Introduction
Introduction:
Our Mission and Organization
|
|
|
Jim White
|
INSTAAR
An Earth and Environmental Systems Institute
University of Colorado at Boulder
The Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) develops scientific knowledge of physical and biogeochemical environmental processes at local, regional and global scales, and applies this knowledge to improve society's awareness and understanding of natural and anthropogenic environmental change.
The world's high-altitude and high-latitude regions are the Institute's traditional focus due to their sensitivity to environmental change. INSTAAR has increasingly broadened its geographic focus in a wide range of interdisciplinary studies of Quaternary and modern environments, research into geochronology, human and ecosystem ecology, hydrology, oceanography, landscape evolution, biogeochemistry, and climate.
INSTAAR's national and international research leadership in these areas is augmented by exceptional strength in graduate education as well as the exposure of undergraduates to the research process, and by outreach to the public both locally and nationally.
 |
Some INSTAAR research, education, and outreach activities. |
People. The institute consists of 291 members (end of 2006). Fellows and Research Scientists who govern the Institute total 35, 16 of which are teaching faculty. This group is supported by 40 professional scientists, 8 post-doctoral scientists, and 65 graduate students. Other PhD-level Institute scientists include 39 Research Affiliates (USGS, NCAR, NOAA, other Universities, and private companies) and 5 Visiting Scientists. During 2005–2006, the Institute supported 90 undergraduate research assistants. Our Mountain Research Station has a staff of 7 including faculty and instructors. The Institute’s administrative staff of 10 support all of its activities.
Budget. The majority of our $18.4M revenue for 2005–2006 came from federal agencies (59%), followed by the state of Colorado (CU: 19%), auxiliary lab operations (13%), and non-federal sources (9%). Of the federal agencies, NSF remains the largest source of revenue, followed by the Departments of Commerce, Defense, and Interior. INSTAAR research involves about 220 contracts, grants, and gifts at any one time.
Origins. INSTAAR is the oldest of the seven research institutes at the University of Colorado. It was inaugurated in 1951 but its origins extend back to the Mountain Laboratory in Tolland, Colorado (1909–1919), and to University Camp located at Niwot, Colorado (1914–1920). University Camp was renamed Science Lodge in 1921, and in 1951, the Mountain Research Station (MRS). The MRS remains an important field station supporting INSTAAR research.
Research Mission
 |
|
|
Field crew during typical windy conditions for the annual snow survey for the Niwot Ridge LTER project, Green Lakes Valley, Colorado.
|
INSTAAR’S Research Activities integrate field studies, state-of- the-art laboratory experiments, field and laboratory sample analysis, and numerical and laboratory modeling. INSTAAR efforts emphasize three main spheres of research:
Ecosystems Group focuses on biogeochemical processes of terrestrial and aquatic systems, biodiversity, ecosystem disturbance and recovery, modeling of biotic patterns, ecological assessments, and surface-atmosphere gas exchange and atmospheric transport. Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) studies in alpine and Polar Regions, involving populations and communities, biogeochemistry, and ecophysiology, are emphasized. Feedbacks of snow cover changes on biogeochemistry and gas exchange processes are studied both in mid-latitude as well as in polar environments. Research tools include field experimental manipulations, isotopic tracers, long-term monitoring of ecosystem patterns and processes, modern analytical instrumentation, geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, flux measurement techniques, and ecosystem modeling. Both INSTAAR and its Mountain Research Station offers world-class field and laboratory facilities to support these year-round research efforts.
Geophysics Group applies quantitative field and numerical methods to discover the properties and dynamics of snow, ice, water, and sediments in the world's oceans, glaciers, and land areas. Methods of analysis include: theoretical and numerical development; remote sensing; land, airborne, and ship-borne field experiments, all applied to research topics in hydrology, glaciology, frozen-ground studies, paleoclimatology, physical oceanography, and marine geology. To facilitate such research, the Environmental Computation and Imaging (ECI) Facility provides researchers with supercomputer power and global connections to geophysical databases.
Past Global Change Group focuses on reconstructing the dynamics of paleo-environments and past climate variability to enhance our understanding of the interactions between all components of the earth system, including atmosphere, ocean, land, ice, the biosphere and also human ecology. Integration of a variety of records from a global network of sites, including polar ice caps, continental alpine regions, and the world's oceans, provides the capability to test conceptual and predictive global change models, to facilitate the differentiation between natural and human-induced change and to study the human impacts of changes. These efforts are enhanced by the Center for Geochemical Analysis of the Global Environment (GAGE), which promotes fundamental research in the development and application of analytical methods that reveal past and present changes in Earth's climate, its land surface, and major biogeochemical cycles.
 |
Active Research Programs during 2005 or 2006 |
Teaching Mission
 |
|
INSTAAR graduate students extract a sample for dating from a sand dune core during Giff Miller’s Quaternary Geochronology class, Nebraska Sandhills.
|
INSTAAR’S Teaching Mission is directed toward fostering an appreciation and understanding of the biological, chemical, and physical processes operating in continental and ocean environments. The Mountain Research Station and other study sites in the mountains of Colorado aid the educational efforts of the Institute. INSTAAR supports the University of Colorado's educational mission and provides interdisciplinary graduate and undergraduate classes and research opportunities; the institute has led education efforts that integrate students across multiple departments and colleges. Our teaching mission includes international educational experiences for University of Colorado students, training of foreign students, and volunteer outreach to community schools and various other external constituencies
Societal Mission
 |
|
Visiting students from Southern Hills Middle School look at insects collected from Boulder Creek as part of a lesson on macroinvertebrates, INSTAAR Open House.
|
INSTAAR’S Societal Mission consists of activities in research, education, and science leadership. These activities address critical concerns involving issues such as ecosystem resilience, biodiversity, water resources, agriculture, national security, and resources in sites ranging from the alpine areas of the Rocky Mountains to the remote regions of the world. Our expertise is applied to predictive understanding of environmental processes, including the maintenance of water quality and anticipating and responding to long-term environmental alterations. Changes and disturbance in high-latitude regions not only affect the lives of indigenous residents but also, through global teleconnections, have a bearing on the lives of people everywhere.
http://instaar.colorado.edu/intro/
Copyright © 2003 INSTAAR, Univ. of Colorado