[1][2] Wadham researches glacial ecosystems and investigates their impact on biogeochemical processes.

[11] In 2012, Wadham's team at the University of Bristol used computer models to predict the amount of trapped methane under ice sheets and discovered 400 billion metric tons of carbon beneath.

[7] Her work in Greenland has advanced our understanding of the dynamics of ice sheets and their contribution to global biogeochemical cycles.

[7][5] In 2022, Wadham and her collaborator Dr. Monica Winsborrow were awarded €15 million to direct the Centre for ice, Cryosphere, Carbon and Climate (iC3), a ten-year Norwegian Centre of Research Excellence funded by the Norwegian Research Council that will run from 2023-2033.

She was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in October 2007 for her international contribution to polar science.