Stephanie Pfirman is Alena Wels Hirschorn '58 and Martin Hirschorn Professor in Environmental and Applied Sciences and Chair of the Department of Environmental Science at Barnard College, which she joined in 1993. Throughout her career, Pfirman has been involved with researching the Arctic environment, undergraduate education, interdisciplinary curriculum development, environmental policy strategies and public outreach. Current interests include environmental aspects of sea ice in the Arctic, and the development of women scientists and interdisciplinary scholars. Pfirman is co-PI of the NSF-sponsored Advancing Women in the Sciences initiative of the Columbia Earth Institute.

Pfirman is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Polar Research Board, which serves as the US National Committee for the International Polar Year. She is also President-elect of the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors and a member of Project Kaleidoscope’s Faculty for the 21st Century.

The first chair of the NSF's Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education, Pfirman oversaw analysis of a 10 year outlook for environmental research and education at NSF. Pfirman also chaired NSF's Office Advisory Committee to the Office of Polar Programs. From 1993 to 1997 she was a member of US delegations to the international Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, and she served as a Key National Expert representing the US in preparation of the State of the Arctic Environment Assessment. In 1994 and 1995 she was a member of the Advisory Panel to the US Congress Office of Technology Assessment's Russian Nuclear Contaminant Assessment Project.

As Environmental Science department chair at Barnard, Pfirman has developed new courses in "Exploring the Poles," "Climate," "Energy Resources," "Oceanography," and "Environmental Data Analysis," revised the curriculum for majors, expanded the faculty, established links with related departments at Barnard and Columbia, acquired new instrumentation, and moved the department into renovated facilities. A member of the Academic Committee of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Pfirman is also a long-time chair of the Education Committee. In 1996 she co-coordinated the opening of the Human Habitat at Columbia University's Biosphere 2 Center, in Oracle, Arizona, and chaired and then co-chaired the Environmental Sciences Curriculum Committee of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

Prior to joining Barnard in 1993, Pfirman was a senior scientist at Environmental Defense and co-developer of the exhibition "Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast" produced jointly with the American Museum of Natural History. She was research scientist and coordinator of Arctic programs for the University of Kiel and GEOMAR, Research Center for Marine Geoscience, Germany; staff scientist for the US House of Representatives, Committee on Science, Subcommittee on Environment; and oceanographer with the US Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Pfirman received a Ph.D. in Marine Geology and Geophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography and Oceanographic Engineering, and a BA in Geology from Colgate University.

Arctic Research:

Pfirman, S., W. Haxby, R, Newton, H. Eicken, 2004, Changes in Arctic Surface Waters Reconstructed from Drifting Sea Ice, European Geophysical Union, Vienna, Austria, poster

Pfirman, S., W. Haxby, H. Eicken, M. Jeffries, D. Bauch, 2004, Drifting Arctic sea ice archives changes in ocean surface conditions, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L19401, doi:10.1029/2004GL020666.
http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2004.../2004GL020666.shtml

Pfirman, S., W. F. Haxby, R. Colony, I. Rigor, 2004, Variability in Arctic sea ice drift, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L16402, doi:10.1029/2004GL020063.
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/gl0416/2004GL020063/

Pfirman, S. and W.F. Haxby, 2000, Animation of Arctic Sea Ice Origin and Age.
http://www.geomapapp.org/arctic/ice_movies/

Interdisciplinary Scholarship:

Pfirman, S, (Barnard College), P. Martin (Juniata College), L. Berry (Florida Atlantic University), M. Fletcher (Univ. South Carolina), M. Hempel (Univ. of Redlands), R. Southard (Univ. California Davis), D. Hornbach (Macalester College) and B. Morehouse (Univ. of Arizona) “Interdisciplinary Hiring, Tenure and Promotion: Guidance for Individuals and Institutions”, a paper published by the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (CEDD), National Council for Science and the Environment.
http://www.ncseonline.org/CEDD/cms.cfm?id=2042

Pfirman, S. and D. Rhoten “Women, Minorities, and Interdisciplinarity: Transforming the Research Enterprise.” November 12-13, 2007, Columbia University.
http://www.earth.columbia.edu/advance/events/bg.php

Pfirman, S., S. Hall, T. Tietenberg, and D. Rhoten, "Interdisciplinary Environmental Programs: Opportunities and Challenges for Faculty and Students", 2007 GSA Denver Annual Meeting (28–31 October 2007) Paper No. 79-13.
http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2007AM/finalprogram/abstract_130742.htm

Rhoten, D. and S. Pfirman, Women, Science, and Interdisciplinary Ways of Working, Inside Higher Ed, October 22, 2007. http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2007/10/22/rhoten

Diana Rhoten and Stephanie Pfirman “Women in Interdisciplinary Science: Exploring Preferences and Consequences”, Research Policy Volume 36, Issue 1, February 2007, Pages 56-75.

