An in-person tutorial on the Community Land Model will take place at the National Center for Atmospheric Research from November 16 - 19. Learn more and register.
Join us to learn more about efforts to broaden participation on Niwot Ridge!
Questions? Please email us for additional information!
Join us for a special meeting of research presentations by postdoctoral researchers! Megan Szojka from Case Western University, Courtenay Ray from the University of Wyoming, and Chase Rakowski from the CU Boulder will present on their recent work on Niwot Ridge.
Questions? Please email us for additional information!
Join us for our first meeting of the fall semester! This meeting is a working group on our annual report to the National Science Foundation. Staff and investigators with materials to contribute are particularly encouraged to attend, and all are welcome!
Questions? Please email us for additional information!
Dr. Chris Ray, a pika researcher with the Niwot Ridge LTER and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, will be giving a talk in Breckenridge, CO as part of the TEDx event, “Kaleidoscope. Many perspectives, one brilliant pattern — a day of ideas worth spreading in the heart of the Rockies.” Learn more from the CU Events Calendar and TEDxBreckenridge.
Join the LTER Network for an onboarding session for those new to LTER sites. Learn more and register.
Dr. Meagan Oldfather of the USGS North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center and the Niwot Ridge LTER is co-leading a network community call on evaluating ecological efficacy of climate adaptation actions. Learn more and register on the LTER Network website.
Questions? Please email us for additional information!
On Wednesday evenings from June through August, scientists from the Niwot Ridge LTER and beyond will give talks at the CU Boulder Mountain Research Station on topics ranging from songbirds and feral horses to hydrology, soil science, and responsible use of artificial intelligence. These seminars are free, open to the public, and do not require reservations. Visit the MRS Summer Seminar Series webpage for more information.
June 03- Dr. Nancy Emery, The Niwot Ridge LTER
June 10- Dr. Jim Adelman, Causes and consequences of heterogeneous responses to infection in a wild songbird
June 17- Dr. Cassandra Nuñez, Go right to the source and ask the horse: Investigating behavioral and physiological responses to contraception management in the feral horse
June 24- Dr. Arthur Lima e Silva, From science to action: How the UN connects young scientists to ecosystem restoration
July 01- Dr. Kai Kopecky, Life after death: How dead organisms serve as nature's memories
July 08- Dr. Sierra Gugel, CrustNet: A global network for biological soil crust ecology
July 15- Nicolas Tarasewicz, Insights into subalpine snowmelt using high-resolution radiative energy modeling
July 22- Dr. Cassie Buhler, Responsibly using AI for conservation decision-making
July 29- Abigail Ross, Microbes across mountain watersheds: How hydrologic source shapes microbial community structure, function, and nutrient cycling in alpine streams
Aug 05- Aylin Barreras, Seasonal water use strategies and their trade-offs with carbon gain in subalpine conifers.
Aug 12- Dave Hollock, Changes in the avian community of a Front Range landscape: 40 years of the Indian Peaks Bird Count
Aug 19- Dr. Katie Suding, Special feature for the MRS and INSTAAR anniversaries
Aug 26- Dr. Scott Taylor, Chickadees (Title TBD)
Questions? Please email us for additional information!
BioBlitz is a fast-paced, fun event where we team up with 4th grade students to explore their schoolyard and document as much biodiversity as we can find — plants, bugs, aquatic critters, birds, and lots more. Last year we found over 150 species in just a couple of hours!
The goal isn’t perfect science — it’s about sparking curiosity, getting kids outside, and showing them how scientists see and understand the world around them. Volunteer teachers from Classrooms for Climate Action will be helping us as well, so we’ll have plenty of adults to help wrangle excited 10 year olds! But… We need enthusiastic volunteers to:
Help students ID species using field guides and the Seek app/iNaturalist/Merlin
Share fun facts about nature
Encourage curiosity and wonder
Be the awesome role models I know you all are!
No experience required — just a love of the outdoors and a willingness to explore with kids. Sound fun? Email us to get involved!
Graduate students from across the LTER Network are presenting flash talks on their research. Learn more and register.
Join us for our annual field orientation and safety meeting. This meeting is required for all conducting research on Niwot Ridge this field season.
Questions? Please email us for additional information!
Curious about what Niwot graduate students have been up to over the past year? Join us for a series of talks by grad students to find out!
