INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈

With a large seated audience in the foreground, Michael Gooseff stands at a lectern on a stage. Behind him is a picture of Diane McKnight on a big screen. Gooseff is introducing McKnight before her INSTAAR 75th anniversary talk on her 27 field seasons of research in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Photo: Marisa Seitz

With a large seated audience in the foreground, Diane McKnight stands at a lectern on a stage. She is giving a special evening talk on her research journey to Antarctica's Dry Valleys as part of INSTAAR's 75th anniversary celebration. The slide behind her is titled "Life is small in this ecosystem". Photo: Marisa Seitz

Diane McKnight giving a special evening talk on her research journey to Antarctica's Dry Valleys as part of INSTAAR's 75th anniversary celebration. The slide behind her shows photos of her talking to then Senator Al Gore in 1988 while in Antarctica. Text on the slide says "Explaining the importance of dissolved organic matter and algal growth to Senator Gore in 1988". Photo: Irina Overeem.

Grad student Sydney Carr discusses her poster on climate change signals in snow water resources with a small group of people. Behind them are additional students, posters, and people crowding a hallway. The posters were part of an INSTAAR 75th anniversary celebration event.Photo: Marisa Seitz

🙏🏽 Thanks to the many attendees of Diane McKnight's talk on her research journey to the Antarctic Dry Valleys. Kudos to the grad student poster presenters too.

What a great way to start celebrating INSTAAR's 75th anniversary in 2026! See more #INSTAAR75 events at www.colorado.edu/instaar/abou...

Some tropical land may experience stronger-than-expected warming under climate change A sediment record millions of years old revealed that the tropical Andes heated up dramatically when atmospheric CO2 levels were similar to today’s.

And see a news story about the study at CU Boulder Today www.colorado.edu/today/2026/0...

👏🏽 Congrats to Lina Pérez-Angel (now at Brown U), Julio Sepúlveda, Peter Molnar, Kathryn Snell, Balaji Rajagopalan, and the rest of the team!

Shout out to Karl Rittger, leader of Snow Today, and his team collaborating between NSIDC and INSTAAR. They have provided daily snow surface properties for the western US since 2020
🗺️ Daily maps
📉 Daily time series plots
📰 Occasional data analysis articles like this one 👇🏽

Sediment Transport by Greenland Icebergs (ice-rafted debris) contribute about 1/3 of the Greenland's total sediment output. See research by Ethan Pierce, Dartmouth and Irina Overeem, CU, Boulder published in Nature Communications: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

www.colorado.edu/instaar/2026...

2026-02-01 Estimated SWE and % of Average SWE across the Western U.S. SWE amounts across the entire Western region of the United States (left) and percent of long-term average (2001-2025) by five regions (right).

❄️ INSTAAR's Mountain Hydrology Group has begun reporting approx every 2 weeks on estimated snow-water equivalent (SWE) at 500m resolution. Reports are released within a week of satellite image acquisition

Western US
www.colorado.edu/instaar/rese...

Sierra Nevada
www.colorado.edu/instaar/rese...

Advertisement for Diane's McKnight's presentation on Feb 5th, 2026. In the photo, Diane McKnight stands on sediment accumulated on the Cotton Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica, 2011 (Chris Jaros).

TONIGHT! #INSTAAR75 75th anniv. seminar + grad student poster showcase

🏔️ Life at the bottom of the world: A research journey to the Antarctic Dry Valleys
Diane McKnight
Thur Feb 5th 5-7pm MT
CU Boulder East Campus & Zoom

FREE event but must register at calendar.colorado.edu/event/diane-...

Some tropical land may experience stronger-than-expected warming under climate change A sediment record millions of years old revealed that the tropical Andes heated up dramatically when atmospheric CO2 levels were similar to today’s.

🌡️ A sediment record millions of years old revealed that the tropical Andes heated up dramatically when atmospheric CO2 levels were similar to today’s www.colorado.edu/today/2026/0...

Lina Pérez-Angel (now at Brown U) & Julio Sepúlveda led the team.

Breaking ice, moving earth: Greenland will release more sediment into the ocean as the climate warms A new paper from Irina Overeem and Ethan Pierce describes how icebergs export Greenlandic sediment into the Arctic Ocean — and how that process might change in

Ethan Pierce, Irina Overeem, and Bent Hasholt have unlocked an important clue in a long-standing scientific mystery.

Their new paper describes how icebergs export nutrients from Greenland into the Atlantic Ocean, a process that is being amplified by a warming climate.

Advertisement for Diane's McKnight's presentation on Feb 5th, 2026. In the photo, Diane McKnight stands on sediment accumulated on the Cotton Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica, 2011 (Chris Jaros).

