--- description: Find out why Britney Schmidt and Peter Davis is one of the 100 most influential people of 2023. title: Britney Schmidt and Peter Davis: The 100 Most Influential People of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b9b80e62c41de1f/698a3bd1d075336510e6de88/Britney-Schmidt-Peter-Davis-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 13, 2023 # Britney Schmidt and Peter Davis by Aryn Baker  Courtesy Britney Schmidt; Emily Newton—British Antarctic Survey If the Florida-size [Thwaites Glacier](https://time.com/6256261/doomsday-thwaites-glacier-antarctica-future/ "undefined") should crumble into the Antarctic Ocean as the planet warms, it could mean a [global sea-level rise](https://time.com/5622632/thwaites-glacier-antarctica-melting/ "undefined") of up to 2 ft., enough to wipe out many coastal cities. A major Antarctic field campaign spearheaded by Britney Schmidt of Cornell University and Peter Davis of the British Antarctic Survey offers essential insight into the consequential, and unstable, glacier. Using a hot-water drill and a camera-enabled underwater robot, they were able to look at the glacier’s underside to better understand how, and how fast, it was melting. Their research, published in _Nature_ in February, revealed troubling footage of the glacier melting from the bottom up, and a more nuanced view of glacier de-formation. “When you don’t understand how a process is happening, you can’t hope to forecast it,” says Schmidt. “Observing Thwaites in detail gives us a chance to make better choices for our future based on what we know is happening today.” _Baker is TIME’s senior climate correspondent_ Britney Schmidt and Peter Davis Is on the 2023 TIME 100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6270462/britney-schmidt-and-peter-davis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6270462/britney-schmidt-and-peter-davis/"},"headline":"Britney Schmidt and Peter Davis","datePublished":"2023-04-13T10:32:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:03.432Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6270462/britney-schmidt-and-peter-davis/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","sponsorshipblock","TIME100 2023","T100Pioneers2023"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b9b80e62c41de1f/698a3bd1d075336510e6de88/Britney-Schmidt-Peter-Davis-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b9b80e62c41de1f/698a3bd1d075336510e6de88/Britney-Schmidt-Peter-Davis-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6270462/britney-schmidt-and-peter-davis/","name":"Britney Schmidt and Peter Davis"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 | The 100 Most Influential People of 2023","description":"See all the people on Time's 2023 Time 100 list","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/P6RIsapV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-04-13T10:30:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/P6RIsapV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6270462/britney-schmidt-and-peter-davis/","duration":"PT1M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6270462/britney-schmidt-and-peter-davis/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```