INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈

Images of green algae found in the main thalweg of Adams Stream in Miers Valley. a. Thin, filamentous mat attached to the base of larger rocks; b. coccoid Pleurastrum colonies in the filamentous matrix and among cyanobacteria; c. multiseriate Prasiola fronds. Figure 5 from Matula et al, 2025, Antarctic Science https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102025000203

🦠🔬 Dive into a new study of green microbial mats in antarctic meltwater streams that incl. genetic sequences & cultures in media w differing nutrient concentrations @mcm-lter.bsky.social @uslter.bsky.social

Aranda & McKnight are co-authors, led by Matula (Aero Eng, Boulder)
doi.org/10.1017/S095...

Public input needed! Help shape the next U.S. Arctic Research Plan (2027–2031).

NSF + IARPC are asking for your ideas on critical research needs in the Arctic — especially from researchers, community members, and Tribal orgs.

Deadline: Oct 15, 2025
Email comments to: IARPCPlan@nsf.gov
Info & full

Spotlight: Hunter Geist-Sanchez is pioneering restoration methods for Colorado grasslands and reconnecting with his ranching roots Geist-Sanchez is following his life-long love of nature to develop new methods for preserving Colorado natural areas and rangelands. As a sixth-generation

Masters student Hunter Geist-Sanchez is following his life-long love of nature to develop new methods for preserving Colorado natural areas & rangelands. As a sixth-generation Coloradan, he hopes his research can help keep grasslands sustainable as the West heats up www.colorado.edu/instaar/2025...

Map of the location of the Brazos River K/Pg sections in Texas and the Chicxulub impact site on a modern map of the Gulf of Mexico with approximate Late Cretaceous land-sea distribution shown. See paper for the full caption https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.104924

Microscope view of the shells of four fossil foraminifera, each about the size of a grain of sand. This is Fig 4 from the study, showing good vs infilled specimens. See paper for the full caption https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.104924

New paleoclimate paper combines foram isotopes with earth system models to suggest ~5°C ocean warming within decades after K/Pg impact, likely from massive CO₂ release by fires & fossil carbon doi.org/10.1016/j.gl...

N Lovenduski, J Sepúlveda, & J Coupe participated, led by K MacLeod (U Missouri)

A very fun workshop last week in NH about representing (sub)tropical soils in process-based soil carbon models using data from sub-Saharan Africa. Led by @sophievf.bsky.social with @ultracricket.bsky.social !

Don't we make calibrating models look fun?!

Photos from Sophie

Why flood prediction in the US falls short and how researchers are working to fix it CU Boulder flood modeler Zhi Li explains why current flood warnings can leave communities unprepared — and how high-resolution forecasting and better risk

New faculty Zhi Li (INSTAAR & CEAE) chats with CU Boulder Today @colorado.edu about flood modeling. He explains why current flood warnings can leave communities unprepared — and how high-resolution forecasting and better risk communication could save lives.
www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...

👏🏽 Congrats to Billy Armstrong & team for completing their fascinating glacier fieldwork! Billy is an alum of INSTAAR & Assoc Prof at Appalachian State Univ. INSTAARs on the project include Irina Overeem, & Jocelyn Reahl. Be sure to see all posts in Billy's thread, incl the team photo ⬇️

Report paints grim picture of how nuclear war could impact oceans A new congressionally mandated report by a CU oceanographer warns that the use of nuclear weapons could collapse ocean ecosystems, trigger global climate

See a Q&A with INSTAAR director & oceanographer Nicole Lovenduski about the terrible impact that a nuclear conflict would have on the oceans, and on us www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...

Figure 3 from the preprint https://doi.org/10.31223/X59T74 showing microbial strategies for biomining and bioremediation across space and Earth applications. See the article for a full caption.

🪐🌎 "A search for life in the universe advances life on Earth" preprint doi.org/10.31223/X59...

@cubouldearth.bsky.social alum @tacaro.bsky.social (Postdoc Caltech) is a co-author, helping show how astrobiology research improves life on earth through sustainability technology, remediation, & biotech

Humorous advertisement for the Spanish Language Lunch Table in the SEEC Cafe at CU Boulder. The heads of the two co-hosts are crudely photoshopped onto to silly cartoon bodies. The table meets the last Thursday of each month, 12pm.

