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INSTAAR faculty among those awarded undergraduate research grants

Gabe Allen — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 20:44:19 +0000

INSTAAR faculty among those awarded undergraduate research grants Gabe Allen Wed, 04/30/2025 - 14:44

Isabella Oleksy, Scott Taylor and Katherine Suding recieved a total of six grants to support undergraduate field work this summer. The $4,000 awards will catalyze opportunities for students to contribute to critical research in environmental science.

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ATLAS students learn design skills through the lens of the apocalypse (ATLAS)

Gabe Allen — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 17:49:01 +0000

ATLAS students learn design skills through the lens of the apocalypse (ATLAS) Gabe Allen Mon, 04/28/2025 - 11:49

ATLAS students visited INSTAAR's mountain research station to learn about the City of Boulder Watershed from field technician Jennifer Morse. The visit was part of a class on infrastructure and design through the lens of apocalyptic narratives.

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Local middle schoolers get a crash course in Earth science at INSTAAR

Gabe Allen — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 19:00:00 +0000

Local middle schoolers get a crash course in Earth science at INSTAAR Gabe Allen Fri, 04/25/2025 - 13:00

Gabe Allen

Earlier this month, Organic Geochemistry Laboratory manager Lennart van Maldegem posed a question to a group of eighth graders from behind a table jumbled with jars of candy, food coloring and pipettes.

“This is the organic chemistry lab, where we search for molecular fossils, they’re not visible,” van Maldegem said. “They’re mixed up in a rock with all of this other stuff, so how do we separate the fossils out? What do you think?”

“Explosions?” someone suggested, to laughter. In the end, the answer was, of course, chemistry. For the next 15 minutes, the students took turns pipetting food coloring onto coffee filters, adding water and then watching as the die separated into its composite colors.

“Candy chromatography” was just one of 12 activities that INSTAAR researchers organized during the annual INSTAAR Middle School Showcase. Throughout the day, more than 200 students from Angevine Middle School traversed the Sustainability, Energy and Environment Community campus in small groups.

INSTAAR PhD student Robert Kelleher shows students how to conduct a "candy chromatography" experiment. Gabe Allen, 2025.

Drones and daylight

INSTAAR PhD student Kevin Rozmiarek shows Angevine Middle School eighth graders how to operate a research drone on at the INSTAAR Middle School Showcase. Gabe Allen, 2025.

In one activity on the southwest lawn, PhD student Kevin Rozmiarek showed students how to operate a research-grade drone equipped with a thermal camera. Rozmiarek has led research efforts to measure atmospheric gasses in Alaska and Greenland using similar aircraft. He explained that the same drones used for research also support the University of Colorado’s Police Department and Emergency Management team during events.

Scott Kittelman at the Skywatch Observatory outside the Sustainability, Energy and Environment Community building during the INSTAAR Middle School Showcase. Gabe Allen, 2025.

On the other side of INSTAAR’s campus, University of Colorado Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences professional research assistant Scott Kittelman gave students a tour of the University of Colorado “Skywatch Observatory.” Using various analogies and examples, Kittelman explained how the instruments at the observatory measure a wide variety of atmospheric conditions.

Kittelman focused especially on the pyranometer, which measures solar radiation. He told the students that the simplest possible experiment would be to measure when it got light, at sunrise, and when it got dark, at sunset everyday.

“What would I learn, scientifically? Kittelman asked his audience. “I might learn something about the seasons on this planet—that the day length changes. And, if I learned that the days were longer, and I was measuring temperature too, I might find that there is a relationship between temperature and the day length.”

The next generation

Kittelman has been an avid science educator throughout his career. He says his motivation is simple. Good science education lays the foundation for a new generation of scientists.

“Science is about inspiration. If you inspire kids early on, they find they have a talent for it and you get the best scientists that way,” Kittelman said. “Einstein’s father inspired him when he gave him a toy compass and explained that the needle was compelled by magnetic forces.”

INSTAAR chatted with a dozen or so students over lunch, in between the workshops and the bus ride home. Everyone seemed to come away from the day with a slightly different takeaway. Some reflected on a new insight.

“You have to learn about the past before you can say anything about the future,” Edward said, citing his group’s trip to the Stable Isotope Lab’s ice core freezer. “You see how it was back then to see how it is today.”