"Making Interdisciplinary Education Work". Southwestern Minnesota State University Presentation, February 2006:

Pfirman, S. and D, Rhoten, “Building an Interdisciplinary Faculty” Project Kaleidoscope, Madison, Wisconsin, October 28-30, presentation

Pfirman, S. “Oceanography and Interdisciplinary Education: Fostering Fluidity” Celebrating 75 Years of Ocean Research, Education and Exploration at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, September 23, 2005, presentation

Pfirman, S., J. Collins, S. Lowes, A. Michaels, 2005, "Collaborative Efforts: Promoting Interdisciplinary Scholars". The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 11, 2005. p. B15-16. http://chronicle.com/weekly/v51/i23/23b01501.htm

Pfirman, S., J. Collins, S. Lowes and A. Michaels, 2005, "To Thrive and Prosper: Hiring, Fostering and Tenuring Interdisciplinary Scholars". Project Kaleidoscope Resource.
http://www.pkal.org/documents/Pfirman_et-al_To-thrive-and-prosper.pdf

Pfirman, S. Pace, "Academy for the Environment: Making Interdisciplinary
Education Work", 2005.
http://appserv.pace.edu/execute/page.cfm?doc_id=15087

Pfirman, S. and the AC-ERE, 2003, Complex Environmental Systems: Synthesis for Earth, Life and Society in the 21st Century, A report summarizing a 10 year outlook in environmental research and education for the National Science Foundation, 68 pp.
http://www.nsf.gov/geo/ere/ereweb/acere_synthesis_rpt.cfm

Pfirman, S, M. Albert, J. Carlstrom, J. Priscu, M. Cameron, J. Palais, J. Dionne: Working Group on Implementation of Review Criterion #2, 2001.
http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/opp_advisory/oaccrit2.htm

Advancing Women in Science:

Pfirman, S. and D. Rhoten “Women, Minorities, and Interdisciplinarity: Transforming the Research Enterprise.” November 12-13, 2007, Columbia University
http://www.earth.columbia.edu/advance/events/bg.php

Research Productivity presentation

Pfirman S. and P. Balsam, 2005, "Women and Interdisciplinary Science: Promise and Peril", Barnard Center for Research on Women Website, November:
http://www.barnard.edu/crow/womenandwork/pfirman.htm

Pfirman, S. 2005, "Early and Often: Strategies to Increase Womens' Productivity, Recognition, and Impact" -ebriefing on the New York Academy of Sciences website:
http://www.nyas.org/ebrief/miniEB.asp?ebriefID=430

Bell, R. J. Laird, S. Pfirman, J. Mutter, R. Balstad, and M. Cane, 2005, "An Experiment in Institutional Transformation: The NSF ADVANCE Program for Women at the Earth Institute at Columbia University". Oceanography: Special Issue: Women in Oceanography. Vol. 18, No. 1, March 2005.
http://www.tos.org/oceanography/issues/issue_archive/issue_pdfs/18_1/18.1_be ll_et_al.pdf

Bell, RE, M Cane, RB Miller, KA Kastens, JC Mutter, S Pfirman, 2003, "Righting the Balance: Gender Diversity in the Geosciences". EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, August p. 292. Bell, RE, KA Kastens, M Cane, RB Miller, JC Mutter, S Pfirman, 2004, Reply EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, p. 126.
http://www.awg.org/gender-workshop03/Robin-Bell-Eos-July-2003-EO310005.pdf


Polar Education and the International Polar Year:

New York City International Polar Weekend at the American Museum of Natural History
http://www.amnh.org/programs/specials/polar/, http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/events/polarweekend/

Pfirman, S. R.E. Bell, M. Turrin, P. Maru, 2005, "Bridging the Poles: Education Linked with Outreach". A Report on the Workshop. 23-25 June 2004.
Washington, D.C. 944 pp.
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/res/pi/polar_workshop/
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~mkt/PolarED_Web.htm

Pfirman, S. R.E. Bell, M. Turrin, P. Maru, 2004, "Education and Outreach for the International Polar Year", EOS 85 (49), p. 527.

Exploring the Poles: Barnard First Year Seminar, poster
Exploring Science Through Polar Exploration

Polar Research Linked With Education at Columbia

Arctic Sea Ice and Earth Science, Pfirman career presentation
Earth Science, Arctic Sea Ice, a Career Overview

Environmental Education:

Son, L. T. Kenna and S. Pfirman, “A Metacognitive Pedagogy: The River Summer Project” College Quarterly, Spring 2007 - Volume 10 Number 2
http://www.collegequarterly.ca/2007-vol10-num02-spring/son_kenna_pfirman.html.

Kenna, T., S. Pfirman, B. Selleck, L. Son, M. Land and J. Cronin “An Integrated Learning Experience: "River Summer" on the Hudson. White Paper for the Teagle Foundation
http://environmentalconsortium.org/taskforces/fieldstudies/riversummer/teagle.htm

Pfirman, S. T. Kenna, J. Cronin, L. Son, M. Land, “River Summer 2005” Environmental Consortium of Hudson Valley Colleges and Universities, annual meeting, November 4-5, 2005, presentation

Pfirman, S. S. Hall, T. Tietenberg, 2005, "The Frontlines of Interdisciplinary Education: Environmental Programs at Liberal Arts Colleges". Env.Sci.&Tech. Viewpoint section. Vol. 39, Iss. 10, pp. 221A-224A.
http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/esthag-a/39/i10/html/051505feature_p firman.html

Hall, S. T. Tietenberg, S. Pfirman, 2005, "Environmental Programs at Liberal Arts Colleges: Findings and Recommendations". Project Kaleidoscope Resource.
http://www.pkal.org/documents/EnvironmentalPrograms.pdf