Dr Anna Crawford

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.

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 International 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 Stirling.

You can find out more about my work (and some nice photographs), at anna-crawford.com.

My publications include:

Karplus, M.S., Young, T.J., Bassis, J.N., Case, E.H., Crawford, A.J., Henry, L.R., Kingslake, J., Lehrmann, A.A., Pettit, E.C., Scambos, T.A., Sheffield, E., Smith, E.C., Turrin, M., Wallner, J.S. Accepted. Strategies to build a positive and inclusive Antarctic field work environment. Annals of Glaciology.

Crawford, A., Mueller, D. 2023. Assessing ice island drift patterns, ice island grounding locations and gridded bathymetry product between Nares Strait and the North Atlantic. Arctic. 76(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic76227

Benn, D.B., Luckman, A.J., Åström, J., Crawford, A., Conford, S., Beven, S., Zwinger, T., Gladstone, R., Alley, K., Pettit, E., Bassis, J. Rapid disintegration of Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf. The Cryosphere. 16, 2545–2564. https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2545/2022

Benn, D.B., Luckman, A.J., Åström, J., Crawford, A., Conford, S., Beven, S., Zwinger, T., Gladstone, R., Alley, K., Pettit, E., Bassis, J.2022. Rapid disintegration of Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf. The Cryosphere Discussions. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2021-288

Beven, S.L., Luckman, A.J., Benn, D.I., Adusumilli, S., Crawford, A. 2021. Brief Communication: Thwaites Glacier cavity evolution. The Cryosphere, 15, 3317-3328. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3317-2021

Bassis, J., Berg, B., Crawford, A., Benn, D. 2021. Transition to marine ice cliff instability controlled by ice thickness gradients and velocity. Science. 372(6548). 1342-1344. DOI: 10.1126/science.abf6271

Crawford, A.J., Benn, D.I., Todd, A., Åström, J., Bassis, J.N., Zwinger, T. 2021. Marine ice-cliff instability modeling shows mixed-mode ice-cliff failure and yields calving rate parameterization. Nature Communications. 12:2701. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23070-7

Crawford, A.J., Mueller, D.R., 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, 1067–1081. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1067-2020

Mingo, L., Flowers, G., Crawford, A.J., Mueller, D., Bigelow, D.G. 2020. A stationary impulse-radar system for autonomous deployment in cold and temperature environments. Annals of Glaciology. 61(81), 99-107. doi:10.1017/aog.2020.2

Crawford, A.J., Mueller, D.R., Crocker, G., Myers, P. 2018. The aftermath of Petermann Glacier calving events (2008-2012): Ice island size distributions and meltwater dispersal. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. 23:8812-8827. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JC014388

Crawford, A.J., Mueller, D.R., Joyal, G. 2018. Surveying drifting icebergs and ice islands: Detection and Mass Estimation with Aerial Photogrammetry and Laser Scanning. Remote Sensing. 10(575). doi: 10.3390/rs10040575

Crawford, A.J., 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), 517-521. doi:10.1017/jog.2018.36

Copland, L., White, A., Crawford, A., Mueller, D.R., Van Wychen, W., Thomson, L. Vincent, W.F. 2018. Glaciers, Ice Shelves and Ice Islands. In: Bell, T. and Brown, T.M. From Science to Policy in the Eastern Canadian Arctic: An Integrated Regional Impact Study (IRIS) of Climate Change and Modernization. ArcticNet, Quebec City, 95-117, Ch. 3.

Crawford, A., Desjardins, L., Saper, R., Mueller, R. 2017. Canadian Ice Island Drift, Deterioration and Detection (CI2D3) Database Database Documentation V1.0. Water and Ice Research Laboratory, Carleton University. 20 pp.

Crawford, A.J., Wadhams, P., Wagner, T.J.W., Stern, A., Abrahamsen, E.P., Church, I., Bates, R., Nicholls, K.W. 2016. Journey of an Arctic ice island. Oceanography. 29(2). https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2016.30

Saper, R., Crawford, A. 2016. Canadian Ice Island Drift, Deterioration and Detection (CI2D3) Database Requirements Specification Document V1.0. Water and Ice Research Laboratory, Carleton University. 11 pp.

Crawford, A.J., Mueller, D.R., Humphreys, E.R., Carrieres, T., Tran, H. 2015. Surface ablation model evaluation on a drifting ice island in the Canadian Arctic. Cold Regions Science and Technology. 110:170-182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2014.11.011

Stern, A.A., Johnson, E., Holland, D.M., Wagner, T.J.W., Wadhams, P., Bates, R., Abrahamsen, E.P., Nicholls, K.W., Crawford, A., Gagnon, J. and others. 2015. Wind-driven upwelling around grounded tabular icebergs. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC010805

Wagner, T.J.W., Wadhams, P., Bates, R., Elosegui, P., Stern, A., Vella, D., Abrahamsen, E.P., Crawford, A., Nicholls, K.W. 2014. The ‘footloose’ mechanism: Iceberg decay from hydrostatic stresses. Geophysical Research Letters. 41. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL060832

Mueller, D., Crawford, A., Copland, L., VanWychen, W. 2013. Ice island and iceberg fluxes from Canadian High Arctic sources. Report prepared for the Northern Transportation Adaptation Initiative, Innovation Policy Branch, Transport Canada, Ottawa, Canada.

Hamilton, A.K., Forrest, A.L., Crawford, A., Schmidt, V., Laval, B.E., Mueller, D.R., Brucker, S., Hamilton, T. 2013. Project ICEBERGS Final Report to the Canadian Ice Service, Department of Environment, Ottawa, Canada. 36 pp.

Forrest, A.L., Hamilton, A.K., Schmidt, V., Laval, B.E., Mueller, D., Crawford, A., Brucker, S., Hamilton, T. 2012. Digital terrain mapping of Petermann Ice Island fragments in the Canadian High Arctic. Proceedings of the 21st IAHR International Symposium on Ice. June 11-15, 2012, Dalian, China. T08151.

Hochheim, K., McCullough, G., Babb, D., Crawford, A., Haoqak, C., Wolki, J. 2012. An integrated sea ice project for BREA (U of M): Detection, motion and RADARSAT mapping of extreme ice features in the southern Beaufort Sea. Report for the Beaufort Regional Environmental Assessment to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. 48 pp.

Datasets: Mueller, D., Crawford, A., Crocker, G., Mingo, L. 2019. Deterioration data collected from 'Petermann Ice Island-A-1-f' while grounded near Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut, 2015–2017. Waterloo, Canada: Canadian Cryospheric Information Network (CCIN). doi:10.21963/13091.

Crawford, A.J., Mueller, D.R., Joyal, G. 2017. Aerial-photo and LiDAR iceberg surveys during the 2015 Joint Statoil/ArcticNet Cruise, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Waterloo, Canada: Canadian Cryospheric Information Network (CCIN). doi:10.5884/12818.

Desjardins, L., Crawford, A., Mueller, D., Saper, R., Schaad, C., Stewart-Jones, E., Shepherd, J. 2018. Canadian Ice Island Drift, Deterioration and Detection Database (CI2D3 Database) [v1.1]. Waterloo, Canada: Canadian Cryospheric Information Network (CCIN). doi:10.21963/12678.