Staff profiles

Nancy BertlerPrincipal Scientist - Ice Core Research Leader

Bertler Nancy 2210

Department

Environmental Processes and Modelling

Contact me

Biography

Professor Nancy Bertler holds a joint appointment with Earth Sciences New Zealand and Victoria University of Wellington, where she leads the Antarctic Ice Core Research Programme and serves as Lead Scientist for the National Ice Core Research Facility. Her research focuses on the recovery, analysis, and interpretation of high-resolution ice core records from coastal Antarctica to better understand the continent’s response to—and influence on—future global climate change. Nancy has led 13 major Antarctic field campaigns, including the internationally collaborative Roosevelt Island Climate Evolution (RICE, www.rice.aq ) Programme, involving nine nations, where she serves as Chief Scientist. From 2018 to 2025, she was the inaugural Director of the Antarctic Science Platform (ASP), a $49 million initiative supporting New Zealand’s strategic climate research under the Paris Agreement. Under her leadership, the Platform significantly elevated Aotearoa New Zealand’s role in Antarctic science during a period of rapid environmental change. She is a member of the award-winning Melting Ice and Rising Seas team, which received the 2019 Prime Minister’s Science Prize, and has served as a scientific advisor to New Zealand’s delegation to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, the Committee on Environmental Protection, and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Internationally, Nancy serves as Co-Chair of the International Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences (IPICS) and previously served as the inaugural Chair of AntarcticClimate21, a SCAR research programme aimed at improving 21st-century projections for Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. She also represents New Zealand as Alternate Delegate to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). She also chairs the distinguished International Science Advisory Panel of Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (AUD 35M, 2021-2028) research programme (www. www.arcsaef.com ). Currently, Nancy leads the Antarctic Sea-Ice Switch Programme (2024–2029, www.seaice.aq ), an eight-nation initiative investigating the recent abrupt changes in Antarctic sea-ice dynamics and their global implications. She also serves as Co-Principal Investigator of Tiaki Moana (www.antarcticscienceplatform.org.nz ), one of two flagship research programmes in the next phase of the Antarctic Science Platform (2025–2032), which focuses on climate change impacts in the Ross Sea region, including the stability of the Ross Ice Shelf and the health of its ecosystems and Marine Protected Area.

Qualifications

  • PhD, Geology
  • MSc, Quaternary Sciences

Areas of expertise

  • Paleoclimate: Paleoenvironmental reconstruction
  • Business Development: Biosecurity accreditation
  • Geochemist: Geochronology/Stable Isotopes
  • Geochemist: Global Environmental Change
  • Paleoclimate: Ice core analyses

