News | Research

INSTAAR research is featured in thousands of news stories and more than 10,000 social media posts per year. Outlets include the New York Times, Washington Post, PBS NewsHour, National Public Radio, and as well as more regional news outlets like High Country News, 9News, and the Denver Post. Selected highlights are listed below. Additional stories are noted .

Wildfire burns in a steep conifer forest at night

INSTAAR's Dr Lauren Magliozzi on the impact of wildfires on water quality (KOA)

Aug. 1, 2024

Lauren Magliozzi joined KOA radio hosts Marty Lenz and Jeana Gondek for a seven-minute conversation on how fire impacts the environment, particularly water systems and their changing sedimentology, geochemistry, hydrology, and ecology. Key differences occur between wildfires in the mountains and urban conflagrations like the Marshall Fire.

Wildfire flames shoot into a blue sky

Experts available to discuss record heat, wildfires (CU Boulder)

July 31, 2024

As wildfires swept across North America in the past few weeks, the world also broke an all-time heat record on July 22. These disasters and extreme weather events are affecting everything from public health to infrastructure and ecosystem resilience. Laren Magliozzi is one of five CU Boulder experts who are available to media for discussions on a range of issues related to record heat, wildfires and climate change.

A burnt car in Superior, CO after the Marshall Fire. (Credit: Lauren Magliozzi/CU Boulder)

Wildfires don’t just burn. They can also pollute aquatic ecosystems (CU Boulder Today)

July 29, 2024

Lauren Magliozzi shares her findings from the devastating 2021 Marshall Fire and California’s 2018 Camp Fire, detailing how these fires have impacted aquatic ecosystems. Her team found toxic metals, including copper, lead and zinc from building and car ash, can leach into streams and rivers, threatening water security and the health of aquatic organisms.

Icebergs in the Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland. Photo by Megan Thompson-Munson, CIRES

Warming has more impact than cooling on Greenland's "firn" (CIRES)

July 25, 2024

A new study found Greenland's "firn" - the spongy layer between ice and snow - is more sensitive to warming than cooling. More specifically, warming temperatures are rapidly changing how efficiently firn can store meltwater, and cooling temperatures may not help it fully recover. Megan Thompson-Munson, a CIRES and ATOC PhD student, led the study alongside her advisors: CIRES Fellow Jen Kay and INSTAAR Fellow Brad Markle.

With blurred wings, a chickadee pops out of a nesting box holding something in its beak as it flies off. Photo credit: Jeff Mitton

Curious patterns of chickadees (How on Earth)

July 24, 2024

Why do black-capped chickadees mate with mountain chickadees? And how does the sharp memory of these songbirds serve them over winter? Listen to a 25-minute KGNU science show, with Scott Taylor and host Susan Moran.

A small, plump redpoll finch sits on a tree branch. Unsplash photo from Andrey Strizhkov.

The redpoll finch saga: How two bird species just became one (CU Boulder Today)

July 18, 2024

The American Ornithological Society announced that the hoary redpoll finch, a small, plump bird commonly found in the Arctic, will be reclassified as the same species as the common redpoll finch, a smaller bird found in similar habitats. This announcement came as a direct result of a 2021 study led by the Taylor Lab which found that, despite their different looks, very few genetic differences exist between the two types of birds.

Mendenhall Glacier in Alaska spills over a cliff edge and calves into a lake at its terminus

Alaska’s top-heavy glaciers are approaching an irreversible tipping point (The Conversation)

July 4, 2024

The melting of the Juneau Icefield in Alaska—one of North America’s largest icefields—has accelerated and could soon reach an irreversible tipping point, according to a paper by Davies et al. published in Nature Communications. Coauthors include Brad Markle of INSTAAR and Geological Sciences. He is also Director of Academics for the Juneau Icefield Research Program.

Valerie Morris, in puffy fur-lined parka, carries a section of the GISP2 ice core in a wooden tray at the NSF Ice Core Facility.

Old core, new data: 鶹Ժ unlock knowledge about past Arctic climates

June 27, 2024

Tyler Jones, Brad Markle, and Valerie Morris are leading a group of students in resampling the Greenland Ice Sheet Project Two (GISP2) core to investigate mechanisms of abrupt climate change and extreme events of the past. The original measurements (e.g., water isotopes) numbered a few thousand while the new measurements will create millions of data points.

CU Boulder incoming PhD student Paloma Siegel carries an autonomous aircraft (~10 foot wingspan) away from an Alaskan landing strip after a flight

Flight Ops supports INSTAAR research in Alaska (CU Boulder Public Safety)

June 25, 2024

For the second summer in a row, the CU Boulder Division of Public Safety's Flight Operations department is supporting important campus research in Alaska, as part of the Navigating the New Arctic project (principal investigator: Tyler Jones), which is being managed by researchers in the Stable Isotope Lab of INSTAAR.

The Imja Glacier was in 1960 one of the largest in the Khumbu region and is now a lake. Photos by Erwin Schneider / Alton Byers

Las fotos de cien años de escaladas al Everest muestran el impacto del deshielo: “Es la escena de un crimen” (El Diario)

June 17, 2024

Scientists, climbers and local communities come together to warn of the impact of warming on the Himalayas, which is evident when comparing photographs taken over time, and puts the lives of millions of people at risk. Many of the most revealing photographs of the valleys near Everest have been taken by Alton Byers, who has been repeating the photos made by pioneering climbers for years to show the spectacular changes taking place in this region.

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