McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research site

2017-2023. I am a co-PI on the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (MCM LTER) fifth renewal grant funded by the US National Science Foundation. The grant is worth $1,127,000 per year for six years (total $6,762,000). My direct share of this grant is around $20,000 per year for six years (total $120,000), primarily for summer salary, graduate research support, travel, and oral history transcription. The grant will involve several trips to the McMurdo Dry Valleys. I remain co-PI on this grant through an affiliate faculty position at CU Boulder.

The MCM LTER seeks to understand ecosystem change over time through long term monitoring and experiments. My role in the project is to integrate environmental history research into the scientific work of the site.

Current research focuses on ecosystem response to climate change. We are finding that increased glacial melting in the McMurdo Dry Valleys is leading to increased ecological connectivity.