INSTAAR’s 2024 Sarah Crump Fellow reflects on an adventurous season in the Rockies
INSTAAR’s Sarah Crump Graduate Fellowship is now accepting applications from CU Boulder graduate students. Last year’s recipient, Katie Gannon, recalls an eventful summer of field science.
Sarah Crump was a beloved INSTAAR alum. After a hard-fought battle with an aggressive form of cancer, she passed peacefully in November 2022. Before she passed, Sarah designed a fellowship for CU Boulder graduate students studying earth or environmental science in high-latitude or high-altitude regions. The fellowship provides summer funding for one student each year. Women and other underrepresented groups in earth science are particularly encouraged to apply. Preference is given to applicants whose advisors are INSTAAR members. INSTAAR is accepting applications for the 2025 Sarah Crump fellowship now until February 28: Apply, donate or learn more.
Katie Gannon works on The Loch, a high altitude lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
As the applications start to roll in for 2025, INSTAAR sat down with Katie Gannon, the recipient of the 2025 Sarah Crump Graduate Fellowship, to hear about her experiences as a fellow. It turns out she had quite an adventurous summer. Sarah would have approved.
You worked on a lot of different projects this summer. Tell us about one that stood out?
At the start of the summer we worked on a research project in the Rawah Wilderness just west of Fort Collins. We were interested in how rock glaciers, which are underground ice formations in the mountains, impact lakes downstream.
We did two 4-day backpacking trips to get back there and both of them had their share of challenges. The first trip was freezing. We camped in the spring snow and had to post-hole for hours to get between study lakes
On the second trip, we were up high above the tree line when a thunderstorm blew in and it started hailing. We were at least 4 miles from camp, it was the middle of the day and we had at least one more lake to sample before we were done. So we hiked down off the ridge and huddled up in the trees to wait out the storm.
We were all cold and wet and mildly miserable. But then Bella (Gannon’s PhD advisor) started singing and dancing to Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go!” and we started singing and jumping up and down and dancing to stay warm. I was soaked through, shivering, and laughing hysterically, along with everyone else. It was a great reminder of how important it is to support each other and enjoy the ride.
In the end those trips were a great way to get to know my lab, and the glaciers were so wild to see. The water seeping out of the rock and into the lakes is barely above freezing even in the middle of the summer and it is laden with ions and trace minerals.
You also worked on lake monitoring efforts in Rocky Mountain National Parks and in Green Lakes Valley. Tell us about that.
These long-term projects feel special to me because in addition to creating useful data, repeatedly visiting these sites allows us to get to know the lakes and develop a connection with them. Last season, I watched thaw bloom in the spring. Then, in the fall, I watched as the trees lost their leaves and the lake froze over again.
We deploy buoys in the lakes that measure temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration. In the winter, the ice freezes over the top and the buoy is pushed down about a meter below the surface. Even though we carefully map out where each one is in the fall, the ice inevitably pulls them around during the colder months.
On one of my first field days this summer we hiked our boats in four miles to the Loch and then spent two more hours paddling in circles looking for our buoy. Everyone cheered when we finally found it.
Gannon's field photos (click to zoom)
Your lab collaborated with the forest service this summer. Tell us about that.
We looked at two remote mountain lakes in the San Juan Mountains that are experiencing algal blooms. This, in and of itself, is strange. You don’t usually see algal blooms in watersheds that have been minimally impacted by people.
In order to get all our gear in to collect samples, our team brought in a team of six mules and horses. They were hilarious and adorable. We would just sit in camp in the evening and watch them play around in the pasture. Having help from the pack animals and forest service amplified the project. We were able to collect much more data than we would have on our own.
You were busy this summer. Did you have time to work on your own research?
Yes. I got the first project for my PhD off the ground. I’m investigating methane and carbon dioxide accumulation in two alpine lakes. One is above the treeline while the other is below.
The fellowship allowed me to scout out lakes, order materials and find collaborators here at CU to help me run my samples. Now I have two months of data. We’re also collecting samples through the winter to see if methane and carbon dioxide build up under winter ice.
If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.