NASA expert to address Earth's vanishing polar ice, April 10, at UD

From 2000-04, Abdalati managed NASA's Cryospheric Sciences Program, overseeing NASA-funded research on glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice and polar climate. For much of the last 10 years, he has been heavily involved in the development of satellites specifically designed to observe changes in Earth's polar ice.

Abdalati has bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering and received his doctorate in atmospheric and ocean sciences from the University of Colorado. Prior to his NASA career, he was an engineer in the aerospace industry.

Among his numerous awards and honors, Abdalati received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the White House in 1999 and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 2004.

He also has made appearances on television and radio programs, including CNN, NBC and National Geographic.

The William S. Carlson International Polar Year Events are developed in partnership with the American Geographical Society of New York City and are officially sanctioned by the International Polar Year's International Programme Office in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Campus sponsors include the Office of the Provost, Center for International Studies, Research and Graduate Studies, Office of Public Relations, the UD Library, University Museums and UD's colleges--Agriculture and Natural Resources; Arts and Sciences; Lerner College of Business and Economics; Engineering; Health Sciences; Human Services, Education and Public Policy; and Marine and Earth Studies.

Abdalati's lecture will be sponsored by UD's College of Arts and Sciences, and Dean Tom Apple will deliver introductory remarks at the April 10 event.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Register online at [www.udel.edu/research/ polar/registration.html]. A catered reception will be held after the lecture.

For more information about UD's research and outreach activities in the International Polar Year, please visit [www.udel.edu/research/polar].