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Former INSTAAR research librarian and polar climate data expert passes on

Martha Andrews

Martha Andrews

Martha Andrews passed away on May 5, 2025 at her home in Boulder with her husband, John Andrews by her side. Martha was an early member of the INSTAAR Directorate and served as INSTAAR’s research librarianÌýfrom 1973 until she retired in 2003.

Martha was born in Schenectady, NY to Margaret and John Tuthill. She was the valedictorian of her 1956 High School class, after which she enrolled at Northwestern University. During her sophomore year, she transferred to Clark University in Worcester, MA so she could be near her mother, who had fallen ill at the new family home in Vermont.ÌýAt Clark, she heard a lecture about climate research at the South Pole. Captivated, she approached the speaker and, that summer, devoted herself to entering paper temperature records into a database on an early computer.

Her interest in Polar regions led her to apply to a graduate program in the geography department at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, which at that time had major research programs in the Canadian Arctic.ÌýShe arrived in Montreal in September 1960, and there met her husband-to-be, John Andrews, who had just returned from a field season on the Labrador coast. They were married in December, 1961. Martha obtained her MA from McGill University, and when John accepted a job with the Canadian government in 1962, they moved to Ottawa.ÌýMartha worked at Carleton University in Ottawa abstracting Arctic research papers for the Arctic Bibliography—a project funded by the US Library of Congress. In 1968, the couple moved to Boulder, CO when John accepted a faculty position at the department of geological science and INSTAAR at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Martha continued her studies and, in 1973, obtained an MA in library science from the University of Denver and became INSTAAR's Librarian. She was a friend and essential resource for many graduate students who learned library research skills from her. During her career, she led the establishment of many international polar and environmental data bases, obtaining grants from the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation and travelling for her work to Canada, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, the UK, and Alaska.Ìý

She will be deeply missed by her family, numerous friends, and many former students, who recall her exceptional help with literature searches and her sharp wit. A celebration of Martha's life will be held later this summer at INSTAAR in the SEEC building on east campus.Ìý

See also:

  • - Dignity Memorial

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(Want to add your photo of Martha? Email it and a caption to David Lubinski)

Martha Andrews near Iqaluit in the 1970s.
John and Martha Andrews (2002).
The Andrews family - Thomas, Martha, John, and Melissa (1989).
The Andrews family - Thomas, Melissa, John, and Martha in Iqaluit (1975).
A group photo at the Arctic Workshop in Montreal (2011). L to R: Giff Miller, John Andrews, Martha Andrews, Art Dyke, Ray Bradley, TBD, John England, and Catherine La Farge-England.
Francesca (Smith) McInerney, Nancy Weiner, Martha Andrews, and Kathy Licht (1999).
Martha Andrews, John Andrews, and P. Thompson Davis at a GSA Quaternary Geology & Geomorphology awards event (2007). John received a Distinguished Career Award.
Peter Clark, Kathy Licht, Don Barber, and Martha Andrews applaud at a GSA Quaternary Geology & Geomorphology awards event (2007). John Andrews received a Distinguished Career Award.
Martha and John Andrews look at a cake, surrounded by participants of the Arctic Workshop at an evening social event (year TBA).
John Hollin, Martha Andrews, and John Andrews (year TBA).
Martha Andrews

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