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Effects of climate change on snow algae in the Cascades

Brooke L. Weigel, PhD (she/her)

NSF Postdoctoral Fellow

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Dr. Jodi Young (UW Oceanography)

Dr. Robin Kodner (Western WA University)

NSF postdoc fellowship advisors

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Productivity

(Net photosynthesis)

Snow algae biomass

Reduces

snow albedo

Environment (Light, CO2 levels)

Community composition

❄️

Snowmelt

💧

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6 field sites in the Cascade Mountains

Twin Sisters

Bagley Lake

Yellow Aster Butte

Ptarmigan Ridge

Mt. Watson

Black Peak

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Bagley Lake

Yellow Aster Butte

Mt. Watson

Black Peak

Twin Sisters

Ptarmigan Ridge

All images 40 x magnification

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Diverse snow algal communities increased photosynthetic rates in response to rising CO2

420 ppm

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Transfer function

f(?)

Sonja Wahl

Water isotopes

Ice Core Water Isotope Record

Isotope signal

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Does blowing snow influence snow isotopic composition?

d-excess change (‰)

δ18O change (‰)

Yes!

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19 experiments

f(wind)?

PostDoc @ UW

Cold lab experiments with wind tunnel

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Gemma O’Connor - Oceanography

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Why are outlet glaciers in West Antarctica rapidly retreating?

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West Antarctica

East Antarctica

Complex ice-ocean-atmosphere interactions govern melting

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British Antarctic Survey

What are the atmospheric drivers of ice loss?

Wind

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High resolution ocean modeling to investigate wind/ocean dynamics

1. How do various wind patterns affect CDW transport (melt)?

2. Can historical wind trends explain glacier retreat?

Movie by Shuntaro Hyogo

Simulated 300m depth Ocean Speeds

Holland et al., 2022

20th century wind trends from proxy reconstructions

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Tailong He-Atmos “Increased methane emissions from oil and gas after the Soviet Union’s collapse”

We use deep learning to detect oil and gas methane leaks from Turkmenistan in historical satellite data sets.

USSR’s collapse

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Increased emissions and leak rates in the 1990s

  • Increased methane emissions from Turkmen oil and gas basins after the USSR’s collapse.
  • Increased leak rates from Turkmen oil and gas sector after the USSR’s collapse.
  • Our results suggest the socioeconomic turmoil led to a lack of oversight and infrastructure failure in Turkmenistan’s oil and gas sector.

USSR’s collapse

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Laramie Jensen - APL SEED Postdoctoral Fellow

  1. Graduate student at Texas A&M University (graduated 2020)

Dissertation: The biogeochemistry of dissolved and colloidal trace metals (Fe, Zn, Ni, Cu, Mn, Cd) in the Western Arctic Ocean

2. Postdoctoral Scholar at UW-CICOES (2020-2023)

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3. Postdoctoral Fellow at the Applied Physics Lab (2023-present)

Seasonal and interannual variability of trace metals and nutrients in the Bering Strait

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Advised by: Drs. Rebecca Woodgate and Cecilia Peralta-Ferriz

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Trace metals in the Bering Strait

Trace metals are essential micronutrients for phytoplankton in the ocean

Across the Arctic, productivity is increasing, likely as a result of an increase in nutrient supply (Lewis et al., 2020). This remains untested.

Objective: collect high-resolution (6km) metal and macronutrient samples at the point of Pacific inflow (the Bering Strait) over 3-5 years

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Combine with mooring volume transport observations to get flux estimates

Interannual and seasonal variability in micro and macronutrients, samples from Summer 2023 in progress