Dr. Alex Forrest's Ice-Shelf Environmental Research Featured by Seeker

Assistant Professor Alexander Forrest's environmental-engineering research is the subject of a new Seeker video article.

Forrest's general area of research focuses on understanding the influences between localized bathymetry -- the study and measurement of the depths of oceans and other large bodies of water -- and the surrounding water column. Since much of his work is logistically difficult to survey with traditional techniques (think large-scale shorelines) or impossible (under thick sheets of ice), he has worked since 2006 with Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) as data-collection platforms to further his research. 

“Ice shelves are melting -- we know this," he said. "But we don’t know how fast they’re melting. To actually make on-site measurements is the next step. We’re trying to get a baseline understanding of what changes are happening in the Antarctic. As a global community, we don’t really understand what we’re losing."