Oleksy

What does a record-breaking wildfire season mean for life in alpine lakes?

Gabe Allen — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 14:40:35 +0000

What does a record-breaking wildfire season mean for life in alpine lakes? Gabe Allen Fri, 04/17/2026 - 08:40

MJ Farruggia looks over one of her study sites in Sequoia National Park. A small yellow buoy marks the spot where an environmental sensor hangs. (Courtesy David Ayers)

Gabe Allen

In the summer of 2020, MJ Farruggia embarked on the first field season of her PhD research. With a backpack full of scientific equipment and camping gear, she hiked high into the Emerald Lake Watershed high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to install environmental sensors and collect water samples from six small lakes and ponds.

A map shows burned areas from the SQF complex fire (2020) and the KNP Complex Fire (2021), as well as the study area for the new investigation from MJ Farruggia and collaborators. (Courtesy)

Then, in August, a dry thunderstorm ignited the forests south of her study area, engulfing the entire region in smoke. At the time, Farruggia was hiking back to the trailhead after a four-day expedition.

“It was one of those apocalyptic-looking days when ash is falling from the sky,” she said.

For months, it was too unsafe to return to the field sites. When the smoke finally lifted, it was clear that Farruggia’s initial research scope would no longer be possible.

“I pulled my sensors at the end of the season and started looking at the data. My first reaction was, ‘whoa, I don’t think we can use this,’” Farruggia said.

Originally, Farruggia planned to investigate how alpine lakes change throughout the year, including how layers of water form and shift. But smoke from the fires had blocked out sunlight, causing an anomalous drop in temperature.

Yet, all was not lost. The unexpected fires created a serendipitous opportunity to study something becoming more and more common in Western alpine ecosystems.

“This study came out of trying to explain what is going on in these little ponds and lakes when the sky is covered in smoke for a really long time,” Farruggia said.

Now, six years later, Farruggia and her collaborators at the University of California, Davis have published the results. The scientists found that, in addition to reducing temperature, smoky skies reduced rates of photosynthesis and respiration. Basically, the ecosystems contained in the lakes and ponds experienced a drop in productivity that rippled throughout the food chain — from single-celled algae to insects and fish.

Though the study was confined to lakes and ponds, these changes may have broader impacts.

“Ponds are considered hotspots for biodiversity — they often support more diversity relative to surrounding terrestrial landscapes,” Farruggia said. “When you change things like how much food is available, or the temperatures that animals are used to thriving at, that could potentially affect biodiversity and carbon cycling across the landscape.”

MJ Farruggia processes water samples at the shore of a pond in Sequoia National Park. (Courtesy Steven Sadro)

An emerging field

Studies investigating the impacts of smoke on aquatic ecosystems are far and few between, and most have been limited to single bodies of water. With data from six different lakes and ponds across multiple fire seasons, Farruggia and her collaborators have produced one of the most robust investigations yet.

But in order to get there, they first needed to devise a method for measuring smoke cover.

The scientists' initial attempts did not bear fruit. A NOAA satellite product proved too coarse to distinguish high-altitude smoke from low-lying smoke, while citizen-mounted particulate sensors were too far from the study sites.

“What ended up working really well was a shortwave radiation sensor on a nearby weather station,” Farruggia explained. “It basically measures incoming light.”

With this problem solved, the researchers could compare smoke cover against water temperature and dissolved oxygen readings from the environmental sensors that Farruggia installed at the beginning of her field campaign.

The trend of dampened productivity and water temperature remained steady across all six lakes, yet there were differences. Ponds experienced more drastic effects than lakes — their larger counterparts.

“The larger lakes, we think, just have more water to buffer the effects,” Farruggia explained.

This point may seem semantic, but it could hint at a broader truth.

“In this paper, we only talk about wildfire smoke, but I suspect it’s true across the board,” Farruggia said. “These ponds, which are the most common aquatic ecosystem worldwide by number, are likely very responsive to environmental change.”

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Global implications

As Earth warms, wildfires are growing more frequent, larger, and hotter. Farruggia and her collaborators' new investigation is proof that this trend will also impact ecosystems above treeline — beyond the direct reach of flames. In 2024, Farruggia authored a review that found 89% of North American lakes experienced smoke for more than 30 days from 2019 to 2021.

