Research /instaar/ en INSTAAR’s most read news stories of 2025 /instaar/2026/01/02/instaars-most-read-news-stories-2025 <span>INSTAAR’s most read news stories of 2025</span> <span><span>Gabe Allen</span></span> <span><time datetime="2026-01-02T15:00:13-07:00" title="Friday, January 2, 2026 - 15:00">Fri, 01/02/2026 - 15:00</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2026-01/20250722%20Loch%20Oleksy%20snow%20hike.jpg?h=576519a4&amp;itok=kRmO3Ryj" width="1200" height="800" alt="Four women in outdoor gear hike up a steep snow field in front of a towering cliff in the sun"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/177"> Research </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/171" hreflang="en">Anderson R</a> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/243" hreflang="en">Anderson S</a> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/167" hreflang="en">Brakenridge</a> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/399" hreflang="en">Geist-Sanchez</a> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/123" hreflang="en">Molotch</a> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/336" hreflang="en">Oleksy</a> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/161" hreflang="en">Suding</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default 1"> <div class="ucb-article-text d-flex align-items-center" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p dir="ltr"><span>It’s officially 2026, which means the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research is celebrating its 75th year as an institute. In honor of the occasion,&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/about-instaar/75th-anniversary" rel="nofollow"><span>we’re launching an anniversary webpage, putting on an event series, and launching a fundraising effort to support groundbreaking arctic and alpine science, laboratories and scientists.</span></a></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Later this year, we’ll take a deep dive into the history of how INSTAAR grew from a tiny field station in the Indian Peaks into a global leader in interdisciplinary environmental science. But, before we do that, we wanted to take a more brief look back — just at the past year.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>In 2025, we published stories about innovative investigations, grassroots public outreach projects, award-winning scientists and groundbreaking publications. According to our audience data, a few stood out.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Here are INSTAAR’s most read news stories of 2025.</span></p><h2><span>The top five</span></h2><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-none ucb-box-style-outline ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"> <div class="align-left col gallery-item"> <a href="/instaar/sites/default/files/2025-08/20250722%20Loch%20Oleksy%20outflow%202.jpg" class="glightbox ucb-gallery-lightbox" data-gallery="gallery" data-glightbox="description: Bella Oleksy holds up a water filter tinted yellow from diatoms at the outflow of Sky Pond in Rocky Mountain National Park on June 19, 2025. (Gabe Allen) "> <img class="ucb-colorbox-square" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/2025-08/20250722%20Loch%20Oleksy%20outflow%202.jpg" alt="Bella Oleksy holds up a water filter tinted yellow from diatoms at the outflow of Sky Pond in Rocky Mountain National Park on June 19, 2025. (Gabe Allen)"> </a> </div> <h2><a href="/instaar/2025/08/04/air-pollution-and-warming-are-changing-colorados-remote-alpine-lakes" rel="nofollow"><span>Air pollution and warming are changing Colorado’s remote alpine lakes</span></a></h2><p><span>This summer, INSTAAR communications specialist </span><a href="/instaar/gabe-allen" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="07843fe3-6a41-42ba-acfb-7f9db1b430df" data-entity-substitution="canonical" rel="nofollow" title="Gabe Allen"><span>Gabe Allen</span></a><span> followed&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/isabella-oleksy" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="5198c030-c828-4ac2-ba1f-6972fefe9c4d" data-entity-substitution="canonical" rel="nofollow" title="Isabella A. Oleksy"><span>Bella Oleksy</span></a><span>’s lab for a day of work high in Rocky Mountain National Park. The group leverages year-round backcountry fieldwork and a 42-year biogeochemical record of alpine lakes to investigate how alpine watersheds are changing in the 21st century.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-none ucb-box-style-outline ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"> <div class="align-right align-left col gallery-item"> <a href="/instaar/sites/default/files/2025-04/Map.jpg" class="glightbox ucb-gallery-lightbox" data-gallery="gallery" data-glightbox="description: A map showing the percent of the long-term (2001 to 2021) average snow-water equivalent in major regions of the Western United States as of March 31, 2025.&amp;nbsp; "> <img class="ucb-colorbox-square" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/2025-04/Map.jpg" alt="A map showing the percent of the long-term (2001 to 2021) average snow-water equivalent in major regions of the Western United States as of March 31, 2025.&amp;nbsp;"> </a> </div> <h2><a href="/instaar/2025/04/10/data-colorados-snowpack-lagging-behind-21st-century-average-2025" rel="nofollow"><span>The data is in: Colorado’s snowpack is lagging behind the 21st century average in 2025</span></a></h2><p dir="ltr"><span>Last spring all eyes were on The&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/research/labs-groups/mountain-hydrology-group" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="4063c9d8-1e1d-42a8-a0ac-5d8aa7cc7b79" data-entity-substitution="canonical" rel="nofollow" title="Mountain Hydrology Group"><span>Mountain Hydrology Group’s</span></a><span> new&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/research/labs-groups/mountain-hydrology-group/western-us-swe-reports" rel="nofollow"><span>Western U.S. snow water equivalent (SWE) reports</span></a><span>. The news from this article is old now, but it’s a good reminder of the excellent hydrological modeling work here at INSTAAR. You can check out frequent updates on snow cover from Karl Rittger’s&nbsp;</span><a href="https://nsidc.org/snow-today/snow-viewer" rel="nofollow"><span>Snow Today website</span></a><span>. The Mountain Hydrology Group will also once again begin putting out SWE reports in the next month or so.