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INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈

@instaar.bsky.social

950 followers 570 following 320 posts

Institute of Arctic & Alpine Research - Earth & environmental science at CU Boulder. Research & education on the past, present, & future of Earth systems in service of a just & thriving world https://www.colorado.edu/instaar/

www.colorado.edu

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INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · Apr 10

Hi! 👋 We are scientists studying Earth & environmental systems at CU Boulder. Our name = cold/high places, but these days we work from tropics to poles, incl. the world ocean. Follow us for
🧊 Cold regions
⌛ Past climate
🏔️ Earth surface processes
💨 Atmospheric gases
🌱 Ecological change
& lots more!

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Reposted by INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈

University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) @colorado.edu · 1d

It’s Research & Innovation Week at CU Boulder! 🔬

October 6–10, join events across campus that celebrate collaboration and leadership in research.

See what’s happening all week ↓
https://bit.ly/4mLAmMT

Collaborate, discover and contribute during Research & Innovation Week Oct. 6–10

Join other faculty, students and staff during a week of research and innovation events designed to elevate awareness across campus, build a sense of shared

bit.ly

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Reposted by INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈

Navigating the New Arctic Community Office @arctictogether.bsky.social · 1d

“We are hoping to provide communities with some applicable information, like when and where the water would be too warm for salmon, which could help them decide whether to reduce fishing."
www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...

As salmon disappear in warming rivers, Indigenous communities face an uncertain future

New research shows that climate change is exacerbating salmon declines in the Arctic, but warming waters could give another fish species a temporary boost.

www.colorado.edu

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INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 4d

INSTAAR alum Alia Khan joins CU Boulder's Smead Aerospace

Previously at Western Washington Univ., she combines environmental chemistry & remote sensing to document snow and ice melt in mountainous & polar regions www.colorado.edu/aerospace/we...

Welcoming Associate Professor Alia Khan to Smead Aerospace

www.colorado.edu

INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 4d

❄️ "Recent developments in remote sensing of snow water equivalent using synthetic aperture radar" 🛰️

Join us for Ross Palomaki's Monday noon talk at INSTAAR:
• Free event
• Oct 6th 12pm
• SEEC rm S228 & on Zoom
More info: calendar.colorado.edu/event/instaa...

Reposted by INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈

NSF NCAR & UCAR @ncar-ucar.bsky.social · 5d

The 2025 Super Science Saturday is going to be… well, SUPER! 🦸‍♂️ Hosted by UCAR SciEd, our heroic staff are assembling on Sat, Nov. 1 from 10AM-4PM for a super-powered day of science and fun for the whole family at the Mesa Lab! https://scied.ucar.edu/visit/ncar/super-science-saturday

Graphic includes text "Heroes Assemble" in an exclamation bubble, the text "Super Science Saturday" with an orange background. One photo on the top includes scientists at an activity table talking to children, and the bottom photo shows a scientist helping a group of children to deploy a weather balloon.

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INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 6d

See a related thread from CREAF at bsky.app/profile/crea...

CREAF @creaf.cat · 16d

Boreal plants are moving into the #Arctic and reshaping #tundra landscapes 🌱❄️

A 🟢NEW STUDY🟢 led by @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social and @creaf.cat reveals shrubs and grasses from boreal forests are expanding north.

So what? 👇

Persicaria bistorta, common bistort in the swiss alps. Credit_ Mariana Garcia Criado

INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 6d

🌱 New ecology paper:
A large team led by Mariana García Criado (U Edinburgh) analyzed 1,100+ plots in the Arctic (40 years of data) to look in detail at how boreal plants are increasing on the tundra as the climate warms. Sarah Elmendorf (INSTAAR+EBIO) is a co-author. Read the thread ⬇️

Dr. Mariana García Criado @nanitundra.bsky.social · 16d

🌲 Boreal-tundra species drive Arctic plant borealization 🌲

Our new study in #EcologyLetters quantifies tundra plant borealization, assesses its main drivers and identifies the species & traits contributing to borealization.

doi.org/10.1111/ele....

🧵 (1/6) 🌐🧪🌱🌍

Illustration of a branch of Betula glandulosa (Resin birch). Illustration by Alberto S. Ballesteros (@asbillustration.bsky.social).