Taken on a global scale, the dampened productivity the scientists observed could impact the Earth’s carbon cycle.

“The contribution of one pond may be small, but the cumulative effect of ponds changing across the country — or across the world — could be really large in terms of how much carbon they store or release,” Farruggia said.

For Farruggia, this reality is motivation to further study these ecosystems. They are an unresolved pixel in a grainy image of a changing planet. With each new investigation, the image sharpens.

Thankfully, the new study also had the benefit of a 43-year-long record of ecological research at Emerald Lake, one of the lakes in Farruggia’s study. What began amidst the acid rain crisis in the 1980s has been sustained by federal grants for four decades.

This record provided a solid foundation for the scientists to build off of.

“Emerald Lake has been studied for 40-plus years, so we understood how at least one of these six systems worked really, really well already,” she said.

Farruggia stresses the importance of keeping these long-running datasets active. It is through these records that scientists can hope to understand the ways that ecosystems are changing beyond the typical three to five-year grant cycle. And, with a little luck, they can capture ephemeral phenomena like wildfires as well.

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 gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

A new study from INSTAAR postdoc MJ Farruggia investigates the impact of wildfire smoke on aquatic ecosystems in six alpine lakes and ponds in the Sierra Nevada.

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MJ Farruggia looks over one of her study sites in Sequoia National Park. A small yellow buoy marks the spot where an environmental sensor hangs. (Courtesy David Ayers)

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MJ Farruggia looks over one of her study sites in Sequoia National Park. A small yellow buoy marks the spot where an environmental sensor hangs. (Courtesy David Ayers)

Why pristine mountain lakes are suddenly turning green (Scientific American)

Gabe Allen — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:14:20 +0000

Why pristine mountain lakes are suddenly turning green (Scientific American) Gabe Allen Tue, 03/17/2026 - 15:14

Journalist Cody Cottier tells the story of the Oleksy lab's summer expedition to an alpine lake in the San Juan range. The scientists are investigating the source of a mysterious algal bloom that was first spotted by a ranger in 2021.

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What Colorado’s mountain lakes can tell scientists about climate change (Aspen Times)

Gabe Allen — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 22:40:22 +0000

What Colorado’s mountain lakes can tell scientists about climate change (Aspen Times) Gabe Allen Wed, 03/11/2026 - 16:40

Mountain lakes are the "canary in the coal mine" for how ecosystems are responding to climate change. That's according to the Mountain Liminology Lab's Mary Jade Farruggia, who was featured in an article from the Aspen Times this week.

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Rapid researcher Q&A: Billings, Sklenar, St Laurent, and Ross (MRS News)

Gabe Allen — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 23:15:09 +0000

Rapid researcher Q&A: Billings, Sklenar, St Laurent, and Ross (MRS News) Gabe Allen Fri, 01/23/2026 - 16:15

The Mountain Research Station is a unique hub for field science at high altitude. This week, the station interviewed four of its scientists about their research — spanning plants, mammals, insects, and lake chemistry.

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INSTAAR’s most read news stories of 2025

Gabe Allen — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 22:00:13 +0000

INSTAAR’s most read news stories of 2025 Gabe Allen Fri, 01/02/2026 - 15:00

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, 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.

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.

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.

Here are INSTAAR’s most read news stories of 2025.

The top five

Air pollution and warming are changing Colorado’s remote alpine lakes

This summer, INSTAAR communications specialist Gabe Allen followed Bella Oleksy’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.

The data is in: Colorado’s snowpack is lagging behind the 21st century average in 2025

Last spring all eyes were on The Mountain Hydrology Group’s new Western U.S. snow water equivalent (SWE) reports. 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 Snow Today website. The Mountain Hydrology Group will also once again begin putting out SWE reports in the next month or so.

Spotlight: Hunter Geist-Sanchez is pioneering restoration methods for Colorado grasslands and reconnecting with his ranching roots

Hunter Geist-Sanchez is a master’s student in Katharine Suding’s lab 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.

Supernovae may have kicked off abrupt climate shifts in the past, and they could again

INSTAAR senior research associate Robert Brakenridge 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.