&nbsp;</span></p></div></div></div><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-none ucb-box-style-outline ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"> <div class="align-left col gallery-item"> <a href="/instaar/sites/default/files/2025-07/20250717%20Gesit%20Sanchez%20Profile%20Walking%202.jpg" class="glightbox ucb-gallery-lightbox" data-gallery="gallery" data-glightbox="description: Hunter Geist-Sanchez's summer field crew hikes to a field site near the National Renewable Energy Lab's Flatirons Campus. Left to right: Ava Boettiger, Zade Baldwin, Hunter Geist-Sanchez, Rose Young. (Gabe Allen) "> <img class="ucb-colorbox-square" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/2025-07/20250717%20Gesit%20Sanchez%20Profile%20Walking%202.jpg" alt="Hunter Geist-Sanchez's summer field crew hikes to a field site near the National Renewable Energy Lab's Flatirons Campus. Left to right: Ava Boettiger, Zade Baldwin, Hunter Geist-Sanchez, Rose Young. (Gabe Allen)"> </a> </div> <h2><a href="/instaar/2025/07/21/spotlight-hunter-geist-sanchez-pioneering-restoration-methods-colorado-grasslands-and" rel="nofollow"><span>Spotlight: Hunter Geist-Sanchez is pioneering restoration methods for Colorado grasslands and reconnecting with his ranching roots</span></a></h2><p dir="ltr"><a href="/instaar/hunter-geist-sanchez" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="9fe02bf0-a804-4fa1-b7e1-d8ad6ae0183a" data-entity-substitution="canonical" rel="nofollow" title="Hunter Geist-Sanchez"><span>Hunter Geist-Sanchez</span></a><span> is a master’s student in&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.sudinglab.org/" rel="nofollow"><span>Katharine Suding’s lab</span></a><span> studying restoration ecology with a particular focus on grasslands. 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 Coloradoan, he hopes his research can help ranchers preserve their livelihoods in the face of climate change.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-none ucb-box-style-outline ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"> <div class="align-right align-left col gallery-item"> <a href="/instaar/sites/default/files/2025-06/20250610%20Brakenridge%20supernovae%20Vela%20Supernova%20Remnant.jpg" class="glightbox ucb-gallery-lightbox" data-gallery="gallery" data-glightbox="description: The Vela supernova remnant, the remains of a supernova explosion 800 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Vela, as seen from the Dark Energy Camera on the Víctor M. Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. In his latest paper, Robert Brakenridge identifies a radioactive carbon anomaly in tree ring records that may have been caused by radiation from the vela supernova entering Earth's atmosphere nearly 13,000 years ago. "> <img class="ucb-colorbox-square" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/2025-06/20250610%20Brakenridge%20supernovae%20Vela%20Supernova%20Remnant.jpg" alt="The Vela supernova remnant, the remains of a supernova explosion 800 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Vela, as seen from the Dark Energy Camera on the Víctor M. Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. In his latest paper, Robert Brakenridge identifies a radioactive carbon anomaly in tree ring records that may have been caused by radiation from the vela supernova entering Earth's atmosphere nearly 13,000 years ago."> </a> </div> <h2><a href="/instaar/2025/06/10/supernovae-may-have-kicked-abrupt-climate-shifts-past-and-they-could-again" rel="nofollow"><span>Supernovae may have kicked off abrupt climate shifts in the past, and they could again</span></a></h2><p dir="ltr"><span>INSTAAR senior research associate&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/robert-brakenridge" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="a49f258f-b2b5-46f0-8da8-ad121aa3e203" data-entity-substitution="canonical" rel="nofollow" title="Robert Brakenridge"><span>Robert Brakenridge</span></a><span> is always looking for ways to tie-in his life-long interest in astrophysics to his career in geologic and hydrologic research. In a groundbreaking paper published earlier this year, he uncovered potential links between stellar explosions and ancient climate changes.&nbsp;</span></p></div></div></div><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-none ucb-box-style-outline ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"> <div class="align-left col gallery-item"> <a href="/instaar/sites/default/files/2025-06/20250618%20Robert%20Anderson%20Suzanne%20Anderson%20Rock%20Glaciers.jpg" class="glightbox ucb-gallery-lightbox" data-gallery="gallery" data-glightbox="description: The headwall of Mount Sopris looms above a large rock glacier in the basin below. Photo by Robert Anderson. "> <img class="ucb-colorbox-square" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/2025-06/20250618%20Robert%20Anderson%20Suzanne%20Anderson%20Rock%20Glaciers.jpg" alt="The headwall of Mount Sopris looms above a large rock glacier in the basin below. Photo by Robert Anderson."> </a> </div> <h2><a href="/instaar/2025/06/18/beneath-crumbling-walls-how-rock-glaciers-took-over-southern-rockies" rel="nofollow"><span>Beneath crumbling walls: how rock glaciers took over the southern rockies</span></a></h2><p dir="ltr"><span>The last of Colorado’s true glaciers are small and disappearing fast. Yet, rock glaciers, stable ice sheets locked between layers of rock and debris, are prevalent across the Colorado Rockies. In a new paper this year,&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/robert-s-anderson" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="c88f50c5-e3fd-4fa7-b6bb-75ff7653ef0e" data-entity-substitution="canonical" rel="nofollow" title="Robert S. Anderson"><span>Robert</span></a><span> and&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/suzanne-anderson" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="8a2294f1-0b14-4bb4-9083-a6e8a7cd7e02" data-entity-substitution="canonical" rel="nofollow" title="Suzanne Anderson"><span>Suzanne Anderson</span></a><span>, along with their mentees, uncover the geologic history of this phenomenon.</span></p></div></div></div><h2><span>The runner up</span></h2><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-none ucb-box-style-outline ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"> <div class="align-right align-left col gallery-item"> <a href="/instaar/sites/default/files/2025-02/suding-dunn-house-IML-BATP-03917.jpg" class="glightbox ucb-gallery-lightbox" data-gallery="gallery" data-glightbox="description: Suding stands under a favorite apple tree, Boulder Open Space. Credit: Matt Talarico, Impact Media Lab. "> <img class="ucb-colorbox-square" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/2025-02/suding-dunn-house-IML-BATP-03917.jpg" alt="Suding stands under a favorite apple tree, Boulder Open Space. Credit: Matt Talarico, Impact Media Lab."> </a> </div> <h2><a href="/instaar/2025/02/06/franklin-institute-selects-katharine-suding-bower-award-achievement-science" rel="nofollow"><span>Franklin Institute selects Katharine Suding for the Bower Award for Achievement in Science</span></a></h2><p><span>Over the past three decades, INSTAAR’s&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/katharine-suding" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="046a5124-6d3d-49d4-a187-2c7561acd1cc" data-entity-substitution="canonical" rel="nofollow" title="Katharine Suding"><span>Katharine Suding</span></a><span> has become one of the most influential voices in the field of restoration ecology. Her work is locally relevant to Colorado, yet it has influenced scientists around the world. This year, the Franklin Institute awarded her the Bower Award for Achievement in Science. Past winners include Jane Goodall, Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein and Marie Curie.