Dr Sainan Sun

Assistant Professor

School: Geography and Natural Sciences

Dr. Sainan Sun conducts research in glaciology. She apply numerical models to ice sheets to study the physical processes that are controlling the present day behaviour of the ice flows. She is interested in projecting future changes of Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, and their impacts on global sea level change under the warming climate.

Email Sainan

Key Publications

Ephemeral grounding on the Pine Island Ice Shelf, West Antarctica, from 2014–2023, Chien, Y., Zhou, C., Sun, S., Chen, Y., Wang, T., Zhang, B. 15 Jan 2026, In: Cryosphere
Modelling the sensitivity of ice loss to calving front retreat rates in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica, Barnes, J., Gudmundsson, G., Goldberg, D., Sun, S. 29 Jan 2026, In: The Cryosphere
The potential of Marine Ice Cliff Instability for Amundsen Sea glaciers revisited, Sun, S., Gudmundsson, G. 2026, In: Annals of Glaciology
Calving rate linearly dependent on sub-aerial terminus cliff height at tidewater glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula, Parsons, R., Sun, S., Gudmundsson, G. 23 Jun 2025, In: Annals of Glaciology
Investigating the dynamic history of a promontory ice rise using radar data, Ershadi, M., Drews, R., Tison, J., Martín, C., Henry, A., Oraschewski, F., Tsibulskaya, V., Sun, S., Wauthy, S., Koch, I., Bons, P., Eisen, O., Pattyn, F. 1 Jan 2025, In: Journal of Glaciology
Evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet Over the Next Three Centuries From an ISMIP6 Model Ensemble, Seroussi, H., Pelle, T., Lipscomb, W., Abe‐Ouchi, A., Albrecht, T., Alvarez‐Solas, J., Asay‐Davis, X., Barre, J., Berends, C., Bernales, J., Blasco, J., Caillet, J., Chandler, D., Coulon, V., Cullather, R., Dumas, C., Galton‐Fenzi, B., Garbe, J., Gillet‐Chaulet, F., Gladstone, R., Goelzer, H., Golledge, N., Greve, R., Gudmundsson, G., Han, H., Hillebrand, T., Hoffman, M., Huybrechts, P., Jourdain, N., Klose, A., Langebroek, P., Leguy, G., Lowry, D., Mathiot, P., Montoya, M., Morlighem, M., Nowicki, S., Pattyn, F., Payne, A., Quiquet, A., Reese, R., Robinson, A., Saraste, L., Simon, E., Sun, S., Twarog, J., Trusel, L., Urruty, B., Van Breedam, J., van de Wal, R., Wang, Y., Zhao, C., Zwinger, T. 4 Sep 2024, In: Earth's Future
Quantifying the buttressing contribution of landfast sea ice and melange to Crane Glacier, Antarctic Peninsula, Parsons, R., Sun, S., Gudmundsson, G., Wuite, J., Nagler, T. 11 Dec 2024, In: The Cryosphere
Short- and long-term variability of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, Hanna, E., Topál, D., Box, J., Buzzard, S., Christie, F., Hvidberg, C., Morlighem, M., De Santis, L., Silvano, A., Colleoni, F., Sasgen, I., Banwell, A., van den Broeke, M., DeConto, R., De Rydt, J., Goelzer, H., Gossart, A., Gudmundsson, G., Lindbäck, K., Miles, B., Mottram, R., Pattyn, F., Reese, R., Rignot, E., Srivastava, A., Sun, S., Toller, J., Tuckett, P., Ultee, L. 1 Mar 2024, In: Nature Reviews Earth & Environment
Spatial and temporal variability of environmental proxies from the top 120 m of two ice cores in Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica), Wauthy, S., Tison, J., Inoue, M., El Amri, S., Sun, S., Fripiat, F., Claeys, P., Pattyn, F. 5 Jan 2024, In: Earth System Science Data
Weak relationship between remotely detected crevasses and inferred ice rheological parameters on Antarctic ice shelves, Gerli, C., Rosier, S., Gudmundsson, G., Sun, S. 6 Jun 2024, In: The Cryosphere

PGR Supervision

Richard Parsons Start Date: 01/08/2022

PGR Supervision

Richard Parsons Glacier Calving: Observations and Modelling Start Date: 01/01/2022
Richard Parsons Glacier Calving: Observations and Modelling Start Date: 01/01/2022 End Date: 17/10/2025

Qualifications