If you wish to attend, email us for additional information!
Join us for our annual education and outreach meeting. Dr. Alexandra Rose will lead an activity aimed at enhancing our ability to engage with our local community.
If you wish to attend, email us for additional information!
Join us for a two talks by new-to-Niwot researchers Drs. Jazylnn Hall and Ben Maglio. They will be presenting on above- and below-ground processes in forest and tundra ecosystems.
If you wish to attend, email us for additional information!
Data Session Topic: Getting started with ecological synthesis.
Details: This will the be first in a series of three skills sessions focused on the nuts and bolts of ecological synthesis. For this first module, we will focus on strategies for effective team science.
If you wish to attend, email us for additional information!
Join us for a talk on subalpine forests by Dr. Sandra Durán from the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship at Colorado State University.
If you wish to attend, email us for additional information!
If you’re:
A scientist curious about collaborating with artists to communicate your research
An artist looking for scientific inspiration
Or someone who bridges both worlds
…we’d love to have you join us on Wednesday, November 5 from 3-5pm at the Dairy Arts Center for an event that brings scientists and artists together in an informal gathering to explore where creativity, research, and imagination meet. Come share ideas, make connections, and see what new collaborations may emerge around data-based art—or simply enjoy conversation about how science and art both offer ways of knowing and understanding the world!
Over the past year, we’ve had several inspiring conversations between scientists and artists, and we’re excited to continue this series, alternating between The Dairy Arts Center and CU Boulder’s SEEC building.
RSVP here (RSVP is helpful, but not required)
Join us for a talk on snow water resources and climate change by Dr. Keith Musselman from CU Boulder’s Department of Geography and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.
If you wish to attend, email us for additional information!
Data Session Topic: TBD
If you wish to attend, email us for additional information!
Join us for a talk on mountain climatology and precipitation by Dr. Katja Friedrich from CU Boulder’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science.
If you wish to attend, email us for additional information!
As the leaves change from green to gold, ecologists and evolutionary biologists congregate once again at the CU Boulder Mountain Research Station to share results and exchange ideas at the 2025 Guild of Rocky Mountain Ecologists and Evolutionary Biologists (GREEBs) meeting.
For more information, including keynote speakers and registration costs, visit the GREEBs meeting webpage.
Join us for highlights from our Niwot Ridge LTER midterm site retreat, as well as for important updates from the LTER Network office.
If you wish to attend, email us for additional information!
Data Session Topic: Using artificial intelligence tools in your coding life.
Additional Details: This data skills session is a very short introduction to AI tools that may speed up your every day life as a researcher. The field is moving fast and what is relevant/true today may not be tomorrow. The aim is to give an overview of things you might try, some tips on how to get started, and to give you the confidence to continue exploring on your own.
Note that this session is NOT about using deep learning to analyze data. Rather, we'll discuss how to use Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to do a variety of researcher tasks more efficiently. Examples include code development & documentation, tweaking figures, meeting notes, etc. Please feel free to bring your own examples too. The first 30 minutes or so will be instructional, the second 30 minutes will give you time to practice using AI tools on your own or in small groups.
If you wish to attend, email us for additional information!
Miles Moore, a CU Boulder PhD student and researcher with the Niwot Ridge LTER, will be giving a talk on alpine tundra productivity through the Environmental Data Science Seminar Series. Follow this link for more information, including options for joining the meeting in-person or by remotely.
Title: Divergent trends in alpine tundra productivity linked to changes in snow-cover and summer temperature.
Speaker: Miles Moore, CU Boulder
Abstract: Alpine tundra productivity responses to climate change remain largely unknown in the Southern Rocky Mountains despite evidence of widespread greening in Arctic and Eurasian alpine systems. Using 39 years of Landsat data, 20 years of field biomass records, and a four-year warming–snow experiment, we show that regional NDVI declined slightly overall but exhibited strong spatial divergence across latitudinal gradients: warming reduced productivity in experiments, and browning was most common where growing seasons lengthened, while greening occurred where they’ve shortened. Finally, we examine preliminary NDVI trends at GLORIA sites across North America.
Speaker Bio: Miles is a PhD student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at CU Boulder studying vegetation phenology and productivity. His research focuses on applying computational methods to understand how biological systems respond to environmental change under uncertainty. By combining Bayesian modeling, machine learning, and high-performance computing, he works to create data-driven, theoretically informed models of ecological processes, with a particular emphasis on alpine and mountain landscapes.