</span></p></div></div></div></div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content-media ucb-article-content-media-below"> <div> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--from-library paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div> <div class="ucb-article-secondary-text"> <div><p><em>If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at </em><a href="mailto:gabriel.allen@colorado.edu" rel="nofollow"><em>gabriel.allen@colorado.edu</em></a><em>.</em></p><p>&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Between ambitious projects, big awards and groundbreaking publications, it’s been a newsy year at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. Here are our top stories of 2025.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2026-01/20250722%20Loch%20Oleksy%20snow%20hike.jpg?itok=9gc5uQfk" width="1500" height="1151" alt="Four women in outdoor gear hike up a steep snow field in front of a towering cliff in the sun"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Fri, 02 Jan 2026 22:00:13 +0000 Gabe Allen 1786 at /instaar Precious waterways: how contaminated mountain streams could power American-made technology /instaar/2025/12/16/precious-waterways-how-contaminated-mountain-streams-could-power-american-made <span>Precious waterways: how contaminated mountain streams could power American-made technology</span> <span><span>Gabe Allen</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-12-16T09:45:07-07:00" title="Tuesday, December 16, 2025 - 09:45">Tue, 12/16/2025 - 09:45</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-12/AdobeStock_293263314.jpeg?h=9c436ac8&amp;itok=vxNgQgXf" width="1200" height="800" alt="A river below a jagged mountain pass in Colorado in the fall at sunset"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/177"> Research </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/276" hreflang="en">Marchitto</a> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/109" hreflang="en">McKnight</a> </div> <a href="/instaar/gabe-allen">Gabe Allen</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default 1"> <div class="ucb-article-text d-flex align-items-center" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p dir="ltr"><span>Most people have never heard of neodymium, a strong, silvery rare-earth metal, yet almost all of us carry around a little bit of it in our pocket every day.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“Your cell phone, your computer — all of these things run on lanthanides, a series of 14 elements that are relatively heavy metals,” </span><a href="/instaar/" data-entity-type="external" rel="nofollow"><span>Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research</span></a><span> (INSTAAR) geochemist and CU professor&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/tom-marchitto" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="176e2468-1156-41ef-a92d-00c8ec1f2632" data-entity-substitution="canonical" rel="nofollow" title="Tom Marchitto"><span>Tom Marchitto</span></a><span> said.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Though these elements are rare, they are found in unusually high concentrations in certain streams here in Colorado. The phenomenon occurs along Colorado’s “mineral belt,” where acidic waterways pick up metals trapped in bedrock. With Marchitto’s help, INSTAAR biogeochemist and CU distinguished professor&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/diane-m-mcknight" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="21b1345a-c80c-4e32-8ddf-12b5c9e2c370" data-entity-substitution="canonical" rel="nofollow" title="Diane M. McKnight"><span>Diane Mcknight</span></a><span> and collaborators have spent the past decade investigating this process at old mining sites and natural “acid rock” deposits around the state.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Now, their efforts could lead to another exciting discovery. McKnight and Marchitto are part of&nbsp;</span><a href="https://arpa-e.energy.gov/news-and-events/news-and-insights/energy-department-announces-25-million-extract-critical-minerals-wastewater" rel="nofollow"><span>a new $2.8 million project</span></a><span>, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and led by the University of Missouri, that seeks a method for extracting rare earths from acid rock drainage for industrial uses.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>The project comes at a fortuitous moment. Recently, the Trump administration&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/11/21/nx-s1-5601696/rare-earths-china-trump-pentagon" rel="nofollow"><span>has sought ways to decrease America’s reliance on China for rare earths by subsidizing U.S. production</span></a><span>. At the same time, metal contamination from acid rock drainage is increasing in Colorado and&nbsp;</span><a href="https://coloradosun.com/2025/09/12/200-dead-fish-in-colorado-reservoir-have-local-groups-concerned-over-climate-changes-impact-on-mountain-waters/" rel="nofollow"><span>causing environmental harm</span></a><span>. If the new project is successful, it could improve water quality by removing metal while simultaneously producing essential raw materials for personal electronics, electric vehicles and military technologies.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“Improving water quality impacts associated with acid mine and rock drainage is really expensive,” McKnight said. “If there’s a valuable commodity that could be recovered through that process, it could change the equation.”</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-xlarge"><div class="ucb-callout-content"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-12/20251216%20McKnight%20Marchitto%20ARPAE.jpg?itok=CSHHfx7k" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A young man and woman in waders stoop over a metal tray by the side of an orange-tinted creek"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p><em>Master's students Athena Bolin and Adam Odorisio collect water samples from a creek near Aspen. (courtesy photo)</em></p> </span> </div></div><p dir="ltr"><span><strong>An unexpected finding</strong></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Ҵýƽ a decade ago, rare earth metals weren’t yet on Diane McKnight’s radar. For years, she and her students had characterized processes leading to metals like copper and zinc leaching into waterways along Colorado’s mineral belt. But, a serendipitous accident that led to a further discovery.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“A colleague happened to put my student, Garrett Rue’s, samples at the end of a run testing for rare earths,” McKnight said. “Afterward, he got in touch with Garrett and asked, “where are these samples from? There’s 200 micrograms per liter of neodymium!”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Later, Rue&nbsp;</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34347463/" rel="nofollow"><span>published a paper in Environmental Science and Technology based on these findings</span></a><span>. In the years since, a steady stream of passionate students have scrounged funding to continue investigating the presence of rare earths in mountain watersheds. Marchitto has supported these efforts through&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/research/labs-groups/icp-ms-trace-metals-lab" rel="nofollow"><span>his lab’s powerful mass spectrometer</span></a><span>, capable of measuring trace amounts of metals in water samples.