Publications

Selection of major publications
  • Lowry, D.P.; Golledge, N.R.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Jones, R.S.; McKay, R.; Stutz, J. 2020. Geologic controls on ice sheet sensitivity to deglacial climate forcing in the Ross Embayment, Antarctica, Quaternary Science Advances 1: article 100002. DOI: 10.1016/j.qsa.2020.100002. article 100002
  • Bracegirdle, T.J.; Colleoni, F.; Abram, N.J.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Dixon, D.A.; England, M.; Favier, V.; Fogwill, C.J.; Fyfe, J.C.; Goodwin, I.; Goosse, H.; Hobbs, W.; Jones, J.M.; Keller, E.D.; Khan, A.L.; Phipps, S.J.; Raphael, M.N.; Russell, J.; Sime, L.; 2019. Back to the future : using long-term observational and paleo-proxy reconstructions to improve model projections of Antarctic climate, Geosciences (Basel, Switzerland) 9(6): article 255. DOI: 10.3390/geosciences9060255. article 255
  • Lowry, D.P.; Golledge, N.R.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Jones, R.S.; McKay, R. 2019. Deglacial grounding-line retreat in the Ross Embayment, Antarctica, controlled by ocean and atmosphere forcing, Science Advances 5(8): eaav8754. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav8754. eaav8754
  • Lowry, D.P.; Golledge, N.R.; Menviel, L.; Bertler, N.A.N. 2019. Deglacial evolution of regional Antarctic climate and Southern Ocean conditions in transient climate simulations, Climate of the Past 15(1): p. 189-215. DOI: 10.5194/cp-15-189-2019. p. 189-215
  • Bertler, N.A.N.; Conway, H.; Dahl-Jensen, D.; Emanuelsson, D.B.; Winstrup, M.; Vallelonga, P.T.; Lee, J.E.; Brook, E.J.; Severinghaus, J.P.; Fudge, T.J.; Keller, E.D.; Baisden, W.T.; Hindmarsh, R.C.A.; Neff, P.D.; Blunier, T.; Edwards, R.; Mayewski, P.A.; 2018. The Ross Sea dipole - temperature, snow accumulation and sea ice variability in the Ross Sea region, Antarctica, over the past 2,700 years, Climate of the Past 14: p. 193-214. DOI: 10.5194/cp-14-193-2018. p. 193-214
  • Thomas, E.R.; van Wessem, J.M.; Roberts, J.; Isaksson, E.; Schlosser, E.; Fudge, T.J.; Vallelonga, P.; Medley, B.; Lenaerts, J.; Bertler, N.A.N.; van den Broeke, M.R.; Dixon, D.A.; Frezzotti, M.; Stenni, B.; Curran, M.; Ekaykin, A.A. 2017. Regional Antarctic snow accumulation over the past 1000 years, Climate of the Past 13(11): p. 1491-1513. DOI: 10.5194/cp-13-1491-2017. p. 1491-1513
  • Stenni, B.; Curran, M.A.J.; Abram, N.J.; Orsi, A.; Goursaund, S.; Masson-Delmotte, V.; Neukom, R.; Goosse, H.; Divine, D.; van Ommen, T.; Steig, E.J.; Dixon, D.A.; Thomas, E.R.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Isaksson, E.; Ekaykin, A.; Frezzotti, M.; Werner, M. 2017. Antarctic climate variability at regional and continental scales over the last 2000 years, Climate of the past discussions 13(11): p. 1609-1634. DOI: 10.5194/cp-13-1609-2017. p. 1609-1634
  • Emile-Geay, J.; McKay, N.; Kaufman, D.; von Gunten, L.; Wang, J.; Anchukaitis, K.; Abram, N.; Addison, J.; Curran, M.; Evans, M.; Henley, B.; Zhixin, H.; Martrat, B.; McGregor, H.; Neukom, R.; Pederson, G.; Stenni, S.; Thirumalai, K.; Werner, J.; Xu, C.; 2017. A global multiproxy database for temperature reconstructions of the Common Era, Scientific Data 4: article 170088. DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2017.88. article 170088
  • Bracegirdle, T.J.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Carleton, A.M.; Ding, Q.; Fogwill, C.J.; Fyfe, J.C.; Hellmer, H.H.; Karpechko, A.Y.; Kusahara, K.; Larour, E.; Mayewski, P.A.; Meier, W.N.; Polvani, L.M.; Russell, J.L.; Stevenson, S.L.; Turner, J.; Van Wessem, J.M.; Va 2016. A multidisciplinary perspective on climate model evaluation for Antarctica, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 97(2): p. ES23-ES26. DOI: 10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00108.1. p. ES23-ES26
  • Mayewski, P.A.; Bracegirdle, T.; Goodwin, I.; Schneider, D.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Birkel, S.; Carleton, A.; England, M.H.; Kang, J-H.; Khan, A.; Russell, J.; Turner, J.; Velicogna, I. 2015. Potential for Southern Hemisphere climate surprises, Journal of Quaternary Science 30(5): p. 391-395. DOI: 10.1002/jqs.2794. p. 391-395
  • Neff, P.D.; Bertler, N.A.N. 2015. Trajectory modeling of modern dust transport to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres 120(18): p. 9303-9322. DOI: 10.1002/2015JD023304. p. 9303-9322
  • Gutt, J.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Bracegirdle, T.J.; Buschmann, A.; Comiso, J.; Hosie, G.; Isla, E.; Schloss, I.R.; Smith, C.R.; Tournadre, J.; Xavier, J.C. 2015. The Southern Ocean ecosystem under multiple climate change stresses : an integrated circumpolar assessment, Global Change Biology 21(4): p. 1434-1453. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12794. p. 1434-1453
  • Sinclair, K.E.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Bowen, M.M.; Arrigo, K.R. 2014. Twentieth century sea-ice trends in the Ross Sea from a high-resolution, coastal ice-core record, Geophysical Research Letters 41(10): p. 3510-3516. DOI: 10.1002/2014GL059821. p. 3510-3516