Others were enamoured with the scientific instruments they encountered.

“It was pretty cool when the guy flying the drone could see all the way across Boulder,” Kyoshi said.

Almost everyone agreed on one thing. Touring INSTAAR was better than being back at school. And, if skipping school for a day is the thing that inspires the next Nobel laureate, so be it.

Click an image below to enlarge.

If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

More than 200 students from Angevine Middle School recently visited INSTAAR, where researchers led hands-on demonstrations. The goal of the showcase is to inspire future scientists at an impressionable age.

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New faculty fellow Nathalie Vriend brings avalanche expertise to INSTAAR

Gabe Allen — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 18:00:00 +0000

New faculty fellow Nathalie Vriend brings avalanche expertise to INSTAAR Gabe Allen Wed, 04/23/2025 - 12:00

Gabe Allen

This month, INSTAAR welcomed associate professor of mechanical engineering Nathalie Vriend to the institute as a senior faculty fellow. Vriend’s research aims to deconstruct the physics of granular flows in nature. In particular, her work provides insight into the physics of avalanches and migrating sand dunes.

As a senior faculty fellow, Vriend will become a voting member of the INSTAAR directorate while continuing her teaching and research in the Paul M. Rady Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering and Applied Science. She is also eager to explore new collaborations with other INSTAAR scientists.

“Nathalie is an outstanding scientist who will enhance our interdisciplinarity, deepen our expertise in fluid mechanics, and expose INSTAARs to novel laboratory techniques for the study of geophysical phenomena,” INSTAAR director Nicole Lovenduski said, adding that her appointment will strengthen ties between INSTAAR and the Paul M. Rady Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering and Applied Science.

In light of her recent appointment, INSTAAR sat down with Vriend to talk about her career, research interests and aspirations for future collaborations at the institute.

Q: Why were you interested in joining INSTAAR?

A: When I came to CU Boulder two-and-a-half years ago, I heard about the different institutes, but I wasn't really aware what the mechanics or benefits of joining were. More recently, I struck up a conversation with INSTAAR director Nicole Lovenduski, and I realized that INSTAAR’s focus overlaps with at least half of my work, because snow and avalanches occur in the arctic and alpine.

After talking with Nikki, I saw great potential in connecting with people that do field work in these environments. I’m in mechanical engineering and barely any of my colleagues actually go out into the field. INSTAAR’s logistical support, storage facilities, and experience in applying for field grants and executing field campaigns—those things were big selling points for me.

Q: Tell us about your research on avalanches.

A: It goes back to my very first research job after my PhD, where I studied avalanches in Switzerland. In essence, my research has always focused on moving snow. So we're not talking about fracturing or the initiation of a snow avalanche, which is a completely different topic. But, if a snow avalanche has already started and is moving along, how fast does it go? What kind of pressures are exerted on it? What's the reach? What's the run out? I’m interested in the physics of avalanches.

Then come the implications. Where could you build infrastructure safely? What kind of defensive structures could you build to divert an avalanche out of the path of greatest danger? How can we model avalanches, so that we can predict where they might go?

I recently gave a guest lecture on snow avalanche field work and one of the students was like ‘Wow. You went and built this experiment and recorded three artificial releases of snow throughout the winter and that’s all the data you could collect?’ Yeah. Field work with avalanches is just hard because you’re dependent on factors you can’t control. And, if an avalanche goes, you have to get the data there and then. If something fails, you’re out of luck.

So, because of those factors, I moved more into the lab. It’s much more controllable. We can repeat it. We can change certain parameters to nudge behavior in a certain direction. In my lab right now, we’re specializing in a technique called photoelasticity. It creates these fantastic images that are not only beautiful, but hold a lot of quantitative information.

Q: Fascinating. I know you also do research on sand dunes. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

A: Sand Dunes were my first scientific love. It’s what I did my PhD on, which was 15 years ago mind you, I guess I’m getting a bit old. I looked at the booming sand dunes or the singing sand dunes. Basically, if you create an avalanche on a sand dune it creates a very musical tone. We explained that using geophysical methods, acoustics and some, you might say, granular mechanics.