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.aspentimes.com/news/climate-change-causing-increase-in-metals-concentrations-in-streams-study-finds/" rel="nofollow"><span>One insight from this work</span></a><span> is that metal concentrations in Colorado are increasing over time as warming summer temperatures thaw previously frozen sites containing acid-forming bedrock. This result is alarming from an ecological perspective. If metal concentrations climb too high, they can kill aquatic species,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://coloradosun.com/2025/09/12/200-dead-fish-in-colorado-reservoir-have-local-groups-concerned-over-climate-changes-impact-on-mountain-waters/" rel="nofollow"><span>as evidenced by one mountain lake that washed up hundreds of dead fish this summer</span></a><span>.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>But, these increased concentrations may also present an opportunity. That’s according to Baolin Deng and Pan Ni, two distinguished researchers at the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://water.missouri.edu/" rel="nofollow"><span>University of Missouri’s Missouri Water Center</span></a><span>, who are now&nbsp;</span><a href="https://showme.missouri.edu/2025/turning-waste-into-wealth-mizzou-researchers-target-missouri-mines-for-critical-materials/" rel="nofollow"><span>working to unlock an efficient process</span></a><span> capable of extracting rare earths from acid rock drainage.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><strong>Molecular puzzle pieces</strong></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>For the proposal to work, the process must be both efficient and selective. The inputs required must be low enough to make the method economically viable, while the outputs must be concentrated enough to provide a high-quality source of rare earth metals.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>That’s why Deng and Ni have decided to target these elements at a molecular level. They propose creating ion-imprinted polymers, made from seafood byproducts. These polymers will act like jigsaw puzzle pieces. Most molecules will bounce right off them, but the targeted element will fit perfectly into the ion-imprinted cavity, allowing the researchers to conserve target elements and filter out the rest.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Designing these polymers is a monumental task. To increase their chances of success, the researchers will deploy artificial intelligence to help them iterate and refine.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“These elements are like twin brothers when it comes to telling them apart,” Ni said. “Maybe one weighs just a little more than the other. It’s incredibly challenging to differentiate them, but Professor Deng and our research team have proven it’s possible. Now, AI will further enhance the selectivity of our material.”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>While the University of Missouri team is busy refining polymers, Marchitto, McKnight, and a to-be-hired PhD student will have their work cut out for them in Colorado. The team will work to identify potential sites for extraction, while also continuing to probe questions about the geochemical processes activated in these waterways.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“We’re also interested in the natural aspects of acid rock drainage that haven’t been explored much, like ‘what controls rare earth concentrations? And, ‘how are they precipitating out in the stream bed?’” Marchitto said. “Knowing more about the fundamentals of the geochemistry will inform what kind of recovery efforts can be used. It’s all connected.”</span></p></div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content-media ucb-article-content-media-below"> <div> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--from-library paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div> <div class="ucb-article-secondary-text"> <div><p><em>If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at </em><a href="mailto:gabriel.allen@colorado.edu" rel="nofollow"><em>gabriel.allen@colorado.edu</em></a><em>.</em></p><p>&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>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 is to improve water quality while also increasing the domestic supply of raw materials for advanced technologies.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-12/AdobeStock_293263314.jpeg?itok=aiiqsqWc" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A river below a jagged mountain pass in Colorado in the fall at sunset"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 16 Dec 2025 16:45:07 +0000 Gabe Allen 1785 at /instaar Changing Winters Leave Indigenous Alaskans on Thin Ice (Eos) /instaar/2025/12/15/changing-winters-leave-indigenous-alaskans-thin-ice-eos <span>Changing Winters Leave Indigenous Alaskans on Thin Ice (Eos)</span> <span><span>Gabe Allen</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-12-15T06:00:00-07:00" title="Monday, December 15, 2025 - 06:00">Mon, 12/15/2025 - 06:00</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-12/Yukon-River-Delta.jpg?h=c74750f6&amp;itok=6SIFtaXA" width="1200" height="800" alt="An aerial view of an icy river delta"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/177"> Research </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/99" hreflang="en">Musselman</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>INSTAAR's Arctic Rivers Project is blending Indigenous knowledge with climate science to describe a shifting arctic environment. Eos news reports on the project's unique blend of methodologies, including participatory mapping, remote sensing and biological modeling.</div> <script> window.location.href = `https://eos.org/articles/changing-winters-leave-indigenous-alaskans-on-thin-ice`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Mon, 15 Dec 2025 13:00:00 +0000 Gabe Allen 1784 at /instaar How an experiment in the mountains could reveal the future of alpine plants (KUNC) /instaar/2025/12/12/how-experiment-mountains-could-reveal-future-alpine-plants-kunc <span>How an experiment in the mountains could reveal the future of alpine plants (KUNC)</span> <span><span>Gabe Allen</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-12-12T06:00:00-07:00" title="Friday, December 12, 2025 - 06:00">Fri, 12/12/2025 - 06:00</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-12/Niwot.jpeg?h=b1dad266&amp;itok=xZitxNAu" width="1200" height="800" alt="researchers in outdoor clothing kneel in quadrats on snow-speckled alpine tundra near a weather stations with rocky peaks in the background"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/177"> Research </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/396" hreflang="en">Emery</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Researchers in Nancy Emery's lab are investigating how alpine plants respond to climate change at Niwot Ridge. Anticipated funding cuts could threaten the long-term ecological records that make this research possible.