Colorado State University Programs & People

Extreme Earth Research, From the Bottom Up

Updated January 2008

Sleeping bag rated for -85 degrees Fahrenheit. Check. Thermometer measuring temperatures below -70. Check. Dental appointment. Check. Ice-core drilling equipment. Check.

The routine is pretty familiar to Glen Liston.

Liston, an atmospheric scientist at CSU, traveled to the icy Antarctic in October to study affects of climate change with 10 U.S. and Norwegian researchers courtesy of the National Science Foundation and the Norwegian Research Council.

Polar Year unites researchers

He's part of an international science expedition participating in the 4th International Polar Year – a phenomenon that occurs approximately every 50 years.

During the 4th International Polar Year of 2007-2009, thousands of scientists from more than 60 countries will conduct more than 200 expeditions or projects on physical, biological and social issues in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Liston joins seven other CSU scientists who conduct IPY-related research. They are Diana Wall, Edward Ayres, John Moore, Breana Simmons and Matthew Wallenstein from the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory; Shane Kanatous in the Department of Biology; and Ken Reardon from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. 

A leader in polar research

"CSU is a leader in polar research and now in the International Polar Year, we are collaborating with colleagues from around the world on scientific research in the Arctic and Antarctic," said Wall. "The research being done at the poles will advance our understanding as to how these frigid ecosystems are tied to our lives and how their climate and hydrology affect the world."

Liston agrees on the importance of polar research and its implications to understanding climate change.

"It's easy to justify why we need to be looking more closely at the polar region now," Liston said. "What's happening in the Antarctic and the Arctic is much more dramatic than what's happening in mid-latitudes - shortening of the snow season, increases in temperature, changes to vegetation, thinning of sea ice, melting of ice sheets.

Travel to the ends of the Earth

Liston made one trip this spring to the Arctic to study snow distributions. In October, he flew to the Antarctic coast and spent the next four months traveling to the South Pole, across one of the planet's most extreme landscapes, collecting snow and ice samples.

Liston is a relatively new addition to CSU's Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere. He joined CIRA as a senior research scientist in 2006.

But he's no stranger to the extremes of the Earth's poles: He has spent roughly 4.5 of the past 27 years in the Arctic, Antarctic and mid-latitudes, and traversed 7,500 miles of polar climates to make more than 380,000 snow measurements.

That's equivalent to driving a snowmobile from Seattle to New York City two-and-a-half times.

And stopping to collect samples every 100 feet.

On this most recent expedition to the South Pole, Liston was one of only three American scientists joining eight Norwegian researchers. They traveled 2,000 miles across the Antarctic Ice Sheet to the South Pole, pausing frequently to drill and collect snow and ice samples to be shipped back to the United States.

Liston studies how snow is distributed across various landscapes to more accurately predict how climate change occurs. He is one of the few atmospheric scientists in the world who can do it all: He creates computer models to predict future climate changes and trudges into the field to determine whether his models are on target with his observations.

"Field observations keep the models honest," said Liston, who shrugs off any suggestion that his taste for the coldest spots in the world is extraordinary. "There's always things to do to improve them. Sometimes the models work in one application and not in another, so you make adjustments."

Liston, for example, has developed a model that simulates how snow is distributed across any landscape in the world, and how that snow influences atmospheric, hydrologic, and ecologic processes.

16-year Veteran of Antarctic Research

After Liston's work in Antarctica was complete, Colorado State University ecologist Diana Wall returned to the Antarctic in December.

Wall is a 16-year veteran of research in Antarctica where she has gained international acclaim studying how global climate change is affecting soil ecosystems and describes Antarctica as no other place on the earth.

"When you arrive on the ‘ice,' as the continent is fondly known by researchers, the first impression is the vastness of the white landscape," Wall said. "My team and I take a helicopter from the McMurdo Station, the U.S. research base in Antarctica, and fly across miles of ice to the largest ice-free area in Antarctica, the McMurdo Dry Valleys. Once the helicopter leaves us in the valleys, the impression is simply, Mars. I think to myself that I have landed on Mars – there is no visible life, just a sweeping landscape or rock, glaciers, frozen lakes, streams and soil. There is not a sound. It is just cold and yet this place is the most fantastic place on the planet."

CSU scientists conducting IPY research at the poles:

Shane Kanatous, Biology – In 2006, Kanatous completed his sixth expedition to the ice to the physiology of Weddell seals. The study investigated the unique adaptations that allow the muscles of an air breathing mammal to continue to function when the animal is not breathing by investigating how young seal pups develop into elite divers. Throughout his research, Kanatous kept an online blog detailing his studies. His blog has won two International Edublog Awards for "Best use of Blogs in Education" and "Best Group Blog."

John Moore, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory – Moore is a principal investigator on the National Science Foundation funded Arctic Long Term Ecological Research site at Toolik Lake in Alaska. Since 1998 he has studied the impact of climate change on the structure and function of soil microbial and invertebrate communities and their interactions with plants and vertebrate herbivores such as caribou and voles.

Ken Reardon, Chemical and Biological Engineering – Reardon will travel to Thule, Greenland this spring to study soil microorganisms to determine how they respond to freezing and thawing.  This investigation will employ cutting-edge techniques to identify and quantify hundreds of proteins in the microbial cells. The results will enhance understanding of these microbial processes and allow for better prediction of the future effects of climate change on tundra ecosystems.

Breana Simmons, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory – Simmons is currently involved in research examining soil biodiversity in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica. She is working to understand soil biodiversity and linkages between above- and belowground systems in a polar desert. Simmons is also interested in soil microarthropods and their effects on ecosystem functions.

Matthew Wallenstein, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory – Wallenstein's research focuses on the role of soil microorganisms in controlling ecosystem response to global change. In October, Wallenstein will be stationed in Thule, Greenland to study the biologic activity of soil microorganisms during the cold Arctic winter. His research group will also analyze soil microbes from Toolik Lake in the low arctic of Alaska. This study will enable researchers to better predict the future effects of climate change on Arctic ecosystems.

Diana Wall, Biology and Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory - Wall will be a 17-year veteran of Antarctic research when she travels south this December. Her research spans the icy continent examining how global climate change is affecting soil ecosystems, a project with the McMurdo Dry Valley Long Term Ecological Research Team. Wall and New Zealand scientists recently worked in a remote camp at Cape Hallet to understand carbon fluxes in soil food webs.

Diana Wall and Edward Ayres, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory – Wall and Ayres' current research involves examining global-scale distribution of soil invertebrates. Thanks to a $1.2 million National Science Foundation-funded project, Wall and Ayres are sampling soils from around the globe including Antarctica, North and South America, Africa, Europe and Australasia.