I joined the Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences in 2023 as a Lecturer in Physical Geography. I am a glaciologist who employs 3D models to investigate the processes that drive iceberg calving at marine-terminating glaciers. I also monitor those icebergs through remote sensing and field work to then conduct analyses of their drift and deterioration. This work contributes to improved ice-sheet modelling and iceberg forecasting.
I am a member of the five-year GIANT (Greenland Ice sheet to AtlaNtic Tipping points) project, which is a large international collaboration of 17 partners led by the British Antarctic Survey and funded by the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA). Using 3D glacier models, Dr Iain Wheel and I at 黑料不打烊 focus on how the outlet glaciers that drain the Greenland Ice Sheet fracture and generate icebergs within these fiords. This will contribute to GIANT's overarching objective to understand how much meltwater is released from Greenland’s glaciers and how it enters the North Atlantic Ocean, influencing ocean circulation and the global climate system.
I currently hold a Royal Society Research Grant and a Royal Society of Edinburgh Personal Research Fellowship. These are supporting the development of the Canadian Ice Island Drift, Deterioration and Detection (CI2D3) Database and research of iceberg deterioration.
Before joining BES, I was a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow with the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh. I initially came to the UK to join the 黑料不打烊 Thwaites Glacier Collaboration as a post-doctoral research assistant based at the University of St Andrews.
My first post-secondary degree is in Biology. It was while taking this program at Lakehead University in central Canada that I was introduced to biogeography and Polar Regions science. This drove me to explore geography and Arctic-based research during my post-graduate work. I completed my MSc and PhD programs at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, where my research focused on "ice islands" (large and tabular icebergs) in the Canadian Arctic. This is a topic that I am circling around to yet again as I initiates my research program at 黑料不打烊.
You can find out more about my work (and some nice photographs) at anna-crawford.com.
Ice Island Detection and Deterioration in Sea Ice
PI: Dr Anna Crawford
Funded by: Royal Society
–
Article
Evans BR, Lowe AR, Crawford A, Fleming A & Hosking JS (2026) Icebergs, jigsaw puzzles, and genealogy: automated multi-generational iceberg tracking and lineage reconstruction. The Cryosphere, 20 (1), pp. 467-482. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-467-2026
Book Chapter
The Antarctic Ice Sheet and sea level: contemporary changes and future projections
Galton-Fenzi BK, Fricker HA, Bassis JN, Crawford AJ, Gomez N & Schoof C (2025) The Antarctic Ice Sheet and sea level: contemporary changes and future projections. In: Meredith MP, Melbourne-Thomas J, Naveira Garabato AC & Raphael M (eds.) Antarctica and the Earth System. London: Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003406471-7
Article
Evans BR, Lowe A, Crawford A, Fleming A & Hosking JS (2025) Icebergs, jigsaw puzzles and genealogy: Automated multi-generational iceberg tracking and lineage reconstruction. The Cryosphere Discussions. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2886
Article
Evaluating the importance of footloose-type failure in ice island deterioration modeling
Crawford AJ, Crocker G, Smith J, Mueller D & Wagner TJW (2024) Evaluating the importance of footloose-type failure in ice island deterioration modeling. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 228, Art. No.: 104325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2024.104325
Article
Antropova YK, Mueller D, Samsonov SV, Komarov AS, Bonneau J & Crawford AJ (2024) Grounding-line retreat of Milne Glacier, Ellesmere Island, Canada over 1966–2023 from satellite, airborne, and ground radar data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 315, Art. No.: 114478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2024.114478
Article
A new 3D?full-Stokes calving algorithm within Elmer/Ice (v9.0)
Wheel I, Benn DI, Crawford AJ, Todd J & Zwinger T (2024) A new 3D?full-Stokes calving algorithm within Elmer/Ice (v9.0). Geoscientific Model Development, 17 (14), pp. 5759-5777. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5759-2024
Article
Wheel I, Crawford AJ & Benn DI (2024) Calving dynamics at Jakobshavn Isbrae (Sermeq Kujalleq) controlled by local geometry: insights from a 3D Stokes calving model. Journal of Glaciology, pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2024.77
Article
Crawford A, ?str?m J, Benn DI, Luckman A, Gladstone R, Zwinger T, Robertsén F & Bevan S (2024) Calving Dynamics and the Potential Impact of Mélange Buttressing at the Western Calving Front of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 129 (10), Art. No.: e2024JF007737. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024jf007737
Article
Morlighem M, Goldberg D, Barnes JM, Bassis JN, Benn DI, Crawford AJ, Gudmundsson GH & Seroussi H (2024) The West Antarctic Ice Sheet may not be vulnerable to marine ice cliff instability during the 21st century. Science Advances, 10 (34). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ado7794
Article
Stability of Ice Shelves and Ice Cliffs in a Changing Climate
Bassis JN, Crawford A, Kachuck SB, Benn DI, Walker C, Millstein J, Duddu R, ?str?m J, Fricker H & Luckman A (2024) Stability of Ice Shelves and Ice Cliffs in a Changing Climate. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 52. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-040522-122817