Beneath crumbling walls: how rock glaciers took over the southern rockies

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, Robert and Suzanne Anderson, along with their mentees, uncover the geologic history of this phenomenon.

The runner up

Franklin Institute selects Katharine Suding for the Bower Award for Achievement in Science

Over the past three decades, INSTAAR’s Katharine Suding 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.

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 gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

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.

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Air pollution and warming are changing Colorado’s remote alpine lakes

Gabe Allen — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 20:49:08 +0000

Air pollution and warming are changing Colorado’s remote alpine lakes Gabe Allen Mon, 08/04/2025 - 14:49

Bella Oleksy directs postdoctoral scholar MJ Farruggia and undergraduate research assistant Julia Pop from toward a buoy from the shore of Sky Pond in Rocky Mountain National Park on June 19, 2025. (Gabe Allen)

Gabe Allen

On a hot summer day, Julia Pop and MJ Farruggia paddled a two-person pack raft to the edge of Sky Pond, an alpine lake at 11,000 feet in Rocky Mountain National Park.

“It’s blooming!” Pop told INSTAAR fellow and assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology Bella Oleksy, who waited on the shore.

To a passerby, Pop’s exclamation might have seemed odd. The lake was surrounded by granite boulders and snow. Visible vegetation was limited to a few patches of forest and sparse shrubs and wildflowers emerging from rocky crevices. But, a careful observer might have noticed a green tint to the water — which is what Pop was referring to. The lake was full of microscopic algae called diatoms.

In the past, diatoms mostly lived in the shallow waters near the shore of Sky Pond. But, in recent years, environmental changes have allowed diatoms and other algae to proliferate throughout the lake, according to research from Oleksy and collaborators. It’s just one insight that has come from decades of data collection at the site.

MJ Farruggia (left) and Bella Oleksy on the hike up to Sky Pond in Rocky Mountain National Park on June 19, 2025. (Gabe Allen)

In 2023, Oleksy’s lab took over a long-standing monitoring effort at the Loch Vale watershed, which includes Sky Pond, Lake of Glass and the Loch, all in Rocky Mountain National Park. For 42 years, the program has sought to unravel how human activity, both regionally and globally, affects alpine ecosystems.

Though the program has had a long tenure, Oleksy says there are many outstanding research questions. Alpine lakes are projected to heat up especially fast as a consequence of global warming. And, simultaneously, an influx of airborne chemicals from industry, agriculture and fuel combustion is changing their chemistry.

“So far, the big question is how nitrogen emissions from outside impact a remote watershed that experiences virtually no direct human impacts,” Oleksy said. “We’re also only just starting to really understand how this watershed works and all of the complicated ways it responds to both long and near-term climate patterns.”

This summer, Oleksy’s lab will return to Loch Vale once per month. The information they gather will fuel analyses to come, and contribute to one of the longest-running biogeochemical records in the Colorado alpine.

A changing landscape

In 1983, Oleksy’s future thesis advisor, Jill Baron, began a monitoring program in Loch Vale with funding from the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program. The goal was to evaluate how acid rain, a major environmental concern at the time, was affecting alpine ecosystems.

The program's goals soon shifted when the researchers discovered that acid rain was having only a negligible effect. Instead, they observed high levels of “wet nitrogen” raining down on the watershed. At the time, the nitrogen mostly stemmed from vehicle and power plant emissions in front range cities. But, as the trend has persisted, these sources have gotten cleaner while large-scale livestock operations have become a more significant contributor.

“A lot of ammonia gets volatilized from these concentrated animal feeding operations around Greeley and elsewhere,” Oleksy said. “When we get these upslope storms in the summer, it arrives in precipitation. You can smell it on the wind all the way up here.”

Nitrogen, an essential nutrient for living organisms, is historically scarce in alpine environments. As such, its arrival en masse in Loch Vale spurred major ecological change. So far, Oleksy and collaborators have identified overall increases in several types of algae, including diatoms and filamentous green algae. They have also found that much of the nitrogen is washed downstream, where it might have further impacts.

In 2005, research at Loch Vale catalyzed a collaborative effort between state and federal agencies to reduce nitrogen emissions in Colorado. The effort is ongoing, and Oleksy’s monitoring efforts provide a way to assess progress.

