Julie Brigham-Grette Named Chair of the Polar Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences

Julie Brigham-Grette, professor in the department of geosciences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, was selected as the new chair of the Polar Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. When she assumes her new role on August 1, Dr. Brigham-Grette will have the responsibility of promoting excellence in polar science and providing independent scientific guidance to federal agencies and the nation on science issues in the Arctic, Antarctic, and other cold regions of the world.

Professor Brigham-Grette is a magna cum laude graduate of Albion College in Michigan. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Dr. Brigham-Grette joined the faculty at the University of Massachusetts in 1987 and was promoted to full professor in 2001.