Research
Leaders from 26 countries and the European Union offered support for a new research and coordination network focused on the Ross Sea in Antarctica this week. INSTAAR fellow and Antarctic scientist Cassandra Brooks leads the steering committee for the NSF-funded network.
A team, led by INSTAAR scientist Will Wieder, received an NSF grant to study the role of microbes in shrub encroachment in the alpine tundra. The project will be based at Niwot Ridge.
Chris Ray has studied pika populations in the West for nearly four decades. Today, she is collaborating with PhD student Rachel Mae Billings on a project that could revolutionize the field.
Common dolphins in the Bay of Biscay aren't living as long as they were in the '90s, according to a new paper led by INSTAAR postoc Etienne Rouby. The study used a novel sampling method to update inaccurate estimates and propose solutions.
Wildfires are causing earlier snowmelt across the western U.S., and this effect would only be exacerbated by projected warmer winters. For the new research, INSTAAR Fellow Karl Rittger teamed with Arielle Koshkin and Adrienne Marshall of the Colorado School of Mines.
INSTAAR fellow Alexandra Jahn has spent more than a decade studying how sea ice is changing in the 21st century. In an op-ed for the Conversation, she recounts a trip arctic communities that are feeling those changes firsthand.
Dead fish piled up on the shore of Grizzly Reservoir last month, prompting officials to look for a cause. Research from INSTAAR fellow Diane McKnight's lab indicates that high metal concentrations from the reservoir's inflows could have poisoned the water.
Adam Odorisio, Athena Bolin, and Diane McKnight are studying heavy metal pollution near Aspen to aid cleanup and explore recovering valuable metals, including rare earths, from polluted streams.
A new investigation, led by INSTAAR fellow Peyton Thomas, predicts the future health of fish species that Alaskan indigenous communities rely on. Thomas spent years gathering input from communities, modeling temperature changes and correlating changes to ecological outcomes.
INSTAAR PhD student Millie Spencer recounts her experience documenting glacial retreat and downstream impacts in Chile. Her work was supported by the CUAHSI Pathfinder Award, which allowed her to gather stakeholder interviews and glaciological data in tandem.