Colorado College Geology Professor Christine Siddoway and her academic colleagues from Columbia University, Oregon State University, and Scripps Institute of Oceanography have been awarded $4.3 million from the National Science Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to support a research project in Antarctica that will contribute to environmental sustainability.

Nicknamed “ROSETTA-ICE,” short for “Uncovering the Ross Ocean and Ice Shelf Environment and Tectonic setting Through Aerogeophysical Surveys and Modeling,” the project will assess the impact of the warming ocean and atmosphere on the Ross Ice Shelf, a critical structure keeping the West Antarctic Ice Sheet stable. A total of $2.2 million has been awarded by the Moore Foundation and the remaining $2.1 has been committed by the NSF.

Siddoway has conducted long-standing and well-respected research in Antarctica, and her role in this project will give CC students access to some of today’s most important research on ocean-ice sheet systems. CC’s portion of the award, $155,138 from the NSF, includes funding for six student research stipends over the course of the grant.