Dr. Stephanie Pfirman, a specialist in the study of environmental changes in the Arctic, is chair of the Department of Environmental Science at Barnard College, which she joined in 1993.

Her publications have focused on the trajectory and origin of Arctic sea ice, an analysis of contaminant risks in the Arctic marine environment, and the use of digital data in Earth science instruction. Dr. Pfirman has participated on several national and international environmental panels. She now chairs the National Science Foundation's Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education. She chaired the Office Advisory Committee to the Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation (member 1997-2000, chair 1998-1999). From 1993 to 1997 she was a regular member of US delegations to meetings of the international Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme. Dr. Pfirman received her Ph.D. in 1985 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/ Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography and Oceanographic Engineering, Department of Marine Geology and Geophysics, and a BA in 1978 from Colgate University's Geology Department. 

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