Chris is currently focusing on the parameterization of sea ice properties. He is part of the Snow, Ice & Perfmafrost Group at the Geophysical Institute at UAF where he performs observations on growth and decay processes of sea ice and corresponding fluid dynamics and percolation modeling. He has recently investigated sea ice growth processes with Pat Langhorne (U. Otago, New Zealand), and disintegrating sea ice in collaboration with Sebastian Gerland (NPI, Norway) on Svalbard. As part of his Ph.D. project at the University of Otago, Chris studied the structure and the refreezing process of cracks with Pat Langhorne and Tim Haskell in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica during spring (September–November). He developed a two-dimensional fluid dynamics model to simulate growth of sea ice and desalination, and he modeled the pore structure of random porous media. Before he studied sea ice, Chris obtained his Diplom in physics at the Universität Rostock with thesis work on Ultra High Vaccum surface characterisation of a semiconductor at North Carolina State University.