to WHOI post-doc Dr. Luke Trusel who started his new position as an Assistant Professor at Rowan University, Fall 2016!

Congratulations to MIT-WHOI student Laura Stevens for being awarded a 2015 Horton Research Grant from the AGU Hydrology Section!

Congratulations to MIT-WHOI student Matt Osman for receiving a 2015 NDSEG Graduate Research Fellowship!

Congratulations to Dr. Luke Trusel for successfully defending his Ph.D. in November 2014 & who recently joined our group as a WHOI Doherty Postdoctoral Scholar!

Congratulations to MIT-WHOI student Dr. Alison Criscitiello for successfully defending her Ph.D. in December 2013!  Alison is now the Technical Director at the Canadian Ice Core Archive (CICA) at the University of Alberta.

Congratulations to MIT-WHOI student Laura Stevens for receiving a 2012 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!

Congratulations to MIT-WHOI student Dr. Maya Bhatia for successfully defending her Ph.D. in December 2011!   Maya is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta.

Congratulations to MIT-WHOI student Maya Bhatia for receiving a 2010 AGU Fall Meeting outstanding student paper award!

Congratulations to MIT-WHOI student Maya Bhatia for being awarded a 2010 Horton Research Grant from the AGU Hydrology Section!

Congratulations to MIT-WHOI student Alison Criscitiello for receiving a 2010 DOE Graduate Fellowship!

Follow WHOI & I on social media

Education

Ph.D.: Geosciences. 2003. Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA.

A.B.: Geological Sciences. 1995. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.