Samuel Cook

DELIGHT Junior Research Group Leader, FAU, Erlangen-Nüremberg
2024-2030
PI of DELIGHT Framework project, seeking to couple a suite of models to accurately model the entire hydrological system of glacierised catchments (all processes from precipitation through glacier mass balance and hydrology to downstream hydrology) using machine learning to overcome computational bottlenecks. 

Early-career Postdoctoral Fellow, Faculté de Géosciences et l’Environnement, Université de Lausanne 
2022-2024 
Used the IGM deep-learning-driven glacier-flow-and-inversion model to invert for ice thickness at all the world’s glaciers outside the ice sheets, allowing us to better constrain sea-level rise (important for the 10% of the world’s population that live near the coast) and the evolution of water resources and water-related catchments in glacierised catchments (home to a third of the world’s population). Further expanded simulation-design, big-data-processing and data-analysis skills.

Postdoctoral researcher, Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement, Université Grenoble Alpes
2020-2022
Worked on the project ANR-Magic, implementing data assimilation scheme in Elmer/Ice in 2D and 3D to improve the model’s ability to take into account observations to refine its own predictions and state. Further improved programming and model coupling skills.

PhD Polar Studies, Selwyn College, University of Cambridge
2016-2020
Thesis title: Connect Store: A fully coupled 3D model of ice flow, calving, subglacial hydrology and ice-ocean interactions applied to Store Glacier, Greenland. Awarded 28.11.20. Funded by NERC. Supervised by Dr Poul Christoffersen. Developed a fully coupled numerical model of a tidewater glacier system including ice flow, calving, subglacial hydrology and proglacial meltwater plumes, within the finite-element, 3D, full-Stokes Elmer/Ice modelling suite in order to improve understanding and prediction of the behaviour of these complex systems. Model applied to Store Glacier, west Greenland. Validated the model with reference to a record of calving events in July 2017 at Store Glacier, extracted from a three-week terrestrial radar interferometer record gathered on a month-long field campaign. 

• Cook, S. J., Jouvet, G., Millan, R., Rabatel, A., Zekollari, H., and Dussaillant, I.: Committed Ice Loss in the European Alps Until 2050 Using a Deep-Learning-Aided 3D Ice-Flow Model With Data Assimilation, Geophysical Research Letters, 50(23), e2023GL105029. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105029 

• Cook, S. J., Christoffersen, P., and Wheel, I.: Coupled 3D full-Stokes modelling of tidewater glaciers, Annals of Glaciology, 1-4. doi:10.1017/aog.2023.4, 2023. 

• Cook, S.J., Gillet-Chaulet, F., and Fürst, J.: Robust reconstruction of glacier beds using transient 2D assimilation with Stokes, Journal of Glaciology, 1-10, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.26, 2023. 

• Cook, S. J., Christoffersen, P., and Todd, J.: Fully-coupled 3D modelling of ice flow, calving, subglacial hydrology and calving-front melting at Store Glacier, West Greenland, Journal of Glaciology, 1-17, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.109, 2021 

• Cook, S. J., Christoffersen, P., Truffer, M., Chudley, T. R., and Abellán, A.: Calving of a Large Greenlandic Tidewater Glacier has Complex Links to Meltwater Plumes and Mélange. Journal of Geophysical Research : Earth Surface, 126(4), e2020JF006051. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JF006051, 2021 

• Cook, S. J., Christoffersen, P., Todd, J., Slater, D., and Chauché, N.: Coupled modelling of subglacial hydrology and calving-front melting at Store Glacier, West Greenland, The Cryosphere, 14, 905-924, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-905-2020, 2020. 

• Benn, D.I., Todd, J.A., Luckman, A., Bevan, S.L., Chudley, T.R., Åström, J., Zwinger, T., Cook, S.J., and Christoffersen, P.: Controls on calving at a large Greenland tidewater glacier: stress regime, self-organised criticality and the crevasse-depth calving law, Journal of Glaciology, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.81, 2023 

• Law, R., Christoffersen, P., Mackie, E., Cook, S.J., Haseloff, M., and Gagliardini, O.: Hybrid basal motion of the Greenland Ice Sheet, Science Advances, 9(6), https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abq5180, 2023. 

• Derkacheva, A., Gillet-Chaulet, F., Mouginot, J., Jager, E., Maier, N., and Cook, S. J.: Seasonal evolution of basal environment conditions of Russell sector, West Greenland, inverted from satellite observation of surface flow, The Cryosphere, 15, 5675–5704, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5675-2021, 2021. 

I teach some of the Masters-level courses in the department in both semesters. For what’s currently on offer, please check the relevant course pages or in CAMPO.

My research focuses on modelling contemporary glaciers at a variety of scales with a variety of methods, from explicit physical modelling to deep learning. I am particularly interested in glacial processes related to hydrology and those occurring at tidewater glaciers. For more information on my current research project, please see the group page.
I believe I am also technically the world expert on glaciation in Middle-earth, mainly because no one else has bothered thinking about it to the best of my knowledge.