The Living Snow Project is a student and faculty-led citizen-science program that empowers local communities to participate in research in alpine ecosystems in the face of climate change.
Our primary goal is to engage the outdoor recreation community in research, which helps us create robust data sets and cultivates ecological awareness and conservation.
We are raising money to support student internships. Giving here supports the research we do at the Living Snow Project, while also giving students meaningful research and programmatic experiences. Thank you for supporting us!
What is living snow?
Have you seen the snow turn pink in the spring and summer in the mountains? That pink snow is actually a community of microbes specifically adapted to live in snow, and are supported by microalgae that give the pink or red color. The algae's dark color increases the rate that snow and ice melt, which are a stress on the rapidly receding glaciers of the Cascades Mountains. The Living Snow Project, run out of the Kodner Lab in the Biology Department is studying snow algae biodiversity using DNA samples from across the Cascades. Community volunteers assist in our research by collecting samples for us when traveling in the mountains on skiing, climbing, and hiking trips. See the project website and our Instagram to learn more about what we do.
| Rank | State | Gifts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | WA | 9 |
| 2 | CA | 2 |
| 2 | VT | 2 |
