What is the future of ice in the southern Andes? How are South American scientists trying to influence policies that could protect the melting cryosphere?  Members of the Panel of Independent Researchers of the Cryosphere will discuss their efforts to support the creation of a law and constitutional articles to protect glaciers in the Chilean Andes. They will share challenges they have faced as technical advisors attempting to intervene in a controversial debate about glacier survival.    

The speakers will be:

Sebastián Crespo, Agronomist, Ph.D. in Applied Sciences, and Ph.D. candidate in the Social Sciences. He currently holds a Postdoctoral affiliation with the University of Valparaíso and is also a CR2 researcher. He is a member of the Panel of Independent Cryosphere Researchers, and his area of specialization is hydroclimatology, stable isotopes, and tracking glacier meltwater. 

Hans Fernández, Geographer, Ph.D. in Glacier Geomorphology . He currently holds a Postdoctoral affiliation with O´Higgins University. He is a member of the Panel of Independent Cryosphere Researchers, and his area of specialization is the reconstruction of the glacier history of Central Chile. 

Camilo Rada, Astronomer, M.A. in Geophysics, and Ph.D. in Glaciology. He currently works as a researcher and professor at the GAIA Antarctic Research Center of the University of Magallanes, and is a member of the Panel of Independent Cryosphere Researchers.

IRC is organized by Jon Hawkings and Kristina Lyons (krlyons@sas.upenn.edu).

The event will be in Spanish with translation to English.