🏔️ Life at the bottom of the world: A research journey to the Antarctic Dry Valleys
Diane McKnight
Thur Feb 5th 5-7pm MT
CU Boulder East Campus (JSCBB A115) & Zoom

#INSTAAR75 75th anniv. seminar + grad student poster showcase

FREE event but must register at calendar.colorado.edu/event/diane-...

Crippled krumholz trees partly buried by snow drifts near treeline on a windy day (William Bowman). CU Boulder & INSTAAR's Mountain Research Station

Sarah Padula works on a chickadee nesting box while wearing snowshoes. CU Boulder & INSTAAR's Mountain Research Station

A group of people gather around a small meteorological station in a coniferous forest with snow underfoot. CU Boulder & INSTAAR's Mountain Research Station

Pika on a boulder (William Bowman). CU Boulder & INSTAAR's Mountain Research Station

SATURDAY MORNING WINTER PROGRAMS
Mountain Research Station @colorado.edu
🦅 Feb 14 Winter birding
❄️ Mar 14 SNOTEL tour
🐇 Apr 04 Mammals

Open to the public. ~45 minutes from Boulder. Each program runs from 10am to noonish and only has space for 20.

Reserve your spot now www.colorado.edu/mrs/

The West Faces Snow Drought - NASA Science Very wet—but very warm—weather in the western U.S. has left many mountainous regions looking at substantial snowpack deficits.

Snow cover across the Western U.S. hit a record low earlier this month, as warm temps caused winter precipitation to fall as rain.

Insights courtesy of Karl Rittger's Snow Today website, which processes and visualizes data from the MODIS tool on NASA's Terra satellite.

🛰️ ❄️ 🛰️

Advertisement for Diane's McKnight's presentation on Feb 5th, 2026. In the photo, Diane McKnight stands on sediment accumulated on the Cotton Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica, 2011 (Chris Jaros).

🏔️ Life at the bottom of the world: A research journey to the Antarctic Dry Valleys
Diane McKnight
Thur Feb 5th 5-7pm MT
CU Boulder East Campus (JSCBB A115) & Zoom

#INSTAAR75 75th anniv. seminar + grad student poster showcase

FREE event but must register at calendar.colorado.edu/event/diane-...

Geologists conduct field research on glacial deposits in Greenland, taking notes beside a large boulder with a red helicopter and Arctic mountains in the background. Photo: Jason Briner.

Two conferences. One community.
53rd Int'l Arctic Workshop + NE Glaciology Mtg
March 18-21, 2026 at the Univ. at Buffalo
Abstracts due February 20

The conferences will run in parallel, with sessions in adjoining halls and shared meals. More info: arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/geological-a...

NASA: Western U.S. snow cover is tracking at record-low levels for January, based on satellite observations dating back to 2001.

science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-...

For our collection "Mountain Hydrology in a Changing World: Building on the Diverse Contributions of Mark “Snobear” Williams", Rue & McKnight published a #newarticle of field studies quantifying acid rock drainage to a watershed in the Colorado Rockies: doi.org/10.1080/1523...

Graphic for the 20th Annual Hydrologic Sciences Student Symposium at CU Boulder April 2-3, 2026

🌊 20th Annual Hydrologic Sciences Student Symposium: Water Quality vs Water Quantity
• CU Boulder E Campus (SEEC S228) & online
• Apr 2-3, 2026
• Abstracts due Mar 16
Abstracts encouraged from @colorado.edu grad & undergrad students, researchers, faculty, & others.
www.colorado.edu/program/hydr...

Precious waterways: How contaminated mountain streams could power American-made technology Diane McKnight and Tom Marchitto are collaborators on a new project looking for a way to extract rare earth metals from contaminated Colorado streams. The goal

Did you know Colorado’s mountain streams are home to rare earth metals? Scientists at CU Boulder’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (@instaar.bsky.social) are researching eco-friendly ways to extract them, supporting a cleaner environment.
https://bit.ly/3Ny3ifk

Rapid researcher Q&A: Billings, Sklenar, St Laurent, and Ross The Mountain Research Station supports an incredible breadth of science, from alpine plants to animal acoustics to moth evolution. We spoke with Rachel

Meet Colorado's high altitude scientists!

These four researchers spend their summer months collecting data in the subalpine and alpine around the Mountain Research Station. Their work spans plants, mammals, insects and lake chemistry.

Critical Atlantic Ocean currents remained active during the last ice age The study shows that deep ocean water in the North Atlantic was much warmer during the last ice age than scientists once believed.

🐚 Marine fossils offer a clue to the past and the future of the Atlantic ocean.

Tom Marchitto is a collaborator on a new paper led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

www.whoi.edu/press-room/n...

