Research

  • Chico State students John Machado and Sean Berriman collect samples from within the immediate disaster zone of the Camp Fire. Photo by Sandrine Matiasek.
    A groundbreaking multi-year research initiative launched at Chico State in the aftermath of the Camp Fire examined the presence of contaminants, including metals, in nearby watersheds. Joined by researchers from 91ÊÓƵ and the USGS, the research, recently published in the prestigious Journal of Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts, sheds light on the alarming impact of wildfires on stormwater runoff.
  • A science technician measures a section of an Antarctic ice core as it begins its journey down a core processing line. Scientists and technicians will cut the ice so it can be sent to labs around the country for analysis.  |  Credit: Peter Rejcek, NSF
    Listen to a 6-minute tour of the National Science Foundation’s Ice Core Facility (NSF-ICF) in Lakewood, Colorado. Facility staff will guide you through the world's largest frozen archive of ice, sharing some stories of ice drilling from the Arctic to Antarctica. Bruce Vaughn, co-founder of INSTAAR's Stable Isotope Lab, will show you how ice cores can record a long history of past climate and put the rapid postindustrial rise of CO2 in perspective.
  • Ice floats at the surface of a cold ocean. The camera is half-submerged, showing both above and under water.
    Nikki Lovenduski is featured in this two-minute video, discussing how the Antarctic Ocean could become too acidic for many animals to survive by the end of the century without drastic measures to curb emissions from fossil fuels. She references a recent publication led by Cara Nissen and including herself and Cassandra Brooks as well as three colleagues from the Alfred Wegener Institute.
  • Tim Higgins hikes across a rope bridge in the rainforest in Nyungwe National Park after the conclusion of the conference.
    Tim Higgins, a PhD candidate in the department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, is investigating the impacts of climate change on atmospheric rivers and extreme precipitation events that affect the western United States. With his fellowship funds, Higgins traveled to the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) Open Science Conference in Kigali, Rwanda to present his research.
  • An iceberg, eroded with arches and cracks, floats in the Southern Ocean.
    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.
  • Noah Molotch looks at snowpack data for Colorado on his laptop.
    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 CAL FIRE Nevada Yuba Placer Unit clears roads among other rescue tasks. Credit: CalFire/Flickr
    The 2023 winter brought record snowfall to California, but getting accurate snow depth data over a wide area is not easy. Read 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 U.S.
  • Noah Molotch speaks in front of a large satellite image of snow cover in California.
    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.)
  • Icebergs, looking like tumbled walls of white, float in the Greenland Sea.
    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 91ÊÓƵ, including INSTAARs Anne Jennings, Ben Li, and Nicole Lovenduski, are tagged as Earth science experts in this 91ÊÓƵ Today resource on the conference.
  • A landscape restoration project in a grassy gully on Colorado's Western Slope. Adding rocky protection and planting native grasses and shrubs has increased plant growth, trapped storm sediment, and increased soil storage.
    Tim Seastedt discusses how low-cost landscape restoration actions in Colorado can foster a more diverse and absorbent environment. These actions can rebuild soils and recharge soil water storage, increasing the ability of plants to perform evapotranspiration. Such changes provide many environmental benefits.
Subscribe to Research