DURANGO – Climate scientist Andrew Slater conducts much of his work in the Arctic and has witnessed significant change in the frozen landscape, including rising temperatures, rapid decreases in sea ice extent and glacial retreat.   He is also involved in monitoring snowpack in Colorado’s mountains and developing models for hydrologic forecasting.

Dr. Slater, a researcher with the National Snow and Ice Data Center at CU-Boulder, will be in Durango on March 31 to present “Snow and Permafrost:  Here and There, Now and Then.”  He will show the current changes being seen in the Arctic, discuss what the future may hold for the far north of the world and look into what it means for the planet as a whole.  Closer to home, the snowpack of the Rocky Mountains is a vital resource that contributes a large portion of annual stream flow in the West. Questions of how the local snowpack will change in concert with the rest of the Earth will also be addressed.

This free public program will begin at 7 p.m. in Noble 125 at Fort Lewis College. 

Dr. Slater specializes in land-surface and hydrologic modeling of snow, frozen ground and permafrost, in the Arctic.  Last year he participated in the SnowNet Project in northern Alaska, sampling snow depth and water content to help improve models of climate change in the Arctic.

He is featured in a new on-line resource for information about climate change in Colorado, LearnMoreAboutClimate.colorado.edu. The site pairs some of the world’s leading climate scientists with everyday Colorado citizens who are witnessing climate change or are working toward solutions in their communities.

 This community program is jointly sponsored by Fort Lewis College and the CU-Boulder Office for University Outreach.