Hola A Todos! 👋🏾 Join the Spanish Language Lunch table this Thursday, July 31st at 12pm in the SEEC Café. We'll have lots of fun while practicing our vocabulary & listening skills. All welcome.
Cohosts: Edgart Flores Rafael & Leanne Lestak
Info: calendar.colorado.edu/event/spanis...

Martha Andrews

🙏🏽 Thank you Brian Whalley (U Sheffield). He dedicated his new paper on rock glaciers to INSTAAR's research librarian extraordinaire Martha Andrews (1938-2025), for her contributions to arctic science.
His paper: doi.org/10.3390/glac...
About Martha: www.colorado.edu/instaar/2025...

A chickadee, in bold black and white, stands in profile on the tip of an evergreen branch. Credit: Robert Taylor

Imagine scattering thousands of snacks across a snow-covered forest and, months later, remembering exactly where each one is hidden. For chickadees, this isn’t just a challenge, it’s a way of life.

Learn how they do it at Sara Padula's talk on Wed. July 30th 7pm at the Mountain Research Station ⬆️

Sara Padula

A mountain chickadee eats seeds from an auto feeder after landing on the perch that matches its radio tag and opens the feed door. (Nicholas Goda, via University of Colorado Boulder)

One of the feeding arrays set up at CU Boulder’s mountain research station (Yvaine Ye, CU Boulder)

🐦 "Hide it, find it, survive: The incredible memory of chickadees"

Join us for Sara Padula's Wednesday evening talk at @colorado.edu's Mountain Research Station:
🆓 Free event
🗓 Wed July 30th
🕖 7:00 pm
📍 Near Nederland & Ward CO
🔗 calendar.colorado.edu/event/sara-p...

In March 1912, Captain Robert Scott & his remaining men perished in a blizzard on the Ross Ice Shelf on their return journey from the South Pole. In a #newarticle, M. Zinkova explores the weather conditions that made this unusual Final Blizzard possible: doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2025.2522490

@ncemery.bsky.social @niwotridgelter.bsky.social @uslter.bsky.social @drscottataylor.bsky.social @colorado.edu @bouldercolorado.bsky.social @coavalancheinfo.bsky.social

Niwot Ridge

A group of scientists gather around a turf transplant experiment on the tundra of Niwot Ridge, Colorado. Credit: Daniela Cusack

Field Technician Sammy Yevak takes a snow depth reading above the Tundra Lab on Niwot Ridge, Colorado. Credit: Gabriel De La Rosa, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Andrew Mayock, CU Boulder's Vice Chancellor for Sustainability, checks out a climate monitoring station on Niwot Ridge, Colorado. Credit: Nicole Lovenduski.

👍🏽 Op Ed from Nancy Emery: 'What long-term science in Boulder’s alpine is teaching the world about mountain ecosystems'

Local research helps forecast avalanches, protect wildlife, keep your tap water clean, & more — but it needs sustained support boulderreportinglab.org/2025/07/15/n...

Why flood prediction in the US falls short and how researchers are working to fix it CU Boulder flood modeler Zhi Li explains why current flood warnings can leave communities unprepared—and how high-resolution forecasting and better risk

Why do U.S. flood warnings often come too late?

CU Boulder’s Zhi Li breaks down the science behind forecasting gaps and how we can do better.

Sept 26-28 🏔️ GREEBs Meeting (Guild of Rocky Mountain Ecologists & Evolutionary Biologists) at the Mountain Research Station
• Talks/posters do NOT need to be about Rocky Mtns
• Relaxed & friendly, students welcome
• Accommodation & meal options
Info & register www.colorado.edu/conference/g...

Spotlight: Hunter Geist-Sanchez is pioneering restoration methods for Colorado grasslands and reconnecting with his ranching roots Geist-Sanchez is following his life-long love of nature to develop new methods for preserving Colorado natural areas and rangelands. As a sixth-generation

Masters student Hunter Geist-Sanchez is following his life-long love of nature to develop new methods for preserving Colorado natural areas & rangelands. As a sixth-generation Coloradan, he hopes his research can help keep grasslands sustainable as the West heats up www.colorado.edu/instaar/2025...

