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Isabella Velicogna

Isabella Velicogna

Professor, Department of Earth System Science, University of California Irvine

Visiting Scientist, Dipartimento Politecnico di Ingegneria e Architettura Università degli Studi di Udine

Biography

Isabella Velicogna is a Professor in the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine. She earned her Ph.D. in Engineering (Geodynamics) from the University of Trieste, Italy in 1999, her M.S. in Physics from the same institution in 1995, and her B.S. in Physics from the University of Trieste in 1995. She completed postdoctoral training in Physics (Geodesy/Geophysics) at the University of Colorado, Boulder from 1999 to 2001. Velicogna joined UCI in 2007 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012 and Full Professor in 2016.

Velicogna's research focuses on employing satellite remote sensing techniques and geophysical methods to understand ice sheet and glacier mass balance, the hydrologic cycle in high-latitude regions, and the impact of melting ice on sea level rise. She specializes in time-variable gravity data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) missions, satellite altimetry, GPS measurements, and climate model outputs. Her work has resulted in over 100 peer-reviewed publications with more than 22,000 citations. She has received numerous honors including the 2020 Joanne Simpson Medal from the American Geophysical Union, the 2017 Vening Meinesz Medal from the European Geosciences Union, and fellowship in the American Geophysical Union (2020), American Association for the Advancement of Science (2022), and American Meteorological Society (2024).

At UCI, Velicogna teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in climate change, data analysis, and cryosphere science. She has supervised 12 doctoral students and numerous postdoctoral researchers. From 2018 to 2021, she served as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Equity and Inclusion for the School of Physical Sciences. She maintains an active role in professional service, including membership on NASA science teams for multiple satellite missions, editorial boards for scientific journals, and committees for the National Academy of Sciences. She also serves as a visiting scientist at the University of Udine in Italy and holds a part-time scientist position at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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Education

  • B.S. in Physics, University of Trieste, Italy, 1995
  • M.S. in Physics, University of Trieste, Italy, 1995
  • Ph.D. in Engineering (Geodynamics), University of Trieste, Italy, 1999
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Distinctions

  • Joanne Simpson Medal, American Geophysical Union, 2020
  • John Nye Lecture, American Geophysical Union, 2020
  • European Geosciences Union's Vening Meinesz Medal, 2017
  • Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2022
  • Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, 2020
  • Kavli Fellow, U.S. National Academy of Science, 2008
  • Kavli Fellow, U.S. National Academy of Science, 2015
  • NASA Group Achievement Award, Ice Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise Team (IMBIE), 2013
  • Fellow American Meteorological Society (AMS), 2024
  • Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers in Geosciences, 2015-2016
  • Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers in Geosciences, 2018-2020
  • Chancellor's Fellow, University of California Irvine, 2016
  • NASA Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement, 2006
  • UCI School of Physical Sciences award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, University of California Irvine, 2015
  • OC Metro Annual Awards for 40 under 40, 2008
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Areas of Expertise

  • Satellite Geodesy Climate Science
  • GRACE Gravity Mission Analysis
  • Ice Sheet Mass Balance
  • Greenland Antarctica Glaciology
  • Time Variable Gravity Studies
  • Machine Learning Climate Forecasting
  • Artificial Intelligence Water Management
  • Subseasonal Seasonal Prediction Models
  • Neural Network Weather Extremes

Recent Publications

  • The GlaMBIE Team, “Community estimate of global glacier mass changes from 2000 to 2023”, Nature, vol. 639, pp. 382-388, 2024.
  • Velicogna, I., S. Zhong, J. Mitrovica, “A biographical memoir: John Wahr”, The National Academies Press, 2024.
  • “Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Midterm Assessment of Progress Toward Implementation of the Decadal Survey” (opens in new tab), The National Academies Press, 2024.
  • “State of the Climate 2023”, World Meteorological Organization, 2024.
  • Cheng D., W Hayes, E Larour, Y Mohajerani, M Wood, I Velicogna, “Calving Front Machine (CALFIN): glacial termini dataset and automated deep learning extraction method for Greenland, 1972–2019”, The Cryosphere, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 1663-1675, 2021.
  • M Wood, E Rignot, I Fenty, L An, A Bjørk, M van den Broeke, C Cai, I. Velicogna, “Ocean forcing drives glacier retreat in Greenland”, Science Advances, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. eaba7282, 2021.
  • BD Hamlington, AS Gardner, E Ivins, JTM Lenaerts, JT Reager, I. Velicogna, “Understanding of contemporary regional sea-level change and the implications for the future”, Reviews of Geophysics, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. e2019RG000672, 2021.
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Contact Information

Email: isabella@uci.edu

Phone: 949 824 5419

Address: Department of Earth System Science, 3226 Croul Hall, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-3100

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This profile was created with the help of AI.

Last updated on 7/28/2025.