A geophysicist of the cryosphere, working at the intersection of field science, technology, and international polar collaboration.

Won Sang Lee is a Principal Research Scientist at the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI), where his work focuses on how warm ocean water reaches grounding zones, drives ice-shelf basal melting, and contributes to future sea-level rise. He has participated in more than sixteen Antarctic expeditions and has led large, complex field programmes in some of the most logistically demanding environments on Earth.

His research combines field observations, advanced technologies, and process-based analysis to better understand grounding-zone dynamics, ice-shelf stability, and polar change — with current focus on Terra Nova Bay, Thwaites Glacier, and the Getz Ice Shelf system. He is developing an integrated polar research programme that links autonomous observing systems, under-ice exploration, and data-driven approaches to reduce uncertainty in ice–ocean change and sea-level rise. While Antarctica remains the scientific core of his work, he is extending this framework to Arctic environments to strengthen comparative polar science and Korean leadership in integrated polar research.

More broadly, he aims to build a durable, internationally connected research programme that advances frontier science, technology innovation, future polar research leadership, and societal readiness for climate-driven polar change.