Ashley Bellas is a postdoctoral associate in the Nerem group of the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research. She uses satellite observations to estimate sea level and project it forward in time. Previously, she investigated the structure and dynamics of the Earth’s mantle and lithosphere using numerical models and performed quantitative comparisons with geophysical observations like surface flexure and gravity fields, seismic tomography, and the motions of hotspot volcanoes. In ongoing research, her expertise in the rheology and deformation of the solid Earth has naturally led her to addressing problems related to glacial isostatic adjustment and its effect on estimates of global mean sea level, as well as the gravitational fingerprints that control regional variations in sea level change. She is fluent in computational methods and passionate about understanding the physics that govern the evolution of Earth systems on human to geologic timescales.