Preventing toxic blooms

Alpine watersheds are in a period of rapid change, and the consequences of that aren’t always black and white. Using machine learning, Oleksy and collaborators published a report showing that, during anomalously hot and dry summers, mountain lakes are experiencing unseen levels of productivity. Basically, the total amount of organisms living in the lakes, largely algae, are much higher than normal.

The ecological consequences of this change are complex, but one knock-on consequence is that these lakes may be pulling more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis. When the organisms die, that carbon is stored in lake sediment.

“These historically super clear lakes are now producing a lot more carbon,” Oleksy said. “The question is: ‘are they now more of a carbon sink than we thought?’”

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)

When this process is pushed to the extreme, though, it can backfire. If a lake becomes too warm and nutrient-rich, it can trigger a proliferation of cyanobacteria that produce deadly toxins.

This issue is top of mind for Oleksy’s lab. In recent years, several alpine lakes in the San Juan mountains in Southern Colorado have experienced extreme algal blooms. Pop is currently working on a project that seeks to learn more.

“She’s looking at what species are there. Are there cyanobacteria that could produce toxins or just a lot of algae?” Oleksy explained.

The San Juans are an example of drastic and rapid environmental change. A combination of bark beetle outbreaks, wildfire and a dwindling snowpack have catalyzed a major ecological shift. For now, the Front Range has escaped environmental change at that level, but it’s not out of question as climate change progresses.

“Compared to Northern Colorado, the climate shifts and changes to snowpack in the San Juans have been profound,” Oleksy said.

While the San Juans might provide a window into the future, the Loch Vale monitoring program provides a window into the past. On top of 42 years of field data, sediment cores from the lake bed give the scientists an idea of biological activity in the lake going back hundreds of years. The goal is to glean an understanding of how these ecosystems evolve over a variety of climatic and atmospheric conditions.

“I think it’s really important to have these big datasets and combine different techniques,” Abby Ross, a PhD student in Oleksy’s lab, said. “With all of that background, we can actually tell what changes are unprecedented and need to be investigated further.”

Bella Oleksy filters water into a sample bottle held by PhD student Abby Ross at the inflow of Sky Pond in Rocky Mountain National Park on June 19, 2025. (Gabe Allen)

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 gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

The Oleksy lab has taken over a 42-year-old monitoring project in Rocky Mountain National Park. Their investigations reveal how remote alpine watersheds are changing in the Anthropocene.

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The power of pack mules: harnessing partnerships with land stewards for remote ecosystem research (ASLO)

Gabe Allen — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 21:52:09 +0000

The power of pack mules: harnessing partnerships with land stewards for remote ecosystem research (ASLO) Gabe Allen Mon, 07/07/2025 - 15:52

Bella Olesky and others in INSTAAR's mountain limnology lab are saddling up pack mules to investigate the causes of algal blooms in remote alpine lakes. Their results will help land managers understand and support these fragile and complex ecosystems.

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INSTAAR faculty among those awarded undergraduate research grants (UROP)

Gabe Allen — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 20:44:19 +0000

INSTAAR faculty among those awarded undergraduate research grants (UROP) Gabe Allen Wed, 04/30/2025 - 14:44

The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program committed $77,000 in grants for CU undergraduates to work with INSTAAR faculty this summer and next school year. The awards will catalyze opportunities for students to contribute to critical research in earth and environmental science.

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Earth Day: 6 sustainability stories from INSTAAR in 2025

Gabe Allen — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 23:41:24 +0000

Earth Day: 6 sustainability stories from INSTAAR in 2025 Gabe Allen Tue, 04/22/2025 - 17:41

Gabe Allen

INSTAAR researchers investigate fundamental questions about ecosystems, climate systems and landscapes.

Today marks the 55th annual Earth Day, a global celebration of our planet, its natural systems and the idea of a sustainable future. In honor of the occasion, INSTAAR is sharing stories from the first four months of 2025 about INSTAAR’s environmental research.

