Mountain Research Initiative

Our February 2026 MRI Newsletter is out now!🗞️✨

Glacier news, mountain updates, new research, & community announcements from around the world. Take a look & stay connected with what’s happening in #OurChangingMountains.

🔗 tinyurl.com/MRINewslette...

#MountainResearch #ResearchFunding #ResearchNews

New podcast! Talking with @peterhhansen.bsky.social about how #mountaineering & #modernity emerged together & how the idea of the 'summit position' came to encompass concepts of sovereignty and empire from the #Alps to #Everest.
shorturl.at/oI5fh
@mtnresearchmri.bsky.social @mrdjournal.bsky.social

💰🌍 #ResearchFunding: Economics of #Climate #Adaptation in Africa

RAIA will award 10–12 grants (US$ 80k–120k) to African research institutions working on economic barriers to #ClimateAdaptation & adaptation finance, in collaboration with Ministries of Finance.

⏰ Deadline 5 March.
🔗 bit.ly/3MwWjDr

🏔️💰 #ResearchFunding call: Colorado Mountain Club Foundation Fellowships

Grants ($500-$2,000) for student research in the Rocky Mountain region across fields like biology, geology, geography, environmental studies & more.

🗓 Deadline 15 April 2026
🔗 Apply: buff.ly/pLPFORG

#OurChangingMountains

🏔️💧 #OurChangingMountains are the world's water towers. #ClimateChange is disrupting the flow.

A new Perspective in Nature Climate Change shows how changes in the #mountain #WaterCycle cascade downstream, affecting irrigation, groundwater, shipping, #ecosystems, & more.

🔗 Read more: bit.ly/4kOHcBP

⛰️ New Issue of Journal of Alpine Research: Mountain Productive Landscapes in the Socio-Ecological Transition.

This Special Issue explores how #OurChangingMountains serve as key laboratories for redefining #SustainableDevelopment under pressing environmental constraints.

📖 Read more: bit.ly/4rT7epY

Rising atmospheric CO2 reduces nitrogen availability in boreal forests - Nature Nitrogen isotope tree-ring chronologies show that rising atmospheric CO2 has reduced nitrogen availability in boreal forests in Sweden, suggesting that elevated atmospheric CO2 is causing oligotrophic...

I am really excited to share our new paper, published today in Nature. We show that rising atmospheric CO2 is linked to decling nutrient availability in boreal forest, with implications for the future carbon sink. Kudos to lead author @kelleyrbassett.bsky.social.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

❄️ Not all #glaciers are retreating. Some suddenly surge forward at up to 60 m per day.

A new global study shows how these events reshape landscapes, trigger #floods, damage infrastructure, & may become more unpredictable with #warming.

📖 Read more: bit.ly/4rTk2fW

#OurChangingMountains #Cryosphere

🔎 Looking for the next step in your career?
💻 Take a look at our website to explore more mountain-related job opportunities.

➡️ mountainresearchinitiative.org/jobs
📷 Image by Jackman Chiu.

#OurChangingMountains #MountainResearch #ResearchJobs #EarlyCareerResearcher

📢 Postdoc opportunity in mountain #cryosphere #EarthObservation.

Eurac Research (Bolzano, Italy) is hiring a Postdoc (≤3 years post-PhD) to develop innovative EO workflows for monitoring snow & ice.

⏰ Hurry! Deadline is 22 Feb 2026
🔗 Details: bit.ly/46Od2c7

#MountainResearch #OurChangingMountains

❄️ Permafrost is thawing in #OurChangingMountains. Snow & ice are melting. The ripple effects are significant:

🪨 ↑ Rockfall & landslides
🌊 ↓ #Glacier runoff, up to 37% in late summer
☀️ Drought intensifying heat, fire, floods

More in this @extremeswsl.bsky.social blog post.
🔗 bit.ly/PermafrostIn...

We’re excited to support the upcoming GEO Mountains Youth Ideathon! 🛰️⛰️

This is a fantastic opportunity for Master’s students, PhDs, postdocs, & early-career professionals to put #EarthObservations to work for #DisasterRiskReduction in #OurChangingMountains. 👇

Glacier surging and surge-related hazards in a changing climate - Nature Reviews Earth & Environment Glacier surges are rapid ice flow acceleration and mass transport events, which can threaten nearby communities, infrastructure and habitats. This Review discusses the global distribution, behaviour a...

***Our review paper on glacier surging is out!***

Lovell H, Benn DI, Jiskoot H and 12 others (2026) “Glacier surging and surge-related hazards in a changing climate.”
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 7(2). doi.org/10.1038/s430...