It creates such a magical, mystical sound, and there were a ton of TV news segments about the research—PBS, National Geographic, the �鶹��Ƶy Channel. It was 15 years ago, and PBS even asked me to do an interview a couple of years ago. They keep coming back to it.

Since then, I’ve done several field trips to Qatar and White Sands National Park here in the U.S. to investigate the structure of sand dunes—how they are layered and what that tells us about their history.

When you cut a cross-section of a tree you get tree rings. You can count them, measure them and see which years the tree was growing slow or fast. The same thing happens to sand dunes. As they migrate, they continuously avalanche and form layers. Depending on the width, you can see how fast it was moving.

Q: Why does your research matter? Why is it important?

A: It’s very simple in both cases. For sand dunes, we’re living in a drying world. We have a loss of agricultural resources. Rivers are drying up. Playas are drying up and creating more sand and more dust. So sand dunes are really important.

I visited places in Qatar where dunes were engulfing roads. In the capital of Mauritania, Nouakchott, a dune field is slowly encroaching on the city. It's just engulfing houses, and there's nothing they can do about it. And, closer to home, we have Lake Michigan. They have a row of villas next to these sand dunes and, one by one, they are getting overtaken. They’re trying to get them out with bulldozers, but, of course, it isn’t working. So one by one, you can see your neighbors losing your house, and you know you're next.

Sand dunes can have a huge impact on human infrastructure, so we need to understand how sentiments move, and how we can adjust their behavior. Can we stabilize them? Can we divert them?

The rationale is very similar for avalanches. We might have been able to rely on historical data in the past, but with climate change avalanches may be bigger. They may be happening in different areas. Their impact may be much, much more significant. So we really need to understand how avalanches move, and how other debris flows and landslides move.This might allow us to predict their behavior and plan for it. I approach that through physical modeling.

Q: What kind of collaborations do you envision might be possible within INSTAAR?

A: I’ve been talking with Julia Moriarty, who does coastal research. She does a combination of sedimentology, fluid dynamics and coastal oceanography. We had been talking about potentially applying for an NSF grant, but in the end we split the project into separate proposals with the postdoc involved. Nonetheless, we know we have a common research interest that could lead to further collaborations.

There’s also a very clear overlap between my research and Irina Overeem’s work. She works with glaciers and ice streams and sediments.

Finally, Bob Anderson has worked on geomorphological problems that I’m interested in. There might be something there.

I still want to reach out to Mountain Research director Scott Taylor and the people in charge of cold rooms to explore more possibilities. I’ve talked with Nikki and some others about the possibility of doing some small experiments in the cold room, because some of my work could definitely benefit from a cold environment. We’re still investigating whether our cameras, which are quite fancy, could deal with minus 10 degrees.

I will also be giving a talk at the Mountain Research Station summer seminar series (see our events page for more info).

Vriend, an expert in avalanches and sand dunes, will join INSTAAR as a senior member of the directorate. Institute leadership hopes her appointment will strengthen ties with the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

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Earth Day: 6 sustainability stories from INSTAAR in 2025

Gabe Allen — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 23:41:24 +0000

Earth Day: 6 sustainability stories from INSTAAR in 2025 Gabe Allen Tue, 04/22/2025 - 17:41

Gabe Allen

INSTAAR researchers investigate fundamental questions about ecosystems, climate systems and landscapes.

Today marks the 55th annual Earth Day, a global celebration of our planet, its natural systems and the idea of a sustainable future. In honor of the occasion, INSTAAR is sharing stories from the first four months of 2025 about INSTAAR’s environmental research.

As mountain glaciers melt, risk of catastrophic flash floods rises for millions (The Conversation US)

Last month, INSTAAR faculty research scientist Alton Byers and Wesleyan University professor of earth science Suzanne OConnell wrote a guest article in the Conversation US. The pair, a mountain geographer and earth scientist respectively, described how melting glaciers are amplifying the risk of catastrophic flooding in mountain communities around the world. Some governments and organizations, including the U.N., have focused efforts on research into mitigation tactics and early effective warning systems.

