Suding
The Journal of Ecology has announced Katharine Suding as their Eminent Ecologist award recipient for 2023. Awards are given to those considered hugely influential within their fields of research and to have made outstanding contributions not just to Journal of Ecology, but to ecology in general. For the award, Suding assembled a virtual journal issue, wrote a blog post, and was interviewed.
For more than 40 years, scientists from the Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research program have worked to better understand high-alpine ecosystems in a warming world. Thanks to a new $7.65 million, six-year grant from the National Science Foundation, that work will continue, making Niwot Ridge LTER the longest-running NSF-funded program at Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder.
On Dec. 30, 2021, a fast-moving wildfire in suburban Boulder County became the costliest wildfire in Colorado history. It burned 6,000 acres, destroyed more than 1,000 homes and damaged thousands of others. The Marshall Fire also spurred researchers—many personally affected by the fire—to apply their expertise to the aftermath. A year later, dozens of ongoing research projects continue to explore the science behind the fire; its widespread impacts; and how we can mitigate future catastrophes in a changing climate.
For the past five years, a team of research assistants and volunteers have hiked up Niwot Ridge in late May to set the stage for a unique experiment in which they spread 5,000 pounds of black sand across portions of the remaining snowpack. Their goal is to simulate the near-future effects of a warming planet on alpine ecosystems.
Katharine Suding is among three Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder faculty members who received Fulbright fellowships to study internationally. Suding will travel to the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, to work on a project called Recovery, Resilience and the Ecology of Change.
Grasslands’ biodiversity and resilience to disturbances such as fire, heat and drought is the result of a slow process over hundreds of years, like that of old growth forests, finds new Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØresearch led by INSTAAR Katharine Suding that was published today in Science. An implication of the research is that it's important to conserve grasslands that are still intact.
Algae in the ocean, water on Mars, and supercharged apple orchards are research topics for three INSTAAR scientists awarded RIO seed grants. The grants are designed to foster new areas of research with high impact and future funding potential.
This weekend, the Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder-based Boulder Apple Tree Project, founded by Katherine Suding in 2017, invites the community to help preserve our local apple tree legacy by locating and collecting data on apple trees in Boulder backyards and on public lands.
With approval in November by the University of Colorado Board of Regents, the University of Colorado has introduced 12 newly designated distinguished professors, eight of whom are affiliated with the Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder campus. INSTAAR researcher Katie Suding is among their number.