@hazlovell.bsky.social #cryosphere #glaciology #science #glaciers

A new Nature #ClimateChange Focus Issue on #OurChangingMountains brings together research on:

❄️ Accelerating #GlacierLoss
⛰️ Changing slope vegetation dynamics
💧 #WaterSecurity for billions
⛷️ Tourism & cultural transformation

Read more 📖 bit.ly/4aeccHV

#MountainsMatter #MountainResearch

AGU is now accepting applications for Editors-in-Chief across five publications, with terms starting Jan 1, 2027. These roles help shape editorial standards, research quality, and peer review in Earth & space science. Apply by May 1, 2026.
buff.ly/8Mxy8vq

Perspective: @danielviviroli.bsky.social et al discuss how climate change in mountain regions is cascading downstream and the related hydrological challenges for social-ecological systems and adaptation rdcu.be/e3fK2

🚞❄️ Glaciers are melting fast, yet tourism to them is booming.

A new Nature Climate Change perspective examines the contradictions of #glacier #tourism, from “last-chance tourism” to glaciers as symbols of #climate grief & political action.

Worth a read.

📖 bit.ly/4ttMfM0

#OurChangingMountains

बाउ को धुरी छैन “Father Has No Roof over his head”

An #OtherEverests #ConfluenceCollective exhibition in Kalimpong 21-27 February 2026 shorturl.at/YrbVv

Lost archives & hidden histories of Indigenous high-altitude workers from the 1920s & 1930s.

@mtnresearchmri.bsky.social @icimod.bsky.social

💡📣 Two weeks left to submit your proposal to the @geomountains.bsky.social Small Grants Call 2026–2027!

#ResearchFunding up to CHF 10k for projects on #mountain monitoring, #data, & info.

🗓 Deadline: 20 Feb
🔗 More info: buff.ly/FOkFRZT

#OurChangingMountains #MountainsMatter

🌍 The MRI is checking in with the #MountainResearch community

How is the MRI doing? What should we prioritize next?
Our short, anonymous survey is your chance to help shape the MRI’s future work.

⏱️ 10–15 minutes
🔒 Anonymous
👉 Take the survey: buff.ly/ItDY6C9

We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Latest podcast! We talk to Simone Kenyon, choreographer + artistic creator of the place-sensitive performance piece Into the Mountain, inspired by the lyrical & embodied prose of Nan Shepherd’s 1974 book.
shorturl.at/ac6QE
@mrdjournal.bsky.social @mtnresearchmri.bsky.social @insuhi.bsky.social

New from GEO Mountains 🌄: Global dataset on Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs).

✅ 1,400+ MEAs classified by mountain relevance
✅ Interactive map showing treaty signatories
✅ Mountain-specific coverage for 25 key agreements

Explore: buff.ly/eGrWhWl

#MountainResearch #OurChangingMountains

📢 The Club of Rome is accepting applications for its Communications Fellowship 2026.

💡 7-month remote fellowship for early-career communicators.
🌱 Focus on #sustainability + systems thinking storytelling
⏰️ Deadline: 20 Feb 2026
🔗 More info: buff.ly/CaYfmM5

#OurChangingMountains

🌄 A new year, a milestone anniversary, and plenty of mountain stories ahead.

Our January newsletter reflects on 2025, celebrates recent mountain research, and looks forward to the MRI’s 25th anniversary year.

📖 Discover our newsletter: bit.ly/MRINewslette...
#OurChangingMountains

⛰️🌡️ Switzerland isn’t warming evenly & #OurChangingMountains are telling the story.

New #MeteoSwiss research shows lowlands heat up faster in autumn & winter as fog declines, while mid-elevations warm more in spring due to snow loss.

📖 Read more: bit.ly/4aji5mZ

#MountainResearch #ClimateData #Alps

💡 What could you do with a GEO Mountains Small Grant? Check out this fascinating project for inspiration. 👇

Don't forget: The 2026-2027 call is still open! #ResearchFunding up to CHF 10k for projects on mountain monitoring, #data, & information.

🗓 Deadline: 20 Feb
🔗 Apply: bit.ly/GEOMountains...

🧊 Landmark moment for #cryosphere science: the Ice Memory Foundation has opened the first sanctuary of mountain #IceCores in Antarctica, preserving Alpine #glacier archives for centuries of future research.

📖 Read more: bit.ly/IceMemoryFou...

#MountainResearch #ClimateScience #OurChangingMountains

📢 Get Published: Weather & Climate-Induced #MultiHazard Futures

Explore the social dimensions of compounding climate- & weather-related hazards, #risk communication, early warning, governance, & equity.

🗓 Deadline: 30 Sept 2026
🔗 bit.ly/4jO3BP8

#ClimateChange #DisasterRisk #OurChangingMountains

🌡️ WMO confirms 2025 was one of warmest years on record.

2025 was one of the 3 warmest years on record, with the global average surface temperature at 1.44°C ± 0.13°C above the 1850-1900 average, according to WMO’s consolidated analysis of 8 datasets.

🔗 https://bit.ly/49xpkWP

🔎 Looking for other research funding?
💻 Take a look at our website to explore more mountain-related funding opportunities: mountainresearchinitiative.org/funding-oppo...
📸 by Piotr Musiol

#ScienceFunding #ResearchFunding #CallForProposals #FundingOpportunity #OurChangingMountains #MountainsMatter