Jacqueline A. “Jackie” Richter-Menge has spent 36 years as a research civil engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL). Her observations of sea ice from Alaska to Greenland have played a crucial role in identifying the rapid changes occurring across the Arctic. As a leader in polar research, she was appointed in 2016 by President Barack Obama to be a member of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. 

Richter-Menge has led or participated in more than 20 field programs measuring ice thickness and snow depth throughout the Arctic, providing valuable insight into the behavior of sea ice cover needed to improve the safety and efficiency of energy exploration and the operation of surface vessels and submarines that travel in ice-covered waters. These ground-based measurements also support the development of airborne and satellite-based observations aimed at understanding the role of polar regions in the global climate system. Recently, she has overseen the design and deployment of autonomous sea ice mass balance buoys as part of the Arctic Observing Network in order to document and understand the rapid change in the thickness and extent of the sea ice cover. 

Richter-Menge also chairs the Science Steering Committee for the Submarine Arctic Science (SCICEX) Program and has been sea ice science team lead for NASA’s IceBridge mission. She is currently lead editor for the NOAA Arctic Report Card, summarizing the most recent observations collected by the international community on air, ocean, land and ecosystem changes in the Arctic.  She has served as an affiliate professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, a visiting research scientist at Dartmouth College, and a professional engineer for the State of New Hampshire. She has been awarded the Army Achievement Medal for Civilian Service twice as well as an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. An exuberant speaker, she is able to use her scientific insight and experience to convey the importance of the changing Arctic to a wide range of audiences and believes that "our best hope for addressing climate warming…lies in the education of students."