Berkley Center

Thomas P. Wagner is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) program scientist for the cryosphere. He directs NASA activities for study of the earth’s polar regions, glaciers, sea ice, and related aspects of climate change and sea level rise. Before joining NASA in early 2009, Wagner was program director for Antarctic earth sciences at the US National Science Foundation. He has been to Antarctica six times and helped plan the US research program for the International Polar Year (2007-2009). He holds a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His thesis research focused on volcanoes of the earth and moon. After finishing his Ph.D., Wagner spent six years teaching at the University of Papua New Guinea, where he was also involved in university administration and foreign aid projects.