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INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 6d

79th Rocky Mountain Hydrologic Research Center Meeting
🗓️ Friday Nov. 7th 2025
📍 CU Boulder
🌊 Submit any hydro-related research
🧑🏽‍🎓 Students encouraged
💲 Cost is $15 to $40
🔜 Abstracts due 31 Oct
rmhrc.org/annual-meeti...

View downstream of the North St. Vrain Creek on the property of the Rocky Mountain Hydraulic Laboratory.

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Reposted by INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈

Niwot Ridge LTER @niwotridgelter.bsky.social · 12d

Congratulations, Dr. Lauren Shoemaker, on your NSF CAREER award!

nwt.lternet.edu/news/shoemak...

Dr. Lauren Shoemaker earns NSF Career Award to support her research on Niwot Ridge and beyond. — Niwot Ridge LTER

Dr. Lauren Shoemaker, an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming and senior investigator with the Niwot Ridge LTER, uses manipulative experiments to better understand how populations and comm...

nwt.lternet.edu

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INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 7d

Among other results, the team's work shows the power of pairing sediment samples from nearby oxygen-rich & oxygen-poor lakes. Careful assessment of ancient DNA & lipids in these lake sediments shows natural climate, not humans, controlled Holocene vegetation changes in NE Iceland

INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 7d

🚨 New paleoclimate proxy paper from a team of INSTAARs, working with colleagues from UC Santa Cruz & U of Iceland. 1st author David Harning now works with CIRES & NOAA, but remains an INSTAAR Affiliate. Congrats all! 👏🏽

David Harning @davidharning.bsky.social · 13d

New paper on ancient DNA and lipids from Icelandic lakes. This one threw some unexpected results and now has me thinking a lot about lake oxygen’s role in organic matter preservation, the climate proxies derived from them, and past methane cycling. #Paleosky www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Both redox potential and climate control molecular proxies in Icelandic Holocene lake sediments

Communications Earth & Environment - Recovery of complementary materials from well-ventilated and seasonally stratified lakes can allow reliable reconstruction of local temperature and...

www.nature.com

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INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 7d

New paper: PFAS detected above health guidelines in 49% of private well samples from 4 US states. About half of affected households installed water filters upon learning their water test results

Study led by Erica Wood (RTI Int'l) includes Riley Mulhern (ENVS+INSTAAR) pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

PFAS in Rural U.S. Well Water: Using Participatory Science to Identify and Communicate Results to Address Risks

Drinking water contributes 1.2–61% of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure, but little information is available on PFAS in private wells serving 17% of the U.S. population.…

pubs.acs.org

INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 8d

Are you a grad student? Learn how to turn complex research into clear, engaging stories with Dr. Samuel “Sammy” Ramsey on Thursday Oct 2nd 10:30am. The CU Boulder Graduate School is hosting his presentation.

Register through this link: calendar.colorado.edu/event/scicom...

Advertisement for Dr. Sammy Ramsey's presentation on SciComm 101: how to give a great talk. Thursday Oct 2nd 2-25 10:30 am in the CU Boulder Center for Community (C4c), Flatirons Room, N301. Sammy is pictured in a beekeeper coat with bees covering both of his hands.

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INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 8d

🙏🏽 Thank you Edgart Flores Rafael! We're sorry to see you head off to 🇨🇱 but appreciate all your efforts, incl. your awesome postdoc research & for co-leading the Spanish Language Lunch Table with Leanne Lestak!

All are welcome to future lunch table meetings: calendar.colorado.edu/event/spanis...

Edgart Flores Rafael and Leanne Lestak strike a funny pose next to a sign for the Spanish Language Lunch Table, a monthly meeting that they have led together.

Reposted by INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈

Niwot Ridge LTER @niwotridgelter.bsky.social · 12d

nwt.lternet.edu/news/snow-bl...

Snow blankets Niwot Ridge in early fall storm. — Niwot Ridge LTER

In the shoulder seasons, a day of rain at lower-elevations often means snow up on Niwot Ridge. That was the case this past week when a soggy day in Boulder, CO coincided with a blanket of snow on the ...

nwt.lternet.edu

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INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 12d

👏🏽 Congrats to Linda Holubar Sanabria! She received Boulder County's Land Conservation Award for preserving the 493-acre Spruce Gulch property with conservation easements, forever ensuring its protection bouldercounty.gov/open-space/m...
Spruce Gulch Reserve info: www.colorado.edu/instaar/rese...

