Richard Alley
Dr. Richard Alley (Ph.D. 1987, Geology, Wisconsin) is Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Penn State. He studies the great ice sheets to help predict future changes in climate and sea level, and has made four trips to Antarctica, nine to Greenland, and more to Alaska and elsewhere. He has been honored for research (including election to the US National Academy of Sciences and Foreign Membership in the Royal Society), teaching, and service. Dr. Alley participated in the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize), and has provided requested advice to numerous government officials in multiple administrations from both major political parties, including a US Vice President, multiple Presidential Science Advisors, and committees and individual members of the US Senate and House of Representatives. He has authored or coauthored over 300 refereed scientific papers. He was a presenter for the PBS TV miniseries on climate and energy, Earth: The Operators’ Manual, and the author of the book. His popular account of climate change and ice cores, The Two-Mile Time Machine, was Phi Beta Kappa’s science book of the year.
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Recent Publications
A high-resolution icequake catalog from Rutford Ice Stream via an enhanced QuakeMigrate workflow with integrated GrowClust support
Lee, I. R. J., Anandakrishnan, S., Alley, R. B. & Smith, A. M., Mar 30 2026, In: Annals of Glaciology. 67, e17.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The achievability of low-emission IPCC sea-level rise scenarios
Millman, H., Siegert, M. J. & Alley, R. B., Apr 23 2026, In: Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences. 384, 2319Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
What next for ice-sheet bed measurements?
Millman, H., Siegert, M. J., Alley, R. B. & Dow, C. F., Apr 23 2026, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 384, 2319, 20250190.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Data-driven bed rheology enhances retreat on Thwaites Glacier
Schwans, E., Parizek, B., Alley, R. B., Anandakrishnan, S. & Wang, S., 2026, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Glaciology.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Rift-Related Sedimentary Basin and Deeper-Seated Mafic Intrusions Modeled Beneath Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica: Influence on Glacier Dynamics
Borthwick, L., Muto, A., Anandakrishnan, S., Tinto, K., Agnew, R., Brisbourne, A., Schlegel, R., Killingbeck, S., Kulessa, B., Alley, R., Willet, A. & Melton, S., Oct 2025, In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 130, 10, e2025JB031716.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Temperature reconstruction from measured bubble number-density evolution in the South Pole Ice Core since the late-glacial (∼19.5 ka)
Fegyveresi, J. M., Alley, R. B., Buizert, C., Fitzpatrick, J. J., Courville, Z. R. & Voigt, D. E., Jul 14 2025, In: Annals of Glaciology. 66, e25.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Characteristics, origin and significance of chessboard subgrain boundaries in the WAIS divide ice core
Fitzpatrick, J. J., Wilen, L. A., Voigt, D. E., Alley, R. B. & Fegyveresi, J. M., Jan 20 2025, In: Annals of Glaciology. 66, e12.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
A robust multitask deep learning algorithm for Antarctic ice shelf fracture detection from multisource satellite imagery
Huang, Z., Wang, S., Alley, R. B. & Parizek, B. R., Dec 1 2025, In: Remote Sensing of Environment. 330, 114964.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The effect of melt-channel geometry on ice-shelf flow
Lilien, D. A., Alley, K. E. & Alley, R. B., Apr 14 2025, In: Journal of Glaciology. 71, e73.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Drivers of global glacial erosion rates
Norris, S. L., Gosse, J. C., Millan, R., Mouginot, J., Rabatel, A., Morlighem, M., Bolton, M. S. M. & Alley, R. B., Aug 2025, In: Nature Geoscience. 18, 8, p. 732-739 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Recent Variability in Fracture Characteristics and Ice Flow of Thwaites Ice Shelf, West Antarctica
Wang, S., Alexander, P. M., Alley, R. B., Huang, Z., Parizek, B. R., Willet, A. G. & Anandakrishnan, S., May 2025, In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface. 130, 5, e2024JF008118.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Evolution of sub-ice-shelf channels reveals changes in ocean-driven melt in West Antarctica
Alley, K. E., Alley, R. B., Crawford, A. D., Ochwat, N., Wild, C. T., Marson, J., Snow, T., Muto, A., Pettit, E. C., Child, S. F., Truffer, M., Collao-Barrios, G. & Scambos, T. A., Mar 19 2024, In: Journal of Glaciology. 70, e50.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
A Novel Deep Learning-Based Approach for Rift and Iceberg Recognition From ICESat-2 Data
Huang, Z., Wang, S., Alley, R. B., Li, A. & Parizek, B. R., 2024, In: IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. 62, p. 1-17 17 p., 4300917.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Icequake insights on transient glacier slip mechanics near channelized subglacial drainage
Stevens, N. T., Zoet, L. K., Hansen, D. D., Alley, R. B., Roland, C. J., Schwans, E. & Shepherd, C. S., Feb 1 2024, In: Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 627, 118513.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Iceberg Calving: Regimes and Transitions
Alley, R. B., Cuffey, K. M., Bassis, J. N., Alley, K. E., Wang, S., Parizek, B. R., Anandakrishnan, S., Christianson, K. & Deconto, R. M., May 31 2023, In: Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 51, p. 189-215 27 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
