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A satellite view of the Yukon River watershed in Alaska

Arctic communities planning for abrupt permafrost thaw

Oct. 21, 2020

A new INSTAAR-led project will engage Indigenous and Western knowledge systems to better understand abrupt permafrost change in Alaska. The National Science Foundation selected the project as part of its Navigating the New Arctic funding area, one of ten “Big Ideas” that NSF is investing in as an area of profound national challenge and opportunity. The research project brings Alaskan communities together with social and natural scientists to examine changes in permafrost thaw lake environments, including associated effects on villages in the Yukon River watershed.

Scottish bog with highland mountains, clouds, and rain

For the love of peat (99 Percent Invisible)

Oct. 13, 2020

Trees versus peat as carbon sequesters: an example from Scotland. Listen to the 40 minute podcast episode.

Photo of Julia Moriarity

Meet Julia Moriarty

Sept. 25, 2020

Learn a bit about Dr. Julia Moriarty, a new INSTAAR scientist and an Assistant Professor in ATOC who studies processes in the coastal oceans.

Whitewater on a mountain stream

New grant supports interdisciplinary research on ‘the critical zone’ and the future of Western water (CU Boulder Today)

Sept. 2, 2020

Three CU Boulder faculty, including INSTAARs Holly Barnard and Eve-Lyn Hinckley, are principal investigators on a new five-year, $6.9 million National Science Foundation grant to study the “critical zone”—from Earth’s bedrock to tree canopy top—in the American West.

Close up image of a section of ice core from the WAIS Divide, Antarctica.  Eli Duke, Flickr and WikiMedia.

White paper sets priorities for Antarctic ice coring

Aug. 14, 2020

Data from ice cores can show not only what Earth was like in prehistoric times, but how the mechanisms of climate work and how our climate may transform in the near future. INSTAAR research scientist Tyler Jones led an effort to synthesize ideas about the most meaningful, impactful questions that researchers might answer using ice cores from Antarctica. The result is a white paper that lays out priorities for ice core work in Antarctica for the next five to ten years.

Aerial view of CU Boulder main campus, with Flatirons behind

A message for our International Students from CIRES, INSTAAR, Geology leadership

July 13, 2020

Statement in support of international students and against the recent ICE guidance barring students from the U.S. who take online-only classes.

Mural of George Floyd's face surrounded by flowers

INSTAAR statement on systemic racism

June 19, 2020

We recognize that Black Lives Matter and stand with the protesters demonstrating against injustice. We are also reckoning with the overdue realization that we are part of the same systems that led to that violence. We commit to doing our part to dismantle implicit, systemic racism in our own spaces and list specific actions we will take within INSTAAR.

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