Long-Term Ecological Science in Antarctica
The McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (MCM LTER) Project is an interdisciplinary project that studies aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in one of the most extreme environments on Earth. Established in 1992 as part of the National Science Foundation’s LTER Program, the project investigates how physical, chemical, and biological processes interact to shape ecosystem structure and function in polar desert conditions.
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Introducing the Stream Team, or C-506! Our group researches two critical aspects of the water cycle in the McMurdo Dry Valleys: the glaciers and the streams that form each summer when those glaciers melt. Much of our work centers around the physical properties of these systems, such as understanding how much the glaciers change in mass or how much water flows through a stream each season. However, we also work closely with the other MCM LTER groups to study how these physical processes are impacting the chemistry and biology as well.
The Stream Team is led by Dr. Michael Gooseff, lead PI of the MCM LTER, and is based out of the Gooseff Hydroecology Science and Engineering Lab at the University of Colorado, Boulder. This season, our deploying team will be composed of Dr. Michael Gooseff, Jared Collins, and, noted brainchild of C-511, Charlie Dougherty. We will also be supported by previous deployers Joe Maguire and Natalie Aranda from CU Boulder. Swipe to learn more about our team members and learn new details about the work that we do!
Dr. Gooseff has been conducting research in the Dry Valleys since he was a graduate student in 1998, when he was on the stream team. Over the years he has studied the roles of the streams, snowpacks, glaciers, permafrost degradation, and the active layers within the Dry Valleys ecosystem. His favorite flowing body of water is the Onyx River in Wright Valley, the largest of the streams in the region, and likely on the continent.
Jared Collins is a PhD student in the Gooseff lab at CU Boulder. He studies stream-subsurface processes and connectivity in the hyporheic zone, the area of sediment directly beneath and adjacent to the glacier meltwater streams in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. He is interested in understanding how exchanges between surface and subsurface water impact ecosystem functioning and change over various time scales and conditions.
Joe Maguire is a PhD student studying the physical processes of the streams and glaciers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys to understand climate-driven impacts to the hydrologic cycle in an energy-dominated system. Alongside his field-based data collection, he uses hydrologic, causal, and M
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Meet the Diversity in Cryospheric Ecosystems (DiCE) Lab at Charles University in Prague, Czechia! Led by Dr. Tyler Kohler, the DiCE lab investigates patterns in process rates and diversity within rapidly-changing alpine and polar regions. Of particular interest are Antarctic freshwater diatoms, which are single-celled eukaryotic algae with shells made of glass! Thanks to the species-specific responses of diatoms to different environmental conditions, they are a staple of freshwater biomonitoring worldwide, and for the Dry Valleys specifically, inform us about past and present ecological conditions.
In addition to our work with the McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER, the DiCE team is also active on James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula, jointly conducting long-term ecological monitoring (LTEM) with the Czech Antarctic Research Program (CARP) and Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia. Because of this, DiCE is uniquely positioned to not only investigate the ecology of diatoms within the Dry Valleys, but also compare ecological patterns between Antarctic regions, strengthening the interpretations that can be made.
The DiCE team includes fellow researchers: Drs. Kateřina Kopalová, Eva Hejduková, and Jan Kollár (now at the University of Rostock!), and PhD students Tereza Vošická, Pablo Cannestraci, Raquel Viso, and Hristina Kochoska. Check our website for more information: https://web.natur.cuni.cz/ecology/DiCE/
@prf_unikarlova @masaryk_science The DiCE team at the 15th European Diatom Symposium in Ohrid, North Macedonia, May 2024. Pictured here in the back row (left