News

The acidity of Antarctica’s coastal waters could double by the end of the century, threatening plankton and all marine life that inhabits the Southern Ocean, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. Cara Nissen is first author of the study. Coauthors include additional INSTAARs Nikki Lovenduski and Cassandra Brooks as well as three colleagues from the Alfred Wegener Institute.

Video interview with Noah Molotch about how remote sensing technology is helping forecast water availability in the Rocky Mountains. Watch this two-minute, well-edited interview, interspersed with clips of fieldwork and explanatory illustrations.

The 2023 winter brought record snowfall to California, but getting accurate snow depth data over a wide area is not easy. Read a feature story by the The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) about the challenges of garnering snow data and the tools behind the data. Among the experts consulted is Karl Rittger (INSTAAR Fellow & NSIDC Affiliate), who leads the Snow Today project, visualizing and analyzing snow conditions across the Western US.

Keith Musselman (INSTAAR & Geography) is one 16 CU Boulder faculty members selected by the Research and Innovation Office as their 2024 RIO Faculty Fellows cohort. The program supports faculty in achieving their research/innovation goals and promotes collaboration, all through tailored training, experiential learning and leadership development opportunities. Musselman and his cohort will kick off 2024 with an intensive three-day retreat in January, followed by several more focused retreats and a variety of informal networking activities.

Scott Taylor (INSTAAR Fellow, EBIO Associate Professor, MRS Director) gave a short TED-style talk at the Boulder Dairy Arts Center on October 18, 2023 as part of the 2023 Faculty Fellows program for CU Boulder's Research & Innovation Office (RIO). In his talk, Scott tells the story of his personal journey to a deeper understanding of his work as a scientist and his own place in the world.

For decades, the Mountain Research Station has been a stepping-off point for researchers studying plant and animal ecology, biogeochemistry, hydrology, geomorphology and atmospheric science. Much of that research takes place on rugged, nearby Niwot Ridge. Within that area lies every type of alpine and montane ecosystem that exists in the southern Rocky Mountains. That abundance has made Niwot Ridge a rare and important ‘living laboratory.’

If there's a place that embodies climate extremes and their impacts on agriculture, it may be California. After years of drought, last spring devastating floods hit the state of the West Coast. Noah Molotch weighs in on the hydrology. (French language broadcast.)

From Dec. 11-15, tens of thousands of people from 100+ countries will gather in San Francisco for the 2023 meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Scientists from CU Boulder, including INSTAARs Anne Jennings, Ben Li, and Nicole Lovenduski, are tagged as Earth science experts in this CU Boulder Today resource on the conference.

INSTAAR and ENVS Postdoc Peyton Thomas not only does great science, she's an activist runner sponsored by Patagonia. Earlier this year, she and a group of volunteers organized Patagonia's first EARTH running event (Equitable Action Run Towards Health) to help a Mississippi community discuss and address impacts of the wood pellet industry on health and environmental justice.

A “Reverse Science Fair” in Northglenn is flipping the traditional format, challenging University of Colorado Boulder grad students and postdocs to present their research to high school student evaluators. Organizer Alex Rose is interviewed, with cameos by INSTAAR postdocs Kristýna Kantnerová and Edgart Flores.