Professor Peter Wadhams, Lead Investigator

Related to: University of Cambridge

Peter Wadhams is Professor of Ocean Physics, and Head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge.

He and Dr Jeremy Wilkinson are both partners in the US Office of Naval Research Program “Emerging Dynamics of the Marginal Ice Zone”, focussing on the Beaufort Sea.

Peter is acknowledged internationally as a leading expert on sea ice and polar oceanography and his collaboration with the Royal Navy gave early access to the use of submarines to gather invaluable data on the rapid thinning of Arctic sea-ice. His doctoral thesis “The effect of a sea ice cover on ocean surface waves” was based at Scott Polar Research institute in Cambridge and he then undertook post-doctoral research at the Institute of Ocean Sciences, Victoria, B.C., Canada, working on sea ice structure and dynamics in the Beaufort Sea and the impact of oil spills, an interest he has maintained throughout his career. He returned to SPRI in 1976 and was Director of SPRI from 1987-1992.

He has participated in over 45 research cruises to both polar regions, held visiting professorships in various countries and coordinated and contributed to major EU funded polar research projects. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency.

Contact information

Phone: 01223-760372
Email: pw11@damtp.cam.ac.uk