Dr. Albert in a snow pit on the West Antarctic ice sheet measuring snow properties.
Mary Albert was Chair of the U.S. Committee to the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 from its inception in 2003 until June 2005. |
Dr. Mary Albert's current research is centered on transfer processes in porous media, including air-snow exchange in the polar regions and in soils in temperate areas. Her research includes field measurements, laboratory experiments, and theoretical modeling. Mary conducts field and laboratory measurements of the physical properties of natural terrain surfaces, including permeability, microstructure, and thermal conductivity. Mary uses the measurements to examine the processes of diffusion and advection of heat, mass, and chemical transport through snow and other porous media. She has developed numerical models for investigation of a variety of problems, from interstitial transport to freezing of flowing liquids. These models include a two-dimensional finite element code for air flow with heat, water vapor, and chemical transport in porous media, several multidimensional codes for diffusive transfer, as well as a computational fluid dynamics code for analysis of turbulent water flow in moving-boundary phase change problems.
Mary is also an adjunct professor at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, where she serves as thesis advisor to students at undergraduate, Master's, and Ph.D. levels.
Areas of Specialization
- Heat, mass, and chemical transport in porous media.
- Snow-air transfer processes.
- Snow physics.
- Numerical analysis and Modeling.
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Current Projects
- Interstitial Processes and the Composition of Firn Air at Summit, Greenland.
- Norwegian-US Scientific Traverse: Climate and Glaciology of East Antarctica.
- Non-Intrusive Detection of Terrain Properties for Pressure-Driven Processes.
- Nonuniformities in Near-Surface Terrain Affecting Polarimetric Sensing.
Notable Contributions or Highlights from Past Projects:
- Theoretical and experimental descriptions of the impact of snow microstructure and layering on interstitial transport.
- Quantitative modeling of air-snow exchange processes for ozone destruction in snow.
- Tracer gas experiments showing first direct evidence of wind-induced snow ventilation.
- Permeability measurements on ice layers in seasonal snow, and on polar snow and firn.
- Quantitative assessment of water transport by fast flow fingers in seasonal snow.
- Laboratory and theoretical analysis of explosives vapor transport in snow.
Selected Publications (click here)
Education
- B.S., Math, Penn State, 1975 cum laude.
- B.E. and M.S., Engineering Sciences, Dartmouth College, 1983.
- Ph.D., Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences (computational fluid dynamics), University of California San Diego, 1991.
Other Professional Information
Professional Organizations:
- Review Coordinator (Invited) National Research Council of the National Academies, Exploration of Antarctic Subglacial Aquatic Environments: Environmental and Scientific Stewardship, NRC 2007;
and Design of the Martha Muse Award, 2008.
- Executive Committee, AGU Cryosphere Focus Group.
- Editorial board of the journal Hydrological Processes.
- Editorial board of the journal Cold Regions Science and Technology.
- Steering committee, Dartmouth College Northern and Polar Studies program.
- Member of the American Geophysical Union.
- Member of the International Glaciological Society.
- Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
- Member of USACE Snow Interest Group.
- Chair, CRREL High School Apprenticeship Program.
- Chair 2003-2005, PRB National Committee for the International Polar Year
- Member of the Polar Research Board, National Research Council 2002-2005.
- Member of the NSF Office of Polar Programs Advisory Committee 1998-2001
- Past-president, National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs Advisory Committee, 2000.
International Experience:
Awards:
- Many U.S. Army Performance and Special Act Awards.
- Congressional Antarctic Service Medal, 2000
- U.S. Army Commanders Award for Civilian Service / Partners in Education 1999.
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Women in Science Achievement Award, 1996.
- CRREL Equal Employment Opportunity Award, 1990.
- Department of the Army Research and Development Award, 1989.
- Regents Fellowship, University of California, San Diego 1984.
Contact Information:
Phone: 603-646-4422
Fax: 603-646-4397
E-mail: Mary.R.Albert@usace.army.mil
USACE Engineer Research and Development Center
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
72 Lyme Road, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA 03755-1290
Public Affairs Office: info@crrel.usace.army.mil or 603-646-4292
Pagemaster: Keran.J.Claffey@usace.army.mil or 603-646-4634
Updated: 10 Dec 2008 (kjc)
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