Franklin Institute selects Katharine Suding for the Bower Award for Achievement in Science

Next month, INSTAAR faculty fellow and professor of distinction in ecology and evolutionary biology Katharine Suding will officially receive the Bower Award for Achievement in Science from the Franklin Institute. The award honors prominent scientists and innovators who have changed the world for the better. Suding is a preeminent restoration ecologist who has left an indelible mark on the concepts of ecosystem resilience, restoration and biodiversity.

Desert reservoirs capture and store organic carbon, according to new research

Dams have long been a controversial topic among environmentalists. While they can sometimes harm aquatic ecosystems, they can also provide benefits, like increased water storage. Recently, a group of INSTAAR researchers uncovered another potential benefit of certain reservoirs. In a recent paper, they describe how one large reservoir in New Mexico captures and stores carbon beneath layers of sediment during droughts and flash floods.

Drone experiment reveals how Greenland ice sheet is changing (CU Boulder Today)

Kevin Rozmiarek is a drone enthusiast, but he’s not just a hobbyist. He’s using unmanned aircraft to do science. In a recent publication, Rozmiarek and his colleagues documented changes in Greenland’s ice sheet. Their study relied on samples of atmospheric water vapor collected by drones, an approach that could improve simulations of sea level rise.

International research collaboration uncovers key driver of Himalayan glacier melt

This winter, INSTAAR research scientist Karl Rittger lent his talents to an intercontinental team of scientists seeking to understand exactly how and why Himalayan glaciers are melting. Rittger’s unmatched methodology for analyzing dust-covered snow from satellite imagery led the team to key insights. They found that dust storms were picking up pollution from heavily populated areas and depositing it on the mountains.

New research demystifies carbon cycling in freshwater lakes around the world

Back in 2019, INSTAAR faculty fellow Isabella Oleksy, then a PhD student, put out a call to collaborators for data on phytoplankton activity in freshwater lakes. In the end, researchers from all over the world contributed to the dataset. Oleksy and collaborators then used the data to refine a mathematical model of primary productivity for freshwater lakes. The new model could help earth scientists better understand the carbon cycle, which could lead to better climate predictions.

INSTAAR researchers investigate fundamental questions about ecosystems, climate systems and landscapes. These six stories highlight the environmental research that the institute is doing in 2025.

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Local middle schoolers visit INSTAAR to make movies about Earth science

Gabe Allen — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 16:30:00 +0000

Local middle schoolers visit INSTAAR to make movies about Earth science Gabe Allen Thu, 03/13/2025 - 10:30

Gabe Allen

The ‘Dream Team’ checks out increment borers, used to gather tree core samples in the field, in the Ecohydrology lab at INSTAAR. All photos by Gabe Allen.

Since October, students at Westview Middle School in Longmont have met with INSTAAR scientists nearly every month through the Earth Explorers program. The goal of the program is to connect local kids with scientists doing impactful work. Holly Barnard, an INSTAAR faculty fellow and Earth Explorers participant, looks forward to the visits for months ahead.

“When I was in middle school, I didn’t even know that earth science was a career path that I could take,” she said. “I really like sharing my research and the story of how I became a scientist.”

INSTAAR faculty fellow Holly Barnard takes Earth Explorers participants on a tour of the Ecohydrology Lab.

This year, Barnard is sharing her science with the self-described “Dream Team” — Adriel, Everett, Noah and Ben. Each member of the quartet took part in conducting interviews, filming lab spaces and script writing for a video that they are now editing.

The Dream Team met with Barnard for the first time over Zoom back in October. A couple of weeks later they brainstormed video ideas over lunch with Barnard at the CU Boulder Center for Community. Then, in November, they toured her lab and filmed an interview.

Noah was apprehensive about the program at first, but ended up appreciating his time at INSTAAR.

“Originally I didn’t want to do Earth Explorers, but then I found out it was about science. I was like ‘yeah, I could try that,” he said. “All the stuff we’ve done, like walking around campus and learning about trees, has been fun.”

Before leaving for the day, the Dream Team toured INSTAAR’s Stable Isotope Lab, where lab manager Bruce Vaughn showed them an ice core that traveled all the way from Greenland to Colorado. For Ben, it was a highlight.

“I thought it was really cool getting to go in the walk-in freezer and getting to see the different ice chunks and learning about how they read those,” Ben said. “It was just really cool getting to see all of the different tools.”