Advertisement for Diane's McKnight's presentation on Feb 5th, 2026. In the photo, Diane McKnight stands on sediment accumulated on the Cotton Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica, 2011 (Chris Jaros).

Update: New venue for this INSTAAR 75th anniversary seminar

🏔️ Life at the bottom of the world: A research journey to the Antarctic Dry Valleys
Diane McKnight
Thur Feb 5th 5-7pm MT
CU Boulder East Campus (JSCBB A115) & Zoom

FREE event but registration required calendar.colorado.edu/event/diane-...

🚨 NEW VENUE: McKnight's talk has been moved to a bigger room on the CU Boulder East Campus:

Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building (JSCBB)
Butcher Auditorium A115
3415 Colorado Ave, Boulder, CO 80303

If attending in person or via Zoom, register at calendar.colorado.edu/event/diane-...

Registration now open!!! CSDMS 2026 Annual Meeting, "Modeling Landscapes in Motion", May 19-21, 2026 in Minneapolis, MN. Details and register: csdms.colorado.edu/wiki/Form:An...

Advertisement for Diane's McKnight's presentation on Feb 5th, 2026. In the photo, Diane McKnight stands on sediment accumulated on the Cotton Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica, 2011 (Chris Jaros).

🏔️ Life at the bottom of the world: A research journey to the Antarctic Dry Valleys
Diane McKnight
Thurs Feb 5th 5-7pm MST
CU Boulder East Campus (AERO 114) & Zoom

All are welcome to this FREE INSTAAR 75th anniversary seminar but please register in advance calendar.colorado.edu/event/diane-...

ESPIn

Earth Surface Processes Institute - Deadline for application January 24th!! ESPIn is a five-day immersive training experience organized by CSDMS for 25 early career scientists, including graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, researchers, and faculty. Details: csdms.colorado.edu/wiki/ESPIn

Photo of a marine terminating glaciers. Text overlaid on photo "Media Training for Polar Early Career Scientists | Interested in learning how to talk about your research to journalists and the media? Join us to learn what makes science newsworthy from CIRES’ Science Communications Editor on January 29, 2026 9 am AKT | 11 am MT | 1 pm ET ". Photo by Clément Cherblanc.

Join PSECCO and @cires.colorado.edu for a media training designed for polar early career scientists. Register on the events page of our website: psecco.org/events!

🚨Calling all grad students who model earth surface processes.
You could win a CSDMS Syvitski Student Modeler Award, which includes *FREE* travel & lodging for the May CSDMS Annual Mtg in Minneapolis

JAN 26 DEADLINE to submit a project you completed in 2025. See csdms.colorado.edu/wiki/Student...

Research highlight: Dr. Keith Musselman and the EcoTram High up in the subalpine forest of the Como Creek Watershed, in a landscape shaped by snow and wind, CU Boulder’s own Dr. Keith Musselman and collaborators have

Meet the "EcoTram." 🌱 🛤️ 🌱

Keith Musselman and collaborators have constructed a mini rail line that continuously measures hydrological and ecological variables across a 400-foot transect high in the Indian Peaks.

LIVE FROM ANTARCTICA 2.0
15.JAN.2026 9:30 AM MST
Learn about the sustainable aspects of the first (and to date only) zero emission polar research station in the world. At the end, there will be a 20-30 minute Q&A open to all. Zoom registration required cuboulder.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

A group of attendees work together at the 2024 CSDMS Earth Surface Processes Summer Institute (ESPIn)

a groups of attendees huddle together at the 2024 CSDMS Earth Surface Processes Summer Institute (ESPIn)

The 2024 cohort for the CSDMS Earth Surface Processes Summer Institute (ESPIn) poses for a group photo in the SEEC building's west courtyard.

🌎 Are you an early career researcher keen on Earth surface processes? Want to learn about numerical modeling & software development?

Apply by 24 January for the *free* CSDMS ESPIn immersive training experience Aug 3-7, 2026 in Boulder Colorado ⬇️
csdms.colorado.edu/wiki/ESPIn2026

Tan textured background with a bolded title at the top that says, "ADVANCEing Field Safety" and a subtitle, "Build a safe and supportive field team". A few rectangular shapes in varying shades of blue are on the left, with an image of the researchers exploring the polar tundra on top. The words, "CEEE's ADVANCEing FieldSafety Program has been featured on the main CIRES website for our panels at the 2025 AGU Conference! Read more about it below.". A light blue box lies under this section with a link to the feature article. At the bottom are the logos for AFS and CEEE.

At the 2025 AGU Annual Meeting in New Orleans, CIRES scientist Michael MacFerrin & CEEE Director Anne Gold pushed for real change in extreme field research. Their panels focused on making fieldwork more inclusive for marginalized researchers & creating safer environments in the most remote places 🌍