</div> <script> window.location.href = `https://www.kunc.org/kunc/2025-12-04/alpine-plants`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Fri, 12 Dec 2025 13:00:00 +0000 Gabe Allen 1783 at /instaar What can a mile-long stick of ice, stored away for 33 years, tell us about Earth’s climate? /instaar/2025/12/11/what-can-mile-long-stick-ice-stored-away-33-years-tell-us-about-earths-climate <span>What can a mile-long stick of ice, stored away for 33 years, tell us about Earth’s climate?</span> <span><span>Gabe Allen</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-12-11T10:43:41-07:00" title="Thursday, December 11, 2025 - 10:43">Thu, 12/11/2025 - 10:43</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-12/20251121%20Jones%20Markle%20Chase%20Morris%20ice%20core%20facility.jpg?h=e1f97b1d&amp;itok=TUs9OMkj" width="1200" height="800" alt="A woman in winter clothing poses in the aisle between racks of metal tubes"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/177"> Research </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/115" hreflang="en">Jones</a> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/157" hreflang="en">Markle</a> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/393" hreflang="en">Morris</a> </div> <a href="/instaar/gabe-allen">Gabe Allen</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default 1"> <div class="ucb-article-text d-flex align-items-center" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p dir="ltr"><span>After years as a professional research assistant at INSTAAR’s stable isotope lab,&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/valerie-morris" rel="nofollow"><span>Valerie Morris</span></a><span> estimates she’s processed more than 10 kilometers of ice from around the world.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“You’ve done more ice than the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.bolderboulder.com/" rel="nofollow"><span>Bolder Boulder</span></a><span>,” co-principal investigator&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/tyler-jones" rel="nofollow"><span>Tyler Jones</span></a><span> joked around a table at the lab recently. “She’s done more high-resolution ice measurements than just about anyone in the world.”</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-12/20251114%20Jones%20Morris%20Markle%20Chase%20Ice%20Core-1.jpg?itok=gq-KY1Zn" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A woman in a black shirt with her hair up reaches into a freezer in profile. Her face is lit by a light within."> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p><em><span>Valerie Morris loads an ice core sample into a carousel in the stable isotope lab at INSTAAR. The carousel is the front end of a continuous flow analysis system developed by Morris and Bruce Vaughn, which continuously measures isotopic ratios for hydrogen and oxygen as the ice core melts. (Gabe Allen)</span></em></p> </span> </div></div><p dir="ltr"><span>This fall, Morris loaded yet another chunk of ice into the one-of-a-kind ice analysis system at the lab. But, this one was significant. It was the final sample for a project that she and other lab members began a year-and-a-half before — to reanalyze an ice core that was drilled 33 years ago in Greenland using modern techniques.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>The ice core in question was extracted at the Greenland Ice Sheet Project Two (GISP2) from 1988 to 1993. It took scientists five years to drill down from the top of the ice sheet to the bedrock. They were left with a cylinder of ice more than a mile long.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Though the effort was great, the payoff was worth it. Within the ice were&nbsp;</span><a href="https://nsidc.org/learn/ask-scientist/core-climate-history" rel="nofollow"><span>chemical signatures of past temperatures, climate shifts and volcanic eruptions</span></a><span>. The deeper those signatures, the older. At its base, the ice core dated back more than 100,000 years.</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-12/20251114%20Jones%20Morris%20Markle%20Chase%20Ice%20Core-4.jpg?itok=c6EPXdRF" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A woman drives a computer station in a laboratory while two smiling men look on"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p><em><span>Brooke Chase looks at a readout of isotopic ratios from an ice core as Bradley Markle (left) and Tyler Jones (right) look on. (Gabe Allen)</span></em></p> </span> </div></div><p dir="ltr"><span>Shortly after the ice core was extracted, researchers analyzed the chemical contents of samples spanning its length. Their results, combined with other records,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97JC00162" rel="nofollow"><span>provided a better understanding of Earth’s climate history from the start of the last ice age to today</span></a><span>.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Yet, this earlier analysis was also limited. Sampling methods at the time required the scientists to melt down meter-long chunks of ice at a time. That meant, at best, each data point represented an average over about a decade of history.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Today, technicians at the stable isotope lab use a system developed by Morris and INSTAAR fellow emeritus Bruce Vaughn in 2009. Instead of measuring large, discrete chunks of ice, the system melts each sample slowly from tip to tail. As the sample melts, the water is quickly sucked into a matrix of instruments. The technique allows the scientists to analyze the ice millimeter by millimeter — literally.</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-12/20251121%20Jones%20Markle%20Chase%20Morris%20group%20photo.jpg?itok=Vyi9pQh_" width="1500" height="969" alt="A group of 10 people in winter clothing pose for a photo against a white laboratory wall. An insignia reads NSF Ice Core Facility on an insulated door behind the group."> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p dir="ltr"><em><span>The team of scientists that reconstructed the length of the GISP2 ice core poses at the NSF-Ice Core Facility. From Left to Right: Rhys-Jasper Leon, Richard Nunn, Ella Johnson, Valerie Morris, Adira Lunken, Brooke Chase, Tirso Jesus Lara Rivas, Max Eshbaugh, Megan Erskine, Theo Carr.</span></em></p> </span> </div></div><p dir="ltr"><span>Using this method, lab members knew they could unlock new information in what was left of the GISP2 ice core, which has been stored in the National Ice Core Facility in Lakewood for the past three decades. Though much of the volume of the ice core was consumed by previous analyses, almost all of its length was preserved in the archive. Over the past year-and-a-half, Morris, PhD student Brooke Chase, and a team of research assistants reconstructed more than a mile of ice from GISP2 and ran it through the instruments at the lab.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>The data they gathered has the potential to answer pressing questions about Earth’s past climate. Last winter, the lab&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/2025/03/26/thawing-mysteries-ancient-climate-changes" rel="nofollow"><span>published a new paper identifying periods of climatic stability preceding abrupt warming events during the last ice age</span></a><span>. That analysis relied on data from the newer&nbsp;</span><a href="https://eastgrip.org/uk.html" rel="nofollow"><span>East Greenland Ice-Core Project</span></a><span>. Chase is now busy processing and analyzing the data from GISP2, and the preliminary results seem to contradict these earlier findings.