Now that the laboratory tours and field trips are in the rearview, it's time to get to work. This spring, 10 Earth Explorers groups, including the Dream Team, are busy cutting together mini-documentaries for a film screening in May. At the end of it all, scientists, parents, teachers and students will gather at Westview Middle School to learn about INSTAAR’s work through the lens of young minds. With any luck, some of the students might one day look back on this year as the catalyst that began a career in scientific research.

Bruce Vaughn explains how the Stable Isotope Lab processes ice cores from around the world to glean insights into the Earth’s history.

Barnard shows the Dream Team a rain gauge in the Ecohydrology Lab.

Barnard is interviewed by Dream Team member Adriel in her office.

If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

The Earth Explorers program gives local kids a first-hand look at a career in scientific research. After months of lab tours and interviews, participants are editing mini documentaries for a film screening in May.

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Mountain Research Station Field Courses open for registration

David J Lubinski — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 18:34:22 +0000

Mountain Research Station Field Courses open for registration David J Lubinski Mon, 03/10/2025 - 12:34

Scott Taylor , Gabe Allen

The MRS will host seven summer courses in ecology, genetics and art.

Every summer, curious nature lovers gather at 9,500 feet above sea level in the Colorado Rockies for college-level courses in the arts and natural sciences. The 2025 Mountain Research Station field courses will open for registration on Monday, March 10. Spots fill up quickly, so be sure to start the process right away for the best chance of attending. Course credit is readily transferable from CU Boulder to other institutions.

The Mountain Research Station, located 40 minutes west of CU Boulder campus, is set against a patchwork of subalpine forests, wetlands and alpine tundra. It also boasts state-of-the-art indoor laboratories, making it perfect for research and learning in the natural sciences.

“The facilities and access to the Rocky Mountains are almost unparalleled,” Mountain Research Station director Scott Taylor said.

While the summer field courses cover a diverse range of topics, all courses focus on learning through experiential work in a natural setting.

“Hands-on field experiences are essential for building skills and engaging with the natural world,” Taylor said. “You'll learn field techniques that could be used in future jobs all while being surrounded by the inspiring landscape of the southern Rockies.”

This summer’s seven offerings span nature-inspired art, ecology, ornithology and genetics.

Art and Environment Field School

Instructor: Aaron Treher

The Art and Environmental Field School is a 6-week intensive course of experiential learning at the intersection of art, culture and natural science. Participants will travel through the Great Sand Dunes of the San Luis Valley and the canyonlands of the four-corners region before arriving at the Mountain Research Station for a final exhibition. Along the way, they will create original artistic work and engage with diverse topics in ecology, anthropology and philosophy.

Field Methods in Vegetation Ecology

Instructor: Elise Pendall

Calling all plant nerds! This course is an intensive 3-week primer on field methods in vegetation ecology in the American West. Participants will visit diverse ecosystems from the Eastern Plains of the Front Range to alpine tundra on the Continental Divide. To cap it off, students will design and conduct individual research projects. It’s the perfect opportunity for an aspiring botanist or ecological field technician.

Field Ornithology

Instructor: Heather Kenny-Duddela

The Mountain Research Station is situated at the nexus of three pristine bird habitats: subalpine forest, wetlands and alpine tundra. In this course, students will learn essential methods in field ornithology, including point counts, mist netting and bird banding. After two weeks of lectures and field exercises, participants will conduct group research projects.

Forest and Fire Ecology

Instructor: Teresa Chapman

In the Southern Rockies, wildfire is a part of the landscape, and many plants and animals are adapted to thrive through cycles of burn and recovery. This course will teach participants methods for understanding, tracking and mapping the role of fire in western ecosystems. Throughout the course, students will work in small groups to conduct original research.

Microbial Ecology in the Mountains

Instructor: Sierra Jech

Microbes may be invisible to the naked eye, but they form the foundation of alpine ecosystems. In this course, the Mountain Research Station will become a laboratory for the study of microbes and the role they play in environmental processes. Students will spend time in nature as well as behind a microscope. They will emerge with a better understanding of microbial ecology and emerging research tools in the field.