  • Rhodes, R.H.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Baker, J.A.; Steen-Larsen, H.C.; Sneed, S.B.; Morgenstern, U.; Johnsen, S.J. 2012. Little Ice Age climate and oceanic conditions of the Ross Sea, Antarctica from a coastal ice core record, Climate of the Past 8(4): p. 1223-1238. p. 1223-1238
  • Markle, B.R.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Sinclair, K.E.; Sneed, S.B. 2012. Synoptic variability in the Ross Sea region, Antarctica, as seen from back-trajectory modeling and ice core analysis, Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres 117: D02113. DOI: 10.1029/2011JD016437. D02113
  • Sinclair, K.E.; Bertler, N.A.N.; van Ommen, T.D. 2012. Twentieth-century surface temperature trends in the Western Ross Sea, Antarctica : evidence from a high-resolution ice core, Journal of climate 25(10): p. 3629-3636. DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00496.1. p. 3629-3636
  • Bertler, N.A.N.; Mayewski, P.A.; Carter, L. 2011. Cold conditions in Antarctica during the Little Ice Age : implications for abrupt climate change mechanisms, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 308(1/2): p. 41-51. DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.05.021. p. 41-51
  • Sinclair, K.E.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Trompetter, W.J. 2010. Synoptic controls on precipitation pathways and snow delivery to high-accumulation ice core sites in the Ross Sea region, Antarctica, Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres 115: D22112. DOI: 10.1029/2010JD014383. D22112
  • Rhodes, R.H.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Baker, J.A.; Sneed, S.B.; Oerter, H.; Arrigo, K.R. 2009. Sea ice variability and primary productivity in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, from methylsulphonate snow record, Geophysical Research Letters 36: L10704. DOI: 10.1029/2009GL037311. L10704
  • Dunbar, G.B.; Bertler, N.A.N.; McKay, R.M. 2009. Sediment flux through the McMurdo Ice Shelf in Windless Bight, Antarctica, Global and Planetary Change 69(3): p. 87-93. DOI: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2009.05.007. p. 87-93
  • Mayewski, P.A.; Meredith, M.P.; Summerhayes, C.P.; Turner, J.; Worby, A.; Barrett, P.J.; Casassa, G.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Bracegirdle, T.; Naveira Garabato, A.C.; Bromwich, D.; Campbell, H.; Hamilton, G.S.; Lyons, W.B.; Maasch, K.A.; Aoki, S.; Xiao, C.; van 2009. State of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean climate system, Reviews of Geophysics 47(1): RG1003. DOI: 10.1029/2007RG000231. RG1003
  • Alloway, B.V.; Lowe, D.J.; Barrell, D.J.A.; Newnham, R.M.; Almond, P.C.; Augustinus, P.C.; Bertler, N.A.N.; Carter, L.; Litchfield, N.J.; McGlone, M.S.; Shulmeister, J.; Vandergoes, M.J.; Williams, P.W.; NZ-INTIMATE members 2007. Towards a climate event stratigraphy for New Zealand over the past 30,000 years (NZ-INTIMATE project), Journal of Quaternary Science 22(1): p. 9-35. p. 9-35
  • Bertler, N.A.N.; Naish, T.R.; Mayewski, P.; Barrett, P.J. 2006. Opposing oceanic and atmospheric ENSO influences on the Ross Sea region, Antarctica, Advances in Geosciences 6: p. 83-86. Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences contribution 3395 p. 83-86
  • Bertler, N.A.N.; Naish, T.R.; Oerter, H.; Kipfstuhl, S.; Barrett, P.J.; Mayewski, P.A.; Kreutz, K. 2006. The effects of joint ENSO-Antarctic Oscillation forcing on the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, Antarctic Science 18(4): p. 507-514. p. 507-514
  • Bertler, N.A.N.; Mayewski, P.A.; Sneed, S.B.; Naish, T.R.; Morgenstern, U.; Barrett, P.J. 2005. Solar forcing recorded by aerosol concentrations in coastal Antarctic glacier ice, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Annals of Glaciology 41(1): p. 52-56. p. 52-56
  • Bertler, N.A.N. (et al.) 2005. Snow chemistry across Antarctica, Annals of Glaciology 41(1): p. 167-179. p. 167-179
  • Bertler, N.A.N.; Mayewski, P.A.; Barrett, P.J.; Sneed, S.B.; Handley, M.J.; Kreutz, K.J. 2004. Monsoonal circulation of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Ross Sea region, Antarctica : signal from the snow chemistry, Annals of Glaciology 39(1): p. 139-145. p. 139-145
  • Bertler, N.A.N.; Barrett, P.J.; Mayewski, P.A.; Fogt, R.L.; Kreutz, K.J.; Shulmeister, J. 2004. El Nino suppresses Antarctic warming, Geophysical Research Letters 31(15): L15207. DOI: 10.1029/2004GL020749. Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences contribution 3141 L15207

External Profiles

Contact

Related content

By continuing with this download you agree to abide by the rules laid out in the Terms and conditions/Terms of use listed on this page.

If there are no specific Terms and conditions/Terms of use listed then please refer to our Copyright and Disclaimer page and Privacy Policy page. 

Download