Rate My Professor Shin Sugiyama

Shin Sugiyama is a Professor at Hokkaido University’s Institute of Low Temperature Science and Arctic Research Center, affiliated with the Graduate School of Environmental Science in the Division of Earth System Science, Course in Cryosphere Science. He earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in Material Physics from Osaka University. After working as a research engineer at Shinetsu Chemical Co. Ltd., he completed a PhD in Earth Environmental Science at Hokkaido University. Following his doctorate, he conducted research on mountain glaciers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology before returning to Hokkaido University as faculty.

Professor Sugiyama’s research centers on glaciers and ice sheets, with a focus on their dynamics and interactions with the ocean, including studies of lake-calving glaciers and ice-dammed lake outbursts. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in Greenland, Antarctica, and Patagonia. In 2025, he received the European Geosciences Union’s Julia and Johannes Weertman Medal for his outstanding contributions to cryosphere research and education over two decades. He previously served as Vice President of the International Glaciological Society and as a scientific editor for Frontiers in Earth Science and Annals of Glaciology.