Katie Wagner

Several scientists photograph a trout and prepare for sampling

Two scientists in a small red rubber boat paddle across a high alpine lake and are dwarfed by the rocky cliffs on the other side

🐟 From alpine lakes to river networks: Evolution in native & introduced cutthroat trout

Join us for @cewagnerlab.bsky.social's Wed. evening talk at @colorado.edu's Mountain Research Station:
🆓 Free event
🗓 Wed July 23rd
🕖 7:00 pm
📍 Near Nederland & Ward CO
🔗 calendar.colorado.edu/event/katie-...

A big thank you to Megan Frayer (Yale University postdoc) for teaching "Bioinformatics in the Mountains" at the MRS this summer! Class info: www.colorado.edu/mrs/student-...

Network Onboarding - LTER July 23, 2025 @ 9:00 am-10:00 am - Are you a new graduate student, undergraduate, investigator, or staff member at an LTER site? After you get settled into your local site, join us to learn about the ...

New to the LTER?

Our next community call is an introduction to the network!

Learn about who we are, what we do, and how to get involved. Next Wednesday, July 23, at 9am PT/noon ET.

Register below!

lternet.edu/events/2025-...

Fig 1c from Nissen et al 2025, published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles. Map of annual mean surface chlorophyll concentrations in the Southern Ocean in the top 10m of the water column, HIGH RES, full field, averaged over 1997-2018

🌊 Southern Ocean storms leave lasting imprints on surface chlorophyll & ocean productivity. New modeling shows satellites often misread these effects, & chlorophyll alone can’t reveal the full carbon story

New paper by Nissen, Clow, Lovenduski, et al: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

An adult pika stands on a rock with its mouth open, making a call. Photo: Becca Barkley 2010

Chris Ray stands in front of an audience giving her talk and slideshow on pika vocalizations in an old wooden cabin at the Mountain Research Station, July 2025.

Chris Ray stands in front of an audience giving her talk and slideshow on pika vocalizations in an old wooden cabin at the Mountain Research Station, July 2025.

Thank you CHRIS RAY (INSTAAR+EBIO) for a great talk on pika vocalization this week @colorado.edu's Mountain Research Station

See more free talks on Wed evenings thru 20 Aug:
🐟 trout evolution
🐦 chickadee memory
💨 smoke & lakes
🌲 carbon storage
🐃 bison restoration
www.colorado.edu/mrs/current-...

🦠 Interested in microbes & litter decomposition?

Check out this paper & thread by Katie Rocci (postdoc, INSTAAR + IGCB U Mich) et al. Will Wieder (INSTAAR researcher & NCAR investigator) is a co-author too ⬇️

Impact of glacial meltwater on phytoplankton biomass along the Western Antarctic Peninsula Our new study reveals the surprising role glacial meltwater plays in supporting Antarctic marine life. Go behind the scenes as we explore two decades of data, uncovering how glaciers influence ecosyst...

See also: Jack Pan's "Behind the paper" blog post: communities.springernature.com/posts/impact...

🇦🇶 ICYMI: Nature paper on Antarctic glacial melt and its impact on marine life published in @natcomms.nature.com Earth & Environment. Led by B. Jack Pan (JPL), co-authors include INSTAAR researcher Sharon Stammerjohn ⬇️

Great op ed on the impact of alpine ecosystem research by @ncemery.bsky.social (INSTAAR, EBIO, & Director of @niwotridgelter.bsky.social) ⬇️

💦Dive into the Mesa Lab’s latest community art show “Exploring Water through Art” on display in our cafe thru Oct! The show explores the ways that water has many forms+facets: nurturing yet dangerous; soothing yet tempestuous. Featured art includes textile art to paintings and more!

Waleed Abdalati to testify at congressional hearing Waleed Abdalati, a climate scientist and director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU Boulder, is scheduled to

TOMORROW (7/16): CIRES Director Waleed Abdalati is scheduled to testify before the Environment Subcommittee of the U.S. House Science, Space and Technology Committee on the future of weather forecasting. Tune in at 8 am MT ⬇️
www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...