As mountain glaciers melt, risk of catastrophic flash floods rises for millions (The Conversation US)

Last month, INSTAAR faculty research scientist Alton Byers and Wesleyan University professor of earth science Suzanne OConnell wrote a guest article in the Conversation US. The pair, a mountain geographer and earth scientist respectively, described how melting glaciers are amplifying the risk of catastrophic flooding in mountain communities around the world. Some governments and organizations, including the U.N., have focused efforts on research into mitigation tactics and early effective warning systems.

Franklin Institute selects Katharine Suding for the Bower Award for Achievement in Science

Next month, INSTAAR faculty fellow and professor of distinction in ecology and evolutionary biology Katharine Suding will officially receive the Bower Award for Achievement in Science from the Franklin Institute. The award honors prominent scientists and innovators who have changed the world for the better. Suding is a preeminent restoration ecologist who has left an indelible mark on the concepts of ecosystem resilience, restoration and biodiversity.

Desert reservoirs capture and store organic carbon, according to new research

Dams have long been a controversial topic among environmentalists. While they can sometimes harm aquatic ecosystems, they can also provide benefits, like increased water storage. Recently, a group of INSTAAR researchers uncovered another potential benefit of certain reservoirs. In a recent paper, they describe how one large reservoir in New Mexico captures and stores carbon beneath layers of sediment during droughts and flash floods.

Drone experiment reveals how Greenland ice sheet is changing (��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� Today)

Kevin Rozmiarek is a drone enthusiast, but he’s not just a hobbyist. He’s using unmanned aircraft to do science. In a recent publication, Rozmiarek and his colleagues documented changes in Greenland’s ice sheet. Their study relied on samples of atmospheric water vapor collected by drones, an approach that could improve simulations of sea level rise.

International research collaboration uncovers key driver of Himalayan glacier melt

This winter, INSTAAR research scientist Karl Rittger lent his talents to an intercontinental team of scientists seeking to understand exactly how and why Himalayan glaciers are melting. Rittger’s unmatched methodology for analyzing dust-covered snow from satellite imagery led the team to key insights. They found that dust storms were picking up pollution from heavily populated areas and depositing it on the mountains.

New research demystifies carbon cycling in freshwater lakes around the world

Back in 2019, INSTAAR faculty fellow Isabella Oleksy, then a PhD student, put out a call to collaborators for data on phytoplankton activity in freshwater lakes. In the end, researchers from all over the world contributed to the dataset. Oleksy and collaborators then used the data to refine a mathematical model of primary productivity for freshwater lakes. The new model could help earth scientists better understand the carbon cycle, which could lead to better climate predictions.

INSTAAR researchers investigate fundamental questions about ecosystems, climate systems and landscapes. These six stories highlight the environmental research that the institute is doing in 2025.

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INSTAAR’s 2024 Sarah Crump Fellow reflects on an adventurous season in the Rockies

David J Lubinski — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 21:58:49 +0000

INSTAAR’s 2024 Sarah Crump Fellow reflects on an adventurous season in the Rockies David J Lubinski Mon, 02/03/2025 - 14:58

Katie Gannon works on The Loch, a high altitude lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

INSTAAR’s Sarah Crump Graduate Fellowship is now accepting applications from ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� graduate students. Last year’s recipient, Katie Gannon, recalls an eventful summer of field science.

Sarah Crump was a beloved INSTAAR alum. After a hard-fought battle with an aggressive form of cancer, she passed peacefully in November 2022. Before she passed, Sarah designed a fellowship for ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� graduate students studying earth or environmental science in high-latitude or high-altitude regions. The fellowship provides summer funding for one student each year. Women and other underrepresented groups in earth science are particularly encouraged to apply. Preference is given to applicants whose advisors are INSTAAR members. INSTAAR is accepting applications for the 2025 Sarah Crump fellowship now until February 28: Apply, donate or learn more.

Katie Gannon works on The Loch, a high altitude lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

As the applications start to roll in for 2025, INSTAAR sat down with Katie Gannon, the recipient of the 2025 Sarah Crump Graduate Fellowship, to hear about her experiences as a fellow. It turns out she had quite an adventurous summer. Sarah would have approved.

You worked on a lot of different projects this summer. Tell us about one that stood out?

At the start of the summer we worked on a research project in the Rawah Wilderness just west of Fort Collins. We were interested in how rock glaciers, which are underground ice formations in the mountains, impact lakes downstream.