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“Brooke has some preliminary results suggesting that we are not getting the same answers,” Jones said. “But we only have a small chunk of time so far, so we’re sitting here waiting until we have the final data.”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Resolving these contradictions might unlock a new understanding of these abrupt warming events in the past, or it might further muddy waters. Either way, the researchers now have much more detail to parse through than before. The new project provided around 1,000 times more data points per meter of ice than the previous sampling effort. At its best, each value now represents a few months of climate history.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“What were trying to do with this project is see what Earth was capable of at higher frequencies,” Jones said. “You lose the ability to look at variability in the climate when you only measure every meter. But if you can look at a higher resolution, you can see those changes.”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Although ancient history may seem far removed from the pressing concerns of modern climate change, it's more relevant than it appears. Understanding how Earth’s climate evolved is essential to scientist’s ability to understand current climate dynamics and predict future outcomes.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“We only have about 40 years of satellite observations of Earth’s climate, and a few hundred years of people standing around with thermometers,” co-principle investigator Bradley Markle explained. “The time scales that people care about are on the order of decades and centuries, but to understand variability on those time scales you have to look at records of Earth’s climate over thousands of years.”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Learn more:</span></p><p dir="ltr"><a href="https://nsidc.org/learn/ask-scientist/core-climate-history" rel="nofollow"><span>What do ice cores reveal about the past? (National Snow and Ice Data Center)</span></a></p><p dir="ltr"><a href="/instaar/2025/03/26/thawing-mysteries-ancient-climate-changes" rel="nofollow"><span>Thawing the Mysteries of ancient climate changes (INSTAAR)</span></a></p><p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/hole-drilled-greenland-s-heart-reveals-ice-ready-slide-sea" rel="nofollow"><span>Inside an ice stream (Science)</span></a></p></div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content-media ucb-article-content-media-below"> <div> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--from-library paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div> <div class="ucb-article-secondary-text"> <div><p><em>If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at </em><a href="mailto:gabriel.allen@colorado.edu" rel="nofollow"><em>gabriel.allen@colorado.edu</em></a><em>.</em></p><p>&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Researchers at the stable isotope lab just finished resampling more than a mile of ice from Greenland. Further analysis will probe unanswered questions about climate change, sea ice and Earth’s history.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-12/20251121%20Jones%20Markle%20Chase%20Morris%20ice%20core%20facility.jpg?itok=jXlQa-MY" width="1500" height="1125" alt="A woman in winter clothing poses in the aisle between racks of metal tubes"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p><em>Brooke Chase stands in the main storage area of the National Science Foundation Ice Core Facility. This part of the facility is held at -36 degrees Celsius and houses over 30,000 meters of ice from polar regions around the world.&nbsp;</em></p> </span> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> <div>Brooke Chase stands in the main storage area of the National Science Foundation Ice Core Facility. This part of the facility is held at -36 degrees Celsius and houses over 30,000 meters of ice from polar regions around the world.</div> Thu, 11 Dec 2025 17:43:41 +0000 Gabe Allen 1782 at /instaar Brief: New funds for student research at the Mountain Research Station /instaar/2025/12/03/brief-new-funds-student-research-mountain-research-station <span>Brief: New funds for student research at the Mountain Research Station</span> <span><span>Gabe Allen</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-12-03T06:00:00-07:00" title="Wednesday, December 3, 2025 - 06:00">Wed, 12/03/2025 - 06:00</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-12/IMG_5265%202.HEIC_.jpeg?h=71976bb4&amp;itok=e5SaEFlu" width="1200" height="800" alt="A Sunflower in an alpine meadow"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/177"> Research </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/127" hreflang="en">Taylor</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p dir="ltr"><span>The </span><a href="https://www.maxwell-hanrahan.org/" data-entity-type="external" rel="nofollow"><span>Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation</span></a><span> has pledged $75,000 to support student research projects at the </span><a href="/mrs/" data-entity-type="external" rel="nofollow"><span>Mountain Research Station</span></a><span>. The donation will fund three years of research expenses and stipends for undergraduate and graduate students working on scientific investigations in the alpine.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>The foundation already contributed $15,000 toward five undergraduate research grants in 2024 and 2025. These research experiences allow students to take a first step toward a career in science.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Ecology and evolutionary biology student Isabella Manning spent a summer studying plant-pollinator interactions in a subalpine meadow above the station. Earlier this year, Manning authored a paper covering the investigation in Oecologia — an enormous accomplishment for an undergraduate researcher.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>According to Mountain Research Station director </span><a href="/instaar/scott-taylor" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="96e7782f-bed9-43be-b349-80c3114f5f01" data-entity-substitution="canonical" rel="nofollow" title="Scott Taylor"><span>Scott Taylor</span></a><span>, the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation grants serve a dual purpose. They provide seed funding for important research in a rapidly changing alpine environment, while also giving students valuable experience in field science.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“This is a unique opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to pursue independent research — and to build hands-on skills in the field,” he said.&nbsp;</span></p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>The Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation has pledged $75,000 to support student research at the Mountain Research Station. The donation will fund three years of research expenses and stipends for undergraduate and graduate students.