Hansen is a glaciologist with broader interests in understanding the processes shaping Earth’s surface in the cryosphere. His interdisciplinary research combines novel experimentation, field geophysics, sedimentology, and numerical models to constrain the mechanisms controlling glacier motion and geomorphic change in high-latitude environments.
Hansen received a B.S. in Geology and Mathematics from Portland State University in 2017. He completed a Ph.D. in Geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2022, under the supervision of Lucas Zoet, and subsequently worked as a postdoc in the same lab. He will be joining the Washington University faculty in the summer of 2025.
The WUSTL Glaciology lab is currently seeking graduate students and postdocs. Project topics are flexible and can be tailored to align with individual research interests, taking into account current resources and funding opportunities.
Current areas of interest include:
- The interactions between glacier ice and its substrate and their impact on glacier motion and erosion
- The evolution and architecture of glacial hydrologic systems
- Physical properties of earth materials in the cryosphere
- Sediment transport in alpine and ice sheet environments
Hansen will join our department Summer 2025