Erin Pettit

Glaciologist, Founder and Director Girls on Ice and Inspiring Girls Expeditions

I grew up surrounded by mountains in Seattle, WA. Eventually I combined my love of alpine landscapes with my mechanical engineering education from Brown University to get a Ph.D. in geophysics and glaciology from the University of Washington in 2003.  

I explore glaciers and glaciated landscapes to better understand and predict changing climate and rising seas. As a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, Wings WorldQuest Fellow, and associate professor of geophysics and glaciology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, I have traveled from the North Slope of Alaska to the interior of Antarctica for research expeditions. I was invited to give a talk at TEDWomen 2015 about my work “listening” to glaciers using hydrophones as they calve and melt when they reach the ocean, to learn about tidewater glacier retreat, ice shelf disintegration, sea level rise, and changes in ocean circulation.

I created Girls on Ice because I wanted to share the inspiration, curiosity, and excitement of using science to learn and explore the mountains. In turn, the girls have taught me about the dreams, and challenges, and amazing variation of lives and experiences for girls from all different communities and cultures across the world.

I also love to sketch and paint, to run, to climb, and to travel the world by bike.

Girls on Ice Cascades Instructor 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018

Girls on Ice Cascades Volunteer 2015, 2016

Inspiring Women Workshop Instructor 2015, 2018

Girls on Icy Fjords Co-Founder; Instructor 2017, 2019