Sarah Wells-Moran

My CV (Updated 11.18.25)

About Me:

I study the physics of how ice flows and breaks.

My research seeks to understand the properties of ice flow and ice shelf stability from physics first principals, linking observations to models and equations. In particular, I am interested in:

(1) the stresses at which fractures form and propagate, and

(2) processes impacting buttressing and ice shelf stability.

I am a PhD student at University of Chicago, working with Dr. Meghana Ranganathan and the UChicago Ice Physics Group.

I am passionate about increasing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in glaciology and the broader geosciences. In particular, I am interested in identifying and removing barriers for scientists with disabilities. Through my own experiences and my work with climbers with disabilities, I have gained an acute awareness of the challenges posed by field work and conferences, two integral parts of our field.  I am an active member of the AGU Cryosphere Section Executive Committee as an early career representative and member of the Broadening Participation working group. If you would like to chat more about accessibility issues within glaciology, please feel free to reach out!

Publications

Submitted and In Preparation:

  • Wells-Moran, S., Minchew, B., & Riel, B. (in prep) Near-total loss of buttressing observed on Pine Island Ice Shelf

Published:

  • Wells-Moran, S., Ranganathan, M., & Minchew, B. (2025). Fracture criteria and tensile strength for natural glacier ice calibrated from remote sensing observations of Antarctic ice shelves. Journal of Glaciology, 71, e47. doi:10.1017/jog.2024.104

Theses:

  • Wells-Moran, S. (2025). Putting Lipstick on a PIG: Modeling Pine Island Glacier (PIG) shear margin collapse with compressive arch failure and observations. Masters Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/159919

  • Wells-Moran, S., Castro, A., Ranganathan, M., & Minchew, B. (2023). When PIGs Fly: Investigating stress states and rift propagation on Antarctica’s fastest-flowing glacier. Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Wellesley College https://repository.wellesley.edu/object/ir2033

Research Assistant: Pepper

I adopted Pepper in Fall 2019 from the Stray Pets In Need shelter in Natick, MA. She is currently 14 years old. Her favorite activities include screaming, stepping on keyboards, nipping toes, and sleeping in sunbeams. Vets describe her as “quite a character” and as having “great lung capacity.” She enjoys editing my manuscripts and adding in extra letters and punctuation as she sees fit. During the pandemic, she mastered the art of testing gravity by swatting items off of desks, and made many appearances over Zoom. She is looking to earn her Ph.D. so she can become Dr. Pepper.