We did two 4-day backpacking trips to get back there and both of them had their share of challenges. The first trip was freezing. We camped in the spring snow and had to post-hole for hours to get between study lakes

On the second trip, we were up high above the tree line when a thunderstorm blew in and it started hailing. We were at least 4 miles from camp, it was the middle of the day and we had at least one more lake to sample before we were done. So we hiked down off the ridge and huddled up in the trees to wait out the storm.

We were all cold and wet and mildly miserable. But then Bella (Gannon’s PhD advisor) started singing and dancing to Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go!” and we started singing and jumping up and down and dancing to stay warm. I was soaked through, shivering, and laughing hysterically, along with everyone else. It was a great reminder of how important it is to support each other and enjoy the ride.

In the end those trips were a great way to get to know my lab, and the glaciers were so wild to see. The water seeping out of the rock and into the lakes is barely above freezing even in the middle of the summer and it is laden with ions and trace minerals.

You also worked on lake monitoring efforts in Rocky Mountain National Park and in Green Lakes Valley. Tell us about that.

These long-term projects feel special to me because in addition to creating useful data, repeatedly visiting these sites allows us to get to know the lakes and develop a connection with them. Last season, I watched the Loch thaw bloom in the spring. Then, in the fall, I watched as the trees lost their leaves and the lake froze over again.

We deploy buoys in the lakes that measure temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration. In the winter, the ice freezes over the top and the buoy is pushed down about a meter below the surface. Even though we carefully map out where each one is in the fall, the ice inevitably pulls them around during the colder months.

On one of my first field days this summer we hiked our boats in four miles to the Loch and then spent two more hours paddling in circles looking for our buoy. Everyone cheered when we finally found it.

Gannon's field photos (click to zoom)

Your lab collaborated with the forest service this summer. Tell us about that.

We looked at two remote mountain lakes in the San Juan Mountains that are experiencing algal blooms. This, in and of itself, is strange. You don’t usually see algal blooms in watersheds that have been minimally impacted by people.

In order to get all our gear in to collect samples, our team brought in a team of six mules and horses. They were hilarious and adorable. We would just sit in camp in the evening and watch them play around in the pasture. Having help from the pack animals and forest service amplified the project. We were able to collect much more data than we would have on our own.

You were busy this summer. Did you have time to work on your own research?

Yes. I got the first project for my PhD off the ground. I’m investigating methane and carbon dioxide accumulation in two alpine lakes. One is above the treeline while the other is below.

The fellowship allowed me to scout out lakes, order materials and find collaborators here at CU to help me run my samples. Now I have two months of data. We’re also collecting samples through the winter to see if methane and carbon dioxide build up under winter ice.

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 gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

INSTAAR’s Sarah Crump Graduate Fellowship is now accepting applications from ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� graduate students whose research is centered on processes or climate history in high-latitude or high-altitude environments. Last year’s recipient, Katie Gannon, recalls an eventful summer of field science.

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Oleksy

What does a record-breaking wildfire season mean for life in alpine lakes?

An emerging field

Global implications

Related Articles

Why pristine mountain lakes are suddenly turning green (Scientific American)

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What Colorado’s mountain lakes can tell scientists about climate change (Aspen Times)

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Rapid researcher Q&A: Billings, Sklenar, St Laurent, and Ross (MRS News)

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INSTAAR’s most read news stories of 2025

The top five

The runner up

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Air pollution and warming are changing Colorado’s remote alpine lakes

A changing landscape

Preventing toxic blooms

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The power of pack mules: harnessing partnerships with land stewards for remote ecosystem research (ASLO)

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INSTAAR faculty among those awarded undergraduate research grants (UROP)

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Earth Day: 6 sustainability stories from INSTAAR in 2025

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INSTAAR’s 2024 Sarah Crump Fellow reflects on an adventurous season in the Rockies

You worked on a lot of different projects this summer. Tell us about one that stood out?

You also worked on lake monitoring efforts in Rocky Mountain National Park and in Green Lakes Valley. Tell us about that.

Your lab collaborated with the forest service this summer. Tell us about that.

You were busy this summer. Did you have time to work on your own research?

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