Article
Strategies to build a positive and inclusive Antarctic field work environment
Karplus MS, Young TJ, Anandakrishnan S, Bassis JN, Case EH, Crawford AJ, Gold A, Henry L, Kingslake J, Lehrmann AA, Monta?o PA, Pettit EC, Scambos TA, Sheffield EM & Smith EC (2023) Strategies to build a positive and inclusive Antarctic field work environment. Annals of Glaciology, 63 (87-89), pp. 125-131. https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2023.32
Article
Crawford A & Mueller D (2023) Assessing Ice Island Drift Patterns, Ice Island Grounding Locations, and Gridded Bathymetry Products between Nares Strait and the North Atlantic. Arctic, 76 (1). https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic76227
Article
Rapid fragmentation of Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf
Benn DI, Luckman A, ?str?m JA, Crawford AJ, Cornford SL, Bevan SL, Zwinger T, Gladstone R, Alley K, Pettit E & Bassis J (2022) Rapid fragmentation of Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf. Cryosphere, 16 (6), pp. 2545-2564. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2545-2022
Article
Crawford AJ, Benn DI, Todd J, ?str?m JA, Bassis JN & Zwinger T (2021) Marine ice-cliff instability modeling shows mixed-mode ice-cliff failure and yields calving rate parameterization. Nature Communications, 12 (1), Art. No.: 2701. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23070-7
Article
Brief communication: Thwaites Glacier cavity evolution
Bevan SL, Luckman AJ, Benn DI, Adusumilli S & Crawford A (2021) Brief communication: Thwaites Glacier cavity evolution. The Cryosphere, 15 (7), pp. 3317-3328. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3317-2021
Article
Transition to marine ice cliff instability controlled by ice thickness gradients and velocity
Bassis JN, Berg B, Crawford AJ & Benn DI (2021) Transition to marine ice cliff instability controlled by ice thickness gradients and velocity. Science, 372 (6548), pp. 1342-1344. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf6271
Article
A stationary impulse-radar system for autonomous deployment in cold and temperate environments
Mingo L, Flowers GE, Crawford AJ, Mueller DR & Bigelow DG (2020) A stationary impulse-radar system for autonomous deployment in cold and temperate environments. Annals of Glaciology, 61 (81), pp. 99-107. https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2020.2
Article
Ice island thinning: rates and model calibration with in situ observations from Baffin Bay, Nunavut
Crawford AJ, Mueller D, Crocker G, Mingo L, Desjardins L, Dumont D & Babin M (2020) Ice island thinning: rates and model calibration with in situ observations from Baffin Bay, Nunavut. The Cryosphere, 14 (3), pp. 1067-1081. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1067-2020
Article
Crawford A, Mueller D & Joyal G (2018) Surveying Drifting Icebergs and Ice Islands: Deterioration Detection and Mass Estimation with Aerial Photogrammetry and Laser Scanning. Remote Sensing, 10 (4), Art. No.: 575. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10040575
Article
Crawford AJ, Mueller D, Desjardins L & Myers PG (2018) The Aftermath of Petermann Glacier Calving Events (2008–2012): Ice Island Size Distributions and Meltwater Dispersal. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 123 (12), pp. 8812-8827. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jc014388
Letter
The Canadian Ice Island Drift, Deterioration and Detection (CI2D3) Database
Crawford A, Crocker G, Mueller D, Desjardins L, Saper R & Carrieres T (2018) The Canadian Ice Island Drift, Deterioration and Detection (CI2D3) Database. Journal of Glaciology, 64 (245), pp. 517-521. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2018.36
Article
Journey of an Arctic Ice Island
Crawford A, Wadhams P, Wagner T, Stern A, Abrahamsen P, Church I, Bates R & Nicholls K (2016) Journey of an Arctic Ice Island. Oceanography, 29 (2), pp. 254-263. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2016.30
Article
Wind‐driven upwelling around grounded tabular icebergs
Stern AA, Johnson E, Holland DM, Wagner TJW, Wadhams P, Bates R, Abrahamsen EP, Nicholls KW, Crawford A, Gagnon J & Tremblay J (2015) Wind‐driven upwelling around grounded tabular icebergs. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 120 (8), pp. 5820-5835. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015jc010805
Article
Surface ablation model evaluation on a drifting ice island in the Canadian Arctic
Crawford AJ, Mueller DR, Humphreys ER, Carrieres T & Tran H (2015) Surface ablation model evaluation on a drifting ice island in the Canadian Arctic. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 110, pp. 170-182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2014.11.011
Article
The “footloose” mechanism: Iceberg decay from hydrostatic stresses
Wagner TJW, Wadhams P, Bates R, Elosegui P, Stern A, Vella D, Abrahamsen EP, Crawford A & Nicholls KW (2014) The “footloose” mechanism: Iceberg decay from hydrostatic stresses. Geophysical Research Letters, 41 (15), pp. 5522-5529. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014gl060832
Conference Paper (published)
Digital terrain mapping of Petermann Ice Island fragments in the Canadian High Arctic
Forrest A, Schmidt V, Laval B, Mueller D, Crawford A, Brucker S & Hamilton T (2012) Digital terrain mapping of Petermann Ice Island fragments in the Canadian High Arctic. In: 21st IAHR 黑料不打烊 Symposium on Ice, Dalian, China, 11.06.2012-15.06.2012. IAHR. https://www.iahr.org/library/technical?pid=503