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-12/IMG_5265%202.HEIC_.jpeg?itok=eBeJJZug" width="1500" height="1125" alt="A Sunflower in an alpine meadow"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> <div>Hymenoxys grandiflora, also known as old man of the mountain, blooms on Niwot Ridge above the Mountain Research Station. (Courtesy, Scott Taylor)</div> Wed, 03 Dec 2025 13:00:00 +0000 Gabe Allen 1777 at /instaar Scientists predict a sea change in Arctic ecosystems by the end of the century /instaar/2025/11/19/scientists-predict-sea-change-arctic-ecosystems-end-century <span>Scientists predict a sea change in Arctic ecosystems by the end of the century</span> <span><span>Gabe Allen</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-11-19T06:00:00-07:00" title="Wednesday, November 19, 2025 - 06:00">Wed, 11/19/2025 - 06:00</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-11/20251118%20Payne%20Lovenduski%20Phyto%20Blooms%20barents.jpeg?h=d4eb1997&amp;itok=2r3l2EDm" width="1200" height="800" alt="An aerial satellite photo showing a green landmass, white clouds and deep blue ocean streaked with aquamarine swirls"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/177"> Research </a> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/203"> Spotlight Postdoc </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/141" hreflang="en">Lovenduski</a> </div> <a href="/instaar/gabe-allen">Gabe Allen</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default 1"> <div class="ucb-article-text d-flex align-items-center" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p dir="ltr"><span>The lush greenery of the Amazon rainforest is often called the “lungs of the planet,” but really land plants are just half of the equation. The other lung dwells in the sea. Single-celled photosynthetic algae, known collectively as phytoplankton,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ocean-oxygen.html" rel="nofollow"><span>produce about half of the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere</span></a><span>.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Phytoplankton are especially abundant at high latitudes, where seasonal sea ice retreat leads to explosive summer blooms.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“Polar regions can experience rapid growth,” INSTAAR postdoctoral fellow&nbsp;</span><a href="/instaar/courtney-payne" rel="nofollow"><span>Courtney Payne</span></a><span> explained. “They have a pretty short window, but phytoplankton can grow like crazy over a period of weeks or months.”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>According to&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02807-y" rel="nofollow"><span>a new paper from Payne and collaborators</span></a><span>, that cycle may soon be disrupted in the Arctic Ocean. Using a suite of modeling tools, the researchers predicted the state of phytoplankton blooms 80 years into the future — in the year 2100 — and compared them to records from the 1970s. They found that summer blooms will start more than a month earlier on average by the end of the century.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Unfortunately, the models predict that this change in seasonal timing will disrupt the foundation of the marine food web, leading to scarcity at every trophic level. It’s a change that will impact marine animals and the Indigenous communities that rely on them for sustenance.&nbsp;</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-11/20251118%20Payne%20Lovenduski%20phyto%20blooms%20fieldwork.jpg?itok=cDKSF7HA" width="1500" height="2092" alt="A woman in glasses and a bright red jacket smiles for the camera while kneeling atop sea ice beside a drill and ropes"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p><em><span>Payne kneels on sea ice in the Chukchi Sea during a research cruise in 2023. (Courtesy, Courtney Payne)</span></em></p> </span> </div></div><h2><span>Mismatches in the food web</span></h2><p dir="ltr"><span>The first time Payne saw a phytoplankton bloom, she was behind a pair of oars in a boat off the coast of Maine. It was just another day of practice for her collegiate rowing team, but the water, which had remained deep blue all winter, had turned green.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“Each spring, someday it would turn this violent green color,” Payne said. “Several years we would have these big swarms of jellyfish come through to consume the phytoplankton.”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>These days, Payne spends most of her working hours behind a computer, but her history on the water allows her to visualize the ecosystems she studies. Just like the jellyfish in Maine, phytoplankton in the Arctic provide food for drifting grazers known collectively as zooplankton. This interaction forms the base of a rich marine food web. The zooplankton feed fish and whales, and the nutrients trickle their way up to seals, sea birds, polar bears and other Arctic animals.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>The earlier spring bloom predicted by Payne and her collaborators may not seem like a bad thing. In fact, the researchers predict that the bloom will last more than a month-and-a-half longer on average by the end of the century. But, marine organisms have adapted to the current cycle over millennia, and they are ill prepared for it to change so quickly and drastically.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>The researchers predict that scarcer sea ice will lead phytoplankton to bloom during the cold early-summer months. Zooplankton struggle to multiply at these temperatures and thus will not be able to take advantage of the bounty. Each spring, a large proportion of the bloom will go uneaten and sink to the ocean floor.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“If the spring bloom happens earlier and at these colder temperatures, the things that feed on the phytoplankton aren’t able to grow as much in response,” Payne said. “That means that whales and other animals that migrate to the area won’t have as much food to feast on.”</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-11/20251118%20Payne%20Lovenduski%20Phyto%20Blooms%20figure.jpeg?itok=8K1oEkxF" width="1500" height="1050" alt="Two maps of the arctic ocean, the left one showing white and lighter blue (indicating a more subtle shift of phytoplankton bloom timing over the period from 1970 to 2020), the right showing a widespread deeper blue tint (indicating a more significant shift in phytoplankton bloom timing over the period from 1970 to 2100)"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p><em><span>Maps of the Arctic Ocean showing the change in the average start date of the spring phytoplankton bloom from 1970 to 2020 (left) and from 1970 to 2100 (right). So far, the change has been subtle, but Payne and her collaborators predict a much earlier bloom by the end of the century. (Courtesy of Courtney Payne)</span></em></p> </span> </div></div><h2><span>The culprit is clear</span></h2><p dir="ltr"><span>Overall, the new study paints an alarming picture for the future of Arctic marine ecosystems. But, there is a silver lining. Payne and her collaborators proved the efficacy of a methodology seldom seen in ecological research.