Isern appointed acting head of OPP's Antarctic Sciences section

National Science Foundation
Office of Polar Programs
2415 Eisenhower Avenue
Alexandria VA 22314 USA

Posted October 2, 2017

Alexandra Isern, OPP’s Program Director for Antarctic Research and Logistics Integration, will serve as acting Head of OPP’s Antarctic Sciences Section. Her 120-day appointment began on Sept. 22.

Isern’s will be first of series of temporary appointments to the section-head position while Scott Borg, the permanent section head, serves as Acting Deputy Assistant Director for the Geosciences Directorate.

Isern has been with NSF for sixteen years, eight of which have been in Polar Programs. She previously served as section head for Surface Earth Processes in NSF’s Division of Earth Sciences.

She received a Bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Florida, a Master’s in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island and her doctorate In geochemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.

Her research primarily focused on the evolution of carbonate platforms and reefs as a result of climate change and involved many months at sea and in the field.

After being awarded her doctorate, she served as a lecturer in marine science and geology at the University of Sydney in Australia. She served as executive secretary for the National Science Board - NSB's Subcommittee on Facilities and as a Program Officer for the Ocean Studies Board and the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.