Lake and Stream Ecology

Instructor: Dev Niyogi

Lakes and waterways are the veins and arteries of the Rocky Mountains. They provide life-giving water and nutrients to ecosystems from the alpine tundra to the arid plains. In this course, students will study the hydrology and ecology of local watersheds. They will also investigate how these systems are shifting due to anthropogenic impacts, both local and global.

Bioinformatics in the Mountains

Instructor: Megan Frayer

A remote mountain retreat might seem like an odd premise for a course in bioinformatics, but alpine ecosystems are a rich source of genetic material. In this course, students will learn how to gather and process genetic information to produce unique insights about the natural world. It’s a perfect opportunity for aspiring biologists and computer scientists with an appreciation for natural landscapes.

If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

The Mountain Research Station will host seven summer field courses in ecology, genetics and art. Registration for these college-level courses opens on Monday, March 10. Spots fill up quickly, so be sure to start the process right away for the best chance of attending.

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Chancellor Justin Schwartz’s visit to INSTAAR sparks connections and ideas

David J Lubinski — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 04:31:32 +0000

Chancellor Justin Schwartz’s visit to INSTAAR sparks connections and ideas David J Lubinski Wed, 02/05/2025 - 21:31

Gabe Allen

CU Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz recently dropped in on INSTAAR, where he discussed the institute’s research strengths and potential collaborations at the university level.

Left to right: CU Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz, INSTAAR Director Nicole Lovenduski and Senior Vice Chancellor of Research and Innovation Massimo Ruzzene.

CU Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz recently dropped in on INSTAAR for a tour and meet-and-greet. It’s the first time the chancellor has visited the Institute since he was appointed last summer.

After coming in from the cold, Schwartz joined INSTAAR leadership for coffee and conversation in INSTAAR Director Nicole Lovenduski’s office. The group discussed INSTAAR’s research strengths and potential collaborations at the university level.

Schwartz was affable and curious. His background as a nuclear engineer showed through his nuanced inquiries into INSTAAR’s work.

“He asked many insightful questions,” Lovenduski said. “He was a very engaged visitor.”

After coffee, the group continued on to INSTAAR’s Laboratory for AMS Radiocarbon Preparation and Research, where lab director Scott Lehman gave a presentation. Lehman focused on the lab’s innovative research carbon-14, a radioactive isotope of carbon found in the atmosphere.

Next, the group continued to the Stable Isotope Lab. There, lab manager Sylvia Michel gave a presentation on the lab’s efforts to trace carbon dioxide and methane emissions by measuring isotopes of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere.

Scott Lehman shows Schwartz a sample in the Laboratory for AMS Radiocarbon Preparation and Research.

Left to right: Sylvia Michel, Bruce Vaughn and Schwartz in the Stable Isotope Lab.

Schwartz was joined by Senior vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Massimo Ruzzene, who oversees INSTAAR as the dean of institutes. Ruzzene was glad to have the opportunity to introduce Schwartz to INSTAAR and to see some of the institute’s laboratories in-person.

“It was very informative and inspiring to see the real impact and excellence of the work at INSTAAR,” he wrote in an email following up on the visit.

Before departing, Schwartz and Ruzzene donned parkas and joined INSTAAR Faculty Fellows Bruce Vaughn and Bradley Markle in the Stable Isotope Lab’s walk-in freezer, where the researchers store ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica.

Markle, Ruzzene and Schwartz inspect an ice core in the Stable Isotope Lab.

At the end of his visit, Chancellor Schwartz brainstormed with INSTAAR leadership about potential campus-wide collaborations. In particular, he showed a keen interest in tapping the institute’s expertise in climate and earth systems research.

“His visit unearthed new ideas about how INSTAAR might connect with campus-wide sustainability initiatives,” Lovenduski said. “INSTAAR is well-positioned to plug into these efforts — from monitoring and verifying emissions reductions through trace gas measurements, to our work understanding soil carbon storage and ecological conservation.”

Lovenduski and Schwartz chat on the way to the INSTAAR front office.

If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

CU Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz recently dropped in on INSTAAR, where he discussed the institute’s research strengths and potential collaborations at the university level.

