About this episode

Brent Minchew discusses his journey from a U.S. Marine to a glaciologist, highlighting the impact of his military background on his scientific work.

Brent Minchew responded to the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001. Before he was a glaciologist at Caltech, he was a marine aboard the Marine One presidential helicopter and was one of the first on sight after the deadly attack. Brent joins Hakeem to trace his unlikely path from a working-class upbringing in Texas to a career studying the world's most extreme ice sheets. And he traces how his experience in the military informs his scientific mission planning and decision making. Learn more about NOVA and visit our YouTube channel. -------------------------- Guest Bio: Brent Minchew is a glaciologist and geophysicist at Caltech, where he leads research on the dynamics of ice sheets and sea -level rise, and Chief Scientist at Arête Glacier Initiative. A former U.S. Marine, he now co-leads efforts to test real-world interventions that could stabilize the world's most vulnerable glaciers.

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