Sasha Montelli
Member-at-Large
Sasha’s research integrates geological and geophysical data to examine
the palaeo-environmental evolution of high-latitude continental margins.
Sasha studied Geography and GIS mapping (BS) at Saint Petersburg State
University, followed by completing MS in Geophysics, during which his
research focused on polar regions, examining crustal structure and
tectonic history of Weddell Sea, East Antarctica. After receiving
Fulbright Scholarship in 2013, his research at the Institute for
Geophysics of the University of Texas at Austin focused on sedimentary
architecture of glacier-influenced regions in Gulf of Alaska and East
Antarctica. In 2015, Sasha was awarded a Gates Scholarship for a PhD at
the Scott Polar Research Institute of the University of Cambridge.
Currently, his PhD research applies three- and two-dimensional seismic
datasets to reconstruct Quaternary ice-sheet and oceanographic evolution
of the vast mid-Norwegian continental margin.
Career and qualifications
2015-present: PhD, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of
Cambridge
2013-2015: Master of Science, Institute for Geophysics, The University
of Texas at Austin
2014: Shipboard geophysicist, ENAM research cruise, R/V Langseth,
Columbia University
2011-2013: Master of Science, Department of Geology, Saint Petersburg
State University
2011-2013: Geophysicist at Polar Marine Geosurvey Expedition
2012: Exchange Program, Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo
2007-2011: Bachelor of Science, Department of Geography, Saint
Petersburg State University
Current research
Sasha’s current research is conducted under the collaboration between
Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) and Norwegian University of
Science and Technology (NTNU). An extensive geophysical record that
contains multiple industry-acquired three- and two-dimensional seismic
data is available in the mid-Norwegian continental shelf and slope.
Sasha’s research uses this dataset to provide detailed study of the
changing nature of ice-sheet derived sedimentary architecture through
the Quaternary Ice Age. The sedimentological and geomorphological
evolution of the mid-Norwegian margin, in turn, provides insight into
the spatial and temporal variability of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet and
oceanographic setting through the last 2.8 Ma. This palaeo-environmental
examination of the mid-Norwegian margin provides a useful framework for
ice-sheet and global climate models.