Petition for University of Maryland to Reconsider Tenure Decision in Case of Dr. Derrick J Lampkin

As a Meteorology Professor I taught with Dr. Lampkin at Penn State -to an enthusiastic class on remote sensing. His expertise in cryo is much needed in UMD AOSC, providing an important dimension in water-ice-related research. I am Adjunct at both AOSC and PSU Meteo. Thank you for the chance to support a very fine colleague.

I am writing to support Dr. Lampkin's tenure and promotion. He is a highly regarded colleague who has done significant research contribution to cryospheric sciences.

I express my support for Dr. Lampkin's tenure and promotion. Dr. Lampkin has been a terrific colleague/collaborator and his work has been pivotal to move forward the cryosphere community.

I would like to add my support for Dr. Lampkin's tenure and promotion. Dr. Lampkin has served as my advisor for my entire time at the University of Maryland and has not only been a terrific advisor, but a terrific colleague/collaborator as well.

I've collaborated on a study led by Dr Lampkin that demonstrates broad thinking and leadership on an original topic of general interest to society. Thus, I am confident of his work is at a level commensurate with promotion to Assoc. Prof.

Dr. Derrick Lampkin has developed important synergies between his research and his strong efforts helping enhance scientific diversity, education and outreach, to the benefit of all. These synergies are now unfortunately endangered, and the loss of his research productivity at the University of Maryland will negatively impact diversity as well. On the research side, Dr. Lampkin has participated in much important work, with his recent studies of meltwater infiltration along ice-stream shear margins especially notable, pointing towards better understanding of the risks of rapid sea-level rise in a warming world.

I fully support the tenure and promotion of Prof. Lampkin. He has been an exemplary colleague and role model at the University of Maryland, and fills an incredibly important knowledge gap in program expertise in Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences. His research program straddles multiple disciplines, and represents a novel and newly emerging view of meltwater processes in the rapidly changing world of glacial dynamics in a warming climate world. He is a pioneer in these types of studies, and is already finding new ways to connect this understanding to other processes not just on Earth, but elsewhere in the Solar System. He is committed to the highest levels of standards in his science and teaching, and is an outstanding mentor to his students.

In concurring with Dr. Stearns' letter I add: Research: As Dr. Stearns documents, Dr. Lampkin has a significant record of research and funding that more than demonstrates his future potential. My first-hand experience with Dr. Lampkin has been equally impressive. We have been working together to bring his expertise as a terrestrial glaciologist to planetary science, a long-held interest of his. We had to translate the problem to a common framework and determine how best to bring his skills and experience to the research. After much work, we have successfully been awarded a $764K grant from NASA to examine porous ice flows on comets. There is no doubt that Dr. Lampkin's ability to qualitatively approach the problem was key to our success. For Dr. Lampkin this is a stepping stone to a new research direction to bring his field knowledge and physical expertise to NASA's new focus on the explorations of icy moons (Europa, Titan, Enceladus). Teaching: While Dr. Lampkin, like many, struggles with introductory level service courses, student evaluations in major courses, where he is teaching within his expertise, are quite strong (often significantly greater than both his department and his college averages). In addition, during his time at Maryland Dr. Lampkin has advised 3 undergraduate and 2 masters students, while graduating two doctoral students. Many candidates have been promoted to the rank of associate professor having not yet graduated any Ph.D. students. Service: While Dr. Lampkin's internal service (which is largely determined by the department chair) certainly meets acceptable standards for an assistant professor, his external service is noteworthy. Dr. Lampkin is an associate editor for the Journal of Geophysics-Earth, a high impact journal in his field, and serves on the American Geophysical Union (AGU), Cryosphere Section Executive Committee. These two high-level appointments are very unusual for an early career scientist and are a strong indicator of

I have had the pleasure of having Prof. Lampkin as a colleague at Maryland, and have come to appreciate the sophistication and importance of his research. I support his tenure and promotion and believe that he is a valuable asset to both the research and educational mission of our University.

I would like to add my support for Dr. Lampkin's tenure and promotion. My collaboration with Dr Lampkin involves a NASA-funded project in comparative planetology. In this project, we are studying smooth features on the surface of comet Tempel 1 that appear to be very similar to glaciers, but formed in an airless, microgravity environment. Dr Lampkin is attempting to model these features using the physical processes derived for ice flows on Earth, to determine how these flows developed under the dramatically different cometary conditions. This study promises to reveal important information about the evolution of comets, and has the potential to provide new insight into the general physics of ice flows. His commitment to this project demonstrates Dr Lampkin's enthusiasm for his research and for exploring new and previously unaddressed questions that can contribute to the overall field.

Please see the strong letter of recommendation I sent at the start of Lampkin's tenure review process.

I have had the distinct honor and privilege of collaborating with Dr. Lampkin for over a decade. Beyond the previously-highlighted enthusiasm and service that he brings to our discipline, Dr. Lampkin’s refusal to accept leading hypotheses without interrogating their implicit assumptions through observational data and carefully planned experiments is not only inspiring, but is an essential and fundamental contribution to cryospheric science. Our research discussions are inevitably enriched and enlivened by his experiences, viewpoints, and unwavering commitment to generate hypotheses that are able to rectify seemingly incongruent data.

Dr Lampkin's record at UMD would meet the general expectation for "confirmation", the tenure-like process at my university. He is a thoughtful and engaged member of the cryospheric research community. He has enthusiasm and ability to speak with and for a segment of the current and future student population who will not be reached by other, more senior, academics.