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INSTAAR’s 2024 Sarah Crump Fellow reflects on an adventurous season in the Rockies

David J Lubinski — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 21:58:49 +0000

INSTAAR’s 2024 Sarah Crump Fellow reflects on an adventurous season in the Rockies David J Lubinski Mon, 02/03/2025 - 14:58

INSTAAR’s Sarah Crump Graduate Fellowship is now accepting applications from CU Boulder graduate students. Last year’s recipient, Katie Gannon, recalls an eventful summer of field science.

Sarah Crump was a beloved INSTAAR alum. After a hard-fought battle with an aggressive form of cancer, she passed peacefully in November 2022. Before she passed, Sarah designed a fellowship for CU Boulder graduate students studying earth or environmental science in high-latitude or high-altitude regions. The fellowship provides summer funding for one student each year. Women and other underrepresented groups in earth science are particularly encouraged to apply. Preference is given to applicants whose advisors are INSTAAR members. INSTAAR is accepting applications for the 2025 Sarah Crump fellowship now until February 28: Apply, donate or learn more.

Katie Gannon works on The Loch, a high altitude lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

As the applications start to roll in for 2025, INSTAAR sat down with Katie Gannon, the recipient of the 2025 Sarah Crump Graduate Fellowship, to hear about her experiences as a fellow. It turns out she had quite an adventurous summer. Sarah would have approved.

You worked on a lot of different projects this summer. Tell us about one that stood out?

At the start of the summer we worked on a research project in the Rawah Wilderness just west of Fort Collins. We were interested in how rock glaciers, which are underground ice formations in the mountains, impact lakes downstream.

We did two 4-day backpacking trips to get back there and both of them had their share of challenges. The first trip was freezing. We camped in the spring snow and had to post-hole for hours to get between study lakes

On the second trip, we were up high above the tree line when a thunderstorm blew in and it started hailing. We were at least 4 miles from camp, it was the middle of the day and we had at least one more lake to sample before we were done. So we hiked down off the ridge and huddled up in the trees to wait out the storm.

We were all cold and wet and mildly miserable. But then Bella (Gannon’s PhD advisor) started singing and dancing to Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go!” and we started singing and jumping up and down and dancing to stay warm. I was soaked through, shivering, and laughing hysterically, along with everyone else. It was a great reminder of how important it is to support each other and enjoy the ride.

In the end those trips were a great way to get to know my lab, and the glaciers were so wild to see. The water seeping out of the rock and into the lakes is barely above freezing even in the middle of the summer and it is laden with ions and trace minerals.

You also worked on lake monitoring efforts in Rocky Mountain National Park and in Green Lakes Valley. Tell us about that.

These long-term projects feel special to me because in addition to creating useful data, repeatedly visiting these sites allows us to get to know the lakes and develop a connection with them. Last season, I watched the Loch thaw bloom in the spring. Then, in the fall, I watched as the trees lost their leaves and the lake froze over again.

We deploy buoys in the lakes that measure temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration. In the winter, the ice freezes over the top and the buoy is pushed down about a meter below the surface. Even though we carefully map out where each one is in the fall, the ice inevitably pulls them around during the colder months.

On one of my first field days this summer we hiked our boats in four miles to the Loch and then spent two more hours paddling in circles looking for our buoy. Everyone cheered when we finally found it.

Gannon's field photos (click to zoom)

Your lab collaborated with the forest service this summer. Tell us about that.

We looked at two remote mountain lakes in the San Juan Mountains that are experiencing algal blooms. This, in and of itself, is strange. You don’t usually see algal blooms in watersheds that have been minimally impacted by people.

In order to get all our gear in to collect samples, our team brought in a team of six mules and horses. They were hilarious and adorable. We would just sit in camp in the evening and watch them play around in the pasture. Having help from the pack animals and forest service amplified the project. We were able to collect much more data than we would have on our own.

You were busy this summer. Did you have time to work on your own research?

Yes. I got the first project for my PhD off the ground. I’m investigating methane and carbon dioxide accumulation in two alpine lakes. One is above the treeline while the other is below.

The fellowship allowed me to scout out lakes, order materials and find collaborators here at CU to help me run my samples. Now I have two months of data. We’re also collecting samples through the winter to see if methane and carbon dioxide build up under winter ice.

