Matthew Druckenmiller joined the Institute of Arctic Studies as an Arctic Innovation Fellow in January 2026. In this role, he is working with Dartmouth faculty, students, and Arctic partners to advance scholarship that informs Arctic and polar policy on issues of climate, food security, energy transitions, cultural preservation, and human rights, among other issues. Since 2006, Matthew has worked within the coastal regions of Arctic Alaska, investigating the connections between changing sea ice conditions, marine mammal habitat, and Indigenous community use of sea ice for hunting and travel.
Over the years, his work has centered on Arctic community-based observations and data management, advancing interdisciplinary, policy-relevant, and applied Arctic science, and communicating the societal and ecological implications of rapid Arctic climate and environmental change. Alongside this work with Dartmouth, he currently serves as a Senior Scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder, Director of the Navigating the New Arctic Community Office (NNA-CO), co-lead of the Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA) program, and lead editor of the Arctic Report Card and the Arctic Chapter within the annual BAMS State of the Climate Report.
Matthew serves as the Lead U.S. Delegate to the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), as well as an IASC Vice President. Previously, he has served as a Science Policy Fellow at the National Academies’ Polar Research Board (2005) and a AAAS Science Policy Fellow at the U.S. Agency for International Development (2013-2015). Matthew earned his PhD in geophysics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (2011). He is originally from Trout Run, Pennsylvania.