If you wish to attend, email us for additional information!
As part of the CU Mountain Research Station Summer Seminars, Mary Jade Farruggia will give a talk this Wednesday at the Mountain Research Station. MJ is a postdoctoral researcher in CU Boulder’s Mountain Limnology Lab working on synthesizing long-term mountain lake ecosystem datasets to detect and quantify drivers of change.
Talk Title: Smoke on the water: Impacts of wildfire smoke and ash on mountain lake water quality.
Talk Description: Wildfires are increasing in frequency and severity across North America. At first glance, high-elevation mountain lakes may seem relatively safe from fire – after all, fire and water don’t mix. But as it turns out, even remote mountain lakes far from the actual burned area can feel the impacts of fire. Wildfires produce large smoke plumes that can travel hundreds of miles beyond the actual bounds of the fire. Smoke transported from wildfires can block sunlight for days to weeks on end, and deposit ash carrying nutrients or toxic compounds into the water. We will explore lake exposure to smoke across North America and how it could affect lake water quality, and consider how the iconic mountain lakes we all love may actually be especially sensitive to wildfire smoke.
Talk Time/Location: 7PM in the Megatron @ the CU Boulder Mountain Research Station
Learn more about the MRS @ https://www.colorado.edu/mrs/
View upcoming seminars @ https://www.colorado.edu/mrs/current-events/2025-summer-seminar-series
As part of the CU Mountain Research Station Summer Seminars, Sara Padula will give a talk this Wednesday at the Mountain Research Station. Sara is a Niwot Ridge LTER graduate student and PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at CU Boulder. Her work focuses on the the genetic basis of spatial cognition in local bird species.
Talk Title: Hide It, find it, survive: The incredible memory of chickadees
Talk Description: Imagine scattering thousands of snacks across a snow-covered forest and months later, remembering exactly where each one is hidden. For chickadees, this isn’t just a challenge, it’s a way of life. These tiny songbirds survive the winter by storing food items around their environment when resources are plentiful and use their incredible spatial memories to find them again. But how do they do it? To unravel this mystery, I combine field experiments with cutting-edge genetic analyses to uncover the genes that contribute to their incredible memory capabilities. By investigating this question, I aim to uncover how memory evolves and how species that depend on it, like chickadees, may adapt to environmental changes brought on by climate change.
Talk Time/Location: 7PM in the Megatron @ the CU Boulder Mountain Research Station
Learn more about the MRS @ https://www.colorado.edu/mrs/
View upcoming seminars @ https://www.colorado.edu/mrs/current-events/2025-summer-seminar-series
The 2025 Niwot Ridge LTER Midterm Site Retreat will bring Niwot investigators, students, and staff together to connect, share research progress, and brainstorm. The retreat will include research talks, a poster session, and structured brainstorming sessions. A detailed schedule for will be available by late-June.
Please email us for additional information.
This meeting is mandatory for all students, faculty, and staff conducting field research on Niwot Ridge over the coming year.
Please email us for additional information including meeting location.
On April 9th from 9AM-10AM, Megan Szojka will present her defense talk, “Species interactions mitigate global change within dis-equilibrial communities.“
Megan is a Niwot graduate student and PhD Candidate at the University of Wyoming. If you wish to attend her talk, please email us for additional information.
Graduate students funded by the Niwot Ridge LTER will update the Niwot community on their research progress.
Please email us for additional information including meeting location.
New in 2025: Optional information sessions on Niwot data for 30 minutes prior to the All-NWT meetings.
Data Session Topic: Submitting Niwot data for archiving. We will cover ezEML, updating existing datasets and Niwot data policies.
Additional Details: Please consider attending this data session if you have ever found yourself asking….
Do I need to submit data to Niwot?
How do I submit data to Niwot?
I found an error in a dataset I already published with Niwot, what do I do?
How does data submission through Niwot differ from other repositories to which I send data?
If you wish to attend, please email us for additional information.
James Rattling Leaf from the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center will lead a meeting focused on cultural intelligence and indigenous knowledge.
Please email us for additional information including meeting location.
Featured image: James Rattling Leaf, photo by CIRES.
