Science Advisory Board

Each year the annual update of the IDP Long Range Science Plan is finalized in June to include recent input from the IDP Science Advisory Board (SAB), the IDP Working Groups, and the research community at large; the SAB prioritizes items within the section on Recommended Technology Investments.  In October 2025, the SAB revised the language in the June 2025 Long Range Science Plan on a priority item involving hot water drilling; it was revised so that it now reads:

• Describe/adapt the design and develop a cost estimate for the future build of a clean modular hot water drill (e.g. replicate the BAS modular drill for holes up to 3,000 m depth) that minimizes logistical footprint including fuel supply.

IDP engineers are currently working on this task. A paper on the BAS drill was published in 2020 by Makinson and others and can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2020.88. The updated IDP Long Range Science Plan can be downloaded from https://icedrill.org/long-range-science-plan. U.S. scientists who are interested in using a clean hot water drill to 3,000 m depth are invited to provide input to IDP on the draft IDP Science Requirements for a Deep Clean Hot Water Access Drill. Please send an email indicating your interest to Icedrill@Dartmouth.edu and we will follow up with you.

A virtual meeting of the Ice Core Working Group (ICWG) was held on April 8, 2025, to discuss updates to the Long Range Science Plan (LRSP) and other ICWG business. Discussions included updates from IDP and the NSF Ice Core Facility (NSF-ICF), ICWG community planning, updates to the LRSP, ice drilling technology development priorities for the LRSP, and member rotations. The agenda and presentations from the meeting are available on the IDP website.

The members of the ICWG are:

• Becky Alexander, Chair (University of Washington)
• Christo Buizert (Oregon State University)
• T.J. Fudge (University of Washington)
• Alex Michaud (The Ohio State University)
• Summer Burton Rupper (University of Utah)
• Sarah Shackleton (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
• Dom Winski (University of Maine)

A virtual meeting of the Englacial and Subglacial Access Working Group (ESAWG) was held on April 9, 2025, to discuss updates to the Long Range Science Plan (LRSP) and other ESAWG business. Discussions included updates from IDP and the NSF Ice Core Facility (NSF-ICF), discussion about an ESAWG white paper, ESAWG priorities for IPY, and ice drilling technology development priorities for the LRSP. The agenda and presentations from the meeting are available on the IDP website.

The members of the ESAWG are:

• Ryan Venturelli, Chair (Colorado School of Mines)
• Jason Briner (SUNY Buffalo)
• Brent Christner (University of Florida)
• Britney Schmidt (Cornell University)
• Jeff Severinghaus (Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
• Heidi Smith (Montana State University)
• Joseph Talghader (University of Minnesota)

The NSF Ice Drilling Program (IDP) convenes a Science Advisory Board (SAB) to form and update the Long Range Science Plan (LRSP) that addresses multiple aspects of ice core and other ice science and associated technology. The annual SAB meeting was held virtually on April 17, 2025. Topics included updates from IDP, the NSF Ice Core Facility (NSF-ICF), englacial and subglacial science updates, Englacial and Subglacial Access Working Group (ESAWG) plans for the future, SAB assessment of ESAWG community needs and IDP alignment, ice core science updates, Ice Core Working Group plans for the future, IDP personnel allocation and development priorities, and SAB prioritization of drilling technology development for the Long Range Science Plan. The agenda and presentations from the meeting are available on the IDP website.

The members of the SAB are:

• T.J. Fudge, Chair (University of Washington)
• Joel Harper (University of Montana)
• Matthew Siegfried (Colorado School of Mines)
• Sarah Shackleton (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
• Martin Truffer (University of Alaska Fairbanks)
• Ryan Venturelli (Colorado School of Mines)
• Trista Vick-Majors (Michigan Technological University)