About Me
My name is Mark Elliott Hehlen, and I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. USA. I recently accepted an offer for PhD candidacy at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge University, UK. Previously, I graduated with a B.S. in Geology from the University of Vermont in 2021. I received a B.S. in Mathematics and Statistics from Portland State University in 2012.
This fall, I am pleased to join the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, and begin my work modeling the evolution of the shear margin of the Doomsday Glacier using full-Stokes flow models coupled with hydrology and fracture models.
I am primarily concerned with glacier dynamics and feedback systems that drive them as they pertain to climate change and mass loss projections. I hope to use my wide ranging skill set to pursue an interdisciplinary study including topics in glaciology, geodynamics, basal geology, hydrology, remote sensing, ocean-ice and atmosphere-ice interactions.
Particularly, I am interested in the controls that subglacial topography plays in ice flow and deformation, as well as integrating hydrology and calving into current open-source full-stokes modeling software such as ICEPACK and Elmer/Ice. With collaboration, this work will contribute to refining ice loss and sea level rise projections.
Personal Interests
Dragon Boat Racing
I have spent over 15 years paddling and coaching competitive Dragon Boat teams in the Pacific Northwest.
Dragon Boat Racing is over 2500 years old and originated during the warring states period in China. As such it is one of the first competitive sports on the planet. Races are typically held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, correlating with the beginning of the harvest season
Dragon boats are crewed by 20 paddlers, a drummer (or caller), and a steers-person (or tiller). Paddlers sit two to a bench, and must synchronously take strokes with proper technique to speed the boat toward the finish.
Most competitive races are 500m sprints, however many festivals conclude with a celebratory 2k "Guts or Glory" endurance event.
Sustainability
While the realities of energy demands and the insufficient transition to renewable sources are forcing climate change, my partner and I are dedicated to reducing our personal carbon footprint. One example of which is growing food to reduce demands on grocers, supplement a healthy diet, and remove consumption of single use plastics.
Reducing an individual's dependence on fossil fuels and single use consumer packaging is important, but it is paramount to work to reduce industrial and commercial reliance on carbon to flatten the CO2 ppm curve if we are to keep the global temperature away from the critical point where feedback systems will force an irreversible heating of the planet.
Portland Timbers
Enough said.
The Portland Timbers are Portland, Oregon's professional football club. Established in 1975, and inducted into North America's professional Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2011. They were the first Cascadian team to lift the MLS Cup in 2015.
The Timber's Army supporters group - 107 Independent Supporters Trust - is the largest (and often loudest) in MLS. They support radical inclusion, and assist in volunteer efforts and fundraising for "Operation Pitch Invasion, Oregon Food Bank, Friends of Trees, American Red Cross, Harper’s Playground, CPR Training, and Portland Public Schools"; as well as raising money to develop new soccer fields for children, equitable inclusion for sport in communities, and soccer uniforms and equipment for youth in low income areas.