If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

INSTAAR’s Sarah Crump Graduate Fellowship is now accepting applications from CU Boulder graduate students whose research is centered on processes or climate history in high-latitude or high-altitude environments. Last year’s recipient, Katie Gannon, recalls an eventful summer of field science.

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INSTAAR’s summer scholarship is open (plus a Q&A with last-year’s cohort)

David J Lubinski — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 21:09:26 +0000

INSTAAR’s summer scholarship is open (plus a Q&A with last-year’s cohort) David J Lubinski Thu, 01/23/2025 - 14:09

Gabe Allen

INSTAAR is now accepting applications for the 2025 Summer Scholars cohort

Each year, the scholarship provides funding for two CU Boulder graduate students to continue their research over the summer. Priority is given to INSTAAR graduate students who enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion within the institute. Recipients receive a research stipend equivalent to a 50% RA position for three summer months.

Apply, donate, or learn more
Deadline March 5th, 2025

In 2024, the award went to two ambitious PhD students hard at work on research projects on opposite ends of the world. This week, INSTAAR sat down with Natalie Aranda and Jed Lenetsky to learn more about their experience as summer scholars.

Jed Lenetsky (ATOC)

What did the scholarship enable you to work on last summer?

I was able to advance my research on two different projects in Baffin Bay.

The first project looks at how future climate scenarios might affect sea ice, marine life and other oceanographic conditions. That one is focused on the North Water Polynya, which is one of the Arctic's most productive ecosystems. Previous funding from the NSF ran out before the summer, so the scholarship was critical. It allowed me to complete revisions on a manuscript, and the resulting article is now under review for publication in the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Climate.

The second research project examines oceanic changes in the Davis Strait in southern Baffin Bay. The Summer Scholars funding allowed me to spend time processing and analyzing data. I also used some of the funds to participate in a research cruise through the Davis Strait this fall (and gather more data).

What challenges arose in your work, and how did you respond?

It’s really difficult to process and gain meaningful insights from imperfect observational data — which is what I’m attempting to do with the Davis Strait project. I’m still working it out, but I am learning a lot through the process. I’m confident it will make me a stronger scientist once I get to the other side.

What was your proudest moment?

Definitely submitting my revised paper on the North Water Polynya for publication. We substantially improved the study by working on an assessment of relevant model processes over the summer. The assessment showed that the physical processes driving the formation of the North Water Polynya in the model were similar to the real world. The findings added rigor and boosted our confidence in the research.

Natalie Aranda (CEAE)

What did the scholarship enable you to work on?

The funding gave me time to work through an important and difficult step in my dissertation research.

I was able to devote my time and focus toward processing biological samples that I collected in Antarctica back in early 2023. The samples didn't arrive back in the U.S. until around March of that year and, up until last summer, I ran into a bunch of road blocks processing them into usable data. This scholarship allowed me to dedicate myself full time to the task, and I ended up completing the work before the start of the semester.

This fall, I was finally able to move on and begin interpreting my data. Basically, I’m looking at chloroplasts in diatoms under a microscope and counting how many of them were alive when they were collected. I’m looking for a trend that tells us where in the stream there is more likely to be live or dead cells.

What challenges arose in your work, and how did you respond?

Ha! Staring at a microscope for the entire day makes your eyes blur and your head spin, especially when you’re not finding what you are looking for. The scholarship gave me the space to come back the next day (and the next day) to try again.

What was your proudest moment?

Certainly, it was when I finished processing my last sample. It was a long time coming, and it felt great. I actually finished at the end of July, which gave me enough time to put together a poster for the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Science conference, which was held in Pucón, Chile at the end of August. I got some feedback at the conference that has been critical in my approach to data analysis this year.

If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

INSTAAR is accepting applications for a summer graduate research scholarship. The 2024 recipients used the extra time and money to process and collect data, publish work and attend conferences.

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INSTAAR’s summer scholarship is open (plus a Q&A with last-year’s cohort)

INSTAAR is now accepting applications for the 2025 Summer Scholars cohort

Jed Lenetsky (ATOC)

What did the scholarship enable you to work on last summer?

What challenges arose in your work, and how did you respond?

What was your proudest moment?

Natalie Aranda (CEAE)

What did the scholarship enable you to work on?

What challenges arose in your work, and how did you respond?

What was your proudest moment?

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