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>While previous studies have relied on limited observational data or single model simulations, the new study took a more comprehensive approach. The researchers worked off of an Earth system model that had been tweaked 50 times to produce 50 different, equally likely, future scenarios.&nbsp;</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“If we used real world observational data, we would have to rely on one example of what the Earth is doing over a short period, which may not be representative of changes in the long run,” Payne said. “One of the benefits of using an Earth system model is that you can run the same years over and over again and use the mean to figure out, on average, what is going on.”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>By comparing this “ensemble” of outcomes, the researchers were able to separate out the effects of anthropogenic climate change from natural climate variability. In short, they could identify a culprit: greenhouse gas emissions.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“With our methodology, we are able to specifically isolate the impact of climate change on the timing of the bloom,” Payne said. “Thus far it has only led to a shift of about 5 days, but we see a much more substantial impact by the end of the century.”</span></p><hr><p dir="ltr"><em><span>INSTAAR director Nicole Lovenduski, NCAR scientists Alice Duvivier, Marika Holland and Kristen Krumhardt are coauthors on this report.&nbsp;</span></em></p></div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content-media ucb-article-content-media-below"> <div> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--from-library paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div> <div class="ucb-article-secondary-text"> <div><p><em>If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at </em><a href="mailto:gabriel.allen@colorado.edu" rel="nofollow"><em>gabriel.allen@colorado.edu</em></a><em>.</em></p><p>&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>A team, led by INSTAAR’s Courtney Payne, used a powerful methodology to predict outcomes for life in the Arctic Ocean in the year 2100. Their results predict disrupted phytoplankton blooms, which will ripple throughout the ecosystem.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-11/20251118%20Payne%20Lovenduski%20Phyto%20Blooms%20barents.jpeg?itok=r7yWafH7" width="1500" height="1106" alt="An aerial satellite photo showing a green landmass, white clouds and deep blue ocean streaked with aquamarine swirls"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p><em><span>A phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea, north of Norway and Russia, as seen from space in July, 2021. (NASA Earth Observatory)</span></em></p> </span> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> <div>A phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea, north of Norway and Russia, as seen from space in July, 2021. (NASA Earth Observatory)</div> Wed, 19 Nov 2025 13:00:00 +0000 Gabe Allen 1773 at /instaar New pika research finds troubling signs for the iconic Rocky Mountain animal (Ҵýƽ Today) /instaar/2025/11/18/new-pika-research-finds-troubling-signs-iconic-rocky-mountain-animal-cu-boulder-today <span>New pika research finds troubling signs for the iconic Rocky Mountain animal (Ҵýƽ Today)</span> <span><span>Gabe Allen</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-11-18T15:37:44-07:00" title="Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 15:37">Tue, 11/18/2025 - 15:37</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-11/pika.jpeg?h=570b2899&amp;itok=x6KNf4Uq" width="1200" height="800" alt="A pika (small, gerbil-like herbivore native to the rocky mountains) holds a wad of sedges in its mouth amidst a verdant flowery landscape"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/177"> Research </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/145" hreflang="en">Ray</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>A new study from INSTAAR's Chris Ray and Jasmine Vidrio sounds the alarm for pikas in the Rocky Mountains. The paper provides the first empirical evidence for a theory long held by wildlife biologists — that pikas are struggling to adapt to warming temperatures.</div> <script> window.location.href = `/today/2025/11/18/new-pika-research-finds-troubling-signs-iconic-rocky-mountain-animal`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 18 Nov 2025 22:37:44 +0000 Gabe Allen 1774 at /instaar New insight into how sunlight transforms legacy mining pollution in mountain wetlands (CSU) /instaar/2025/11/11/new-insight-how-sunlight-transforms-legacy-mining-pollution-mountain-wetlands-csu <span>New insight into how sunlight transforms legacy mining pollution in mountain wetlands (CSU)</span> <span><span>Gabe Allen</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-11-11T11:04:02-07:00" title="Tuesday, November 11, 2025 - 11:04">Tue, 11/11/2025 - 11:04</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-11/Magliozzi-Blog-Photo-1-scaled-re50am58wabhefn9cpv1agkuu3op7ycjcjc48a4tjc.jpg?h=1c52a880&amp;itok=iPK8pOT4" width="1200" height="800" alt="A red stained creek runs through the forest"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/177"> Research </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/109" hreflang="en">McKnight</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Lauren Magliozzi has published a new analysis of an INSTAAR experiment conducted with Diane McKnight and Sabre Duren. The researchers characterized daily chemical fluctuations in wetlands downstream from an inactive Colorado mine.</div> <script> window.location.href = `https://sustainability.colostate.edu/humannature/new-insight-into-how-sunlight-transforms-legacy-mining-pollution-in-mountain-wetlands/`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 11 Nov 2025 18:04:02 +0000 Gabe Allen 1771 at /instaar Global Leaders Unite to Protect Ross Sea (Tasmanian Times) /instaar/2025/10/29/global-leaders-unite-protect-ross-sea-tasmanian-times <span>Global Leaders Unite to Protect Ross Sea (Tasmanian Times)</span> <span><span>Gabe Allen</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-10-29T11:45:34-06:00" title="Wednesday, October 29, 2025 - 11:45">Wed, 10/29/2025 - 11:45</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/instaar/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-10/penguins.jpg?h=199d8c1f&amp;itok=mhEToP-l" width="1200" height="800" alt="penguins loiter on sea ice formations in Antarctica"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/177"> Research </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/instaar/taxonomy/term/342" hreflang="en">Brooks</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Leaders from 26 countries and the European Union offered support for a new research and coordination network focused on the Ross Sea in Antarctica this week. INSTAAR fellow and Antarctic scientist Cassandra Brooks leads the steering committee for the NSF-funded network.</div> <script> window.location.href = `https://tasmaniantimes.com/2025/10/global-leaders-unite-for-ross-sea/`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Wed, 29 Oct 2025 17:45:34 +0000 Gabe Allen 1769 at /instaar