View from atop a steep grassy hillslope in the Colorado foothills looking eastward past more hills and cliffs and onto the plains. Above is a bright blue sky with puffy white clouds. Photo taken from the Spruce Gulch Wildlife and Research Reserve outside Boulder, Colorado. Credit: Linda Holubar Sanabria.

INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 12d

Warren Sconiers (EBIO & INSTAAR) has started a three-year term of service as a CU Boulder faculty fellow creating programming to support teaching and clinical professors through the unique challenges that characterize their careers. Thank you Warren! 🙏🏽
www.colorado.edu/facultyaffai...

Warren Sconiers working on Niwot Ridge Colorado

INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 12d

RIP Alfred Scott McLaren (1932-2025)
🎓 CU Boulder PhD 1986, Arctic under-ice surveys (John Andrews & Nel Caine on his committee).
🎖️ Captain of a nuclear attack submarine.
📍 President, Explorers Club.
🚢 Dives on Titanic & Bismarck.
➕ much more.
See CV alfredmclaren.academia.edu

Surfaced at the North Pole, August 1970. Chief Quartermaster Jack Patterson, dressed as Santa Claus, greets Commander Alfred S. McLaren, USN, Commanding Officer of the USS Queenfish.

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Reposted by INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈

CIRES @cires.colorado.edu · 13d

A new generation of early-career polar professionals came to Boulder, CO this spring with a vision to transform how polar research is conducted, funded, and shared with the world. The results are now available in a comprehensive synthesis report buff.ly/iZnxw4o #PECWS @polarsecco.bsky.social

Early-career polar researchers chart course for more collaborative future

PSECCO-hosted summit convenes early-career community from five continents to reimagine polar science

cires.colorado.edu

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Reposted by INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈

Arielle Koshkin @akoshkin.bsky.social · 20d

Our latest research on fire impacts on snow melt timing across the Western US was just published in @aaas.org Science Advances. Read here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Impact of current and warmer climate conditions on snow cover loss in burned forests

Wildfires are causing earlier snowmelt across the western US, and this effect would be exacerbated with projected warmer winters.

www.science.org

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INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 12d

🔥 Wildfires are causing earlier ❄️ snowmelt across the western U.S.

For this new research, INSTAAR Fellow Karl Rittger teamed with Arielle Koshkin & Adrienne Marshall of the Colorado School of Mines.
www.minesnewsroom.com/news/snow-me...

Snow melts earlier in burned forests, new Science Advances study finds

Wildfires are causing earlier snowmelt across the western U.S., and this effect would only be exacerbated by projected warmer winters. This is according to a new study led by Colorado School of Mines…

www.minesnewsroom.com

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INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 13d

Hola A Todos! 👋🏾 Join the Spanish Language Lunch table this Thursday, Sept 25th at 12pm in the SEEC Café. We'll have lots of fun while practicing our vocabulary & listening skills. All welcome.
Cohosts: Edgart Flores Rafael & Leanne Lestak
calendar.colorado.edu/event/spanis...

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

INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 13d

INSTAAR fellow Alexandra Jahn @seaiceclimate.bsky.social has spent more than a decade studying sea ice and how it's changing in the 21st century. Last year, she visited an arctic community that is feeling those changes first hand. theconversation.com/a-walk-acros...

A walk across Alaska’s Arctic sea ice brings to life the losses that appear in climate data

A polar scientist explains the changes hunters who rely on the ice are seeing off Utqiagvik, and how those shifts are echoed in satellite data and climate models.

theconversation.com

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INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 14d

🏆 Congrats to Nathalie Vriend (Mechanical Engineering + INSTAAR) for being selected as a CU Boulder Outstanding Postdoc Mentor of the Year!
www.colorado.edu/postdoctoral...

Image of Nathalie Vriend of Mechanical Engineering and INSTAAR. Overlying text congratulates her on being a CU Boulder Outstanding Postdoc Mentor of the Year

INSTAAR 🏳️‍🌈 @instaar.bsky.social · 19d

"Science opportunities at the CU Spruce Gulch Wildlife and Research Reserve"

Join us for Tim Seastedt's Monday noon talk at INSTAAR:
🆓 Free event
🗓 Sept 22nd
🕖 12:00 pm
📍 SEEC rm S228 & on Zoom
🔗 calendar.colorado.edu/event/instaa...

Volunteers in orange hard hats remove invasive spotted knapweed from an upland meadow on the Spruce Gulch Reserve during a co-sponsored U.S. Forest Service event. (Photo: Tim Seastedt)