The Foundation for Glacier and Environmental Research (FGER) is the non-profit organization that operates the Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP).

The FGER Board of Directors is a group of JIRP-enthusiasts, mostly former students, staff, and faculty of the program, who volunteer their time to keep the wheels of this organization turning. In their day-to-day lives, FGER board members’ work spans the gamut from science, filmmaking, law, management, and medicine.  The Board meets year-round to support, direct, and oversee efforts in strategic planning, financial management, fundraising, marketing, staffing and safety, permitting, facilities management, as well as working with the director to develop the long-term vision for JIRP.

The Foundation for Glacier and Environmental Research is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

IRS 501(c)(3) Determination Letter

Guy Adema

Chairman

Guy Adema has worked with JIRP since 1994, including 20 years on the Icefield. He has worked for the Idaho Geological Survey, and the National Park Service in Denali, Anchorage, and Denver.

Scott Graham

Treasurer

Scott Graham was first on the Icefield as a high school participant in JIRP.  With degrees in business (MBA), he has worked for several Fortune 500 companies and successful startup tech companies and has also served on several non-profit boards including Seattle’s SEAFAIR.  He credits his experience on the Juneau Icefield as pivotal in team building, character development, and fostering a lifelong love of learning and the outdoors.  He is the middle of three generations of JIRP participants.  Scott currently works in commercial real estate and lives in Seattle, Washington.

Dr. Cathy Connor

Secretary

Dr. Cathy Connor is a University Alaska Southeast Professor of Geology Emerita (1991-2014), and JIRP faculty since 1994. She has been looking at climate records in sediments and rocks from California to Malaysia and from Montana to Alaska since 1975.

Jay Ach

Jay Ach first participated in JIRP at age 18, the summer after he graduated from high school, then returned as staff two years later.  Jay took a multi-decade hiatus from JIRP, while he earned a MS in high-temperature geochemistry, worked for the USGS, worked for several environmental consulting companies, and finally served as a senior environmental manager for the Port of San Francisco.  He could never stop thinking about JIRP and the Icefield, though.  Thinking he might have something to offer still, he finally returned to the Icefield in 2014 as faculty and has put in regular appearances since 2017. If nothing else, his scones are a hit with students.  Jay was elected to the Board in 2018.

Dr. Matt Beedle

Dr. Matthew Beedle is an Adjunct Professor with UNBC Geography and NWCC Professor of Geography.  Matt has been involved in and led field-based study for many years, and loves bringing students into the natural world where they solidify and apply knowledge from the classroom.  Matt is the former Director of Academics and Research at JIRP. When not with students out in the field, you can find Matt with his family skiing, mountain biking, or in a canoe.

Chip Duncan

Award-winning filmmaker/photographer Chip Duncan has been documenting icefields and glaciers throughout Alaska and Canada since 1991 including numerous rafting and trekking expeditions through the St. Elias Range and the Juneau Icefield. Duncan’s work with indigenous populations and in crisis zones has taken him to more than forty countries for filming and photography and is the basis of numerous long-form documentaries and books. Duncan also participates with Dr. Ben Santer and Dr. Hernando Garzon as part of the speaking group “The Three Tenors of Climate Change.”

Dr. Hernando Garzon

Hernando Garzon, M.D., is an emergency physician with more than two decades of experience in disaster response and humanitarian medical relief efforts across the United States and around the world.  He is also a dedicated teacher in the fields of disaster medical care and humanitarian medical response.  Hernando participates with fellow FGER Board Members Dr. Ben Santer and Chip Duncan as part of the speaking group “The Three Tenors of Climate Change.”

Dr. Shad O’Neel

As a federal research scientist at the US Geological Survey (USGS), Shad's primary role is overseeing the USGS Benchmark Glacier Project, making sense of mass balance measurements from five North American Glaciers. He got his start with JIRP in 1996 as a student. His role with the JIRP faculty and FGER board began in 2013, and today he serves as the academic liaison between the FGER board and JIRP.

Dr. Ben Santer

Ben Santer is an atmospheric scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He studies natural and human “fingerprints” in observed climate records. His early research contributed to the historic 1995 conclusion of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: “the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate”. He served as lead author of a key chapter of that report. Since 1995, Ben has identified human fingerprints in atmospheric temperature and water vapor, ocean heat content, drought, and many other climate variables. In his spare time, he is a member of “The Three Tenors of Climate Change” (together with Chip Duncan and Hernando Garzon) and a rock climber.

Allie Strel

Allie completed a Cartography M.Sc. in 2017 at the Technical Universities of Munich, Vienna and Dresden.  She now works as a cartographer in southern Bavaria.  Following a summer with JIRP as a student in 2015, Allie returned for the following three summers as a safety staff volunteer, training and leading students across the icefield.  Inspired by the transformational experience that JIRP offers to students, Allie joined the FGER Board in 2019.

Dr. Erin Whitney

Dr. Erin Whitney is a faculty member at the Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she focuses on the performance and integration of solar photovoltaic technologies in Arctic environments.  She is a former student (1996), staff member (1997), and most recently interim JIRP director from 2015-2017.  Her studies in climate science as an undergraduate and graduate student continue to inform and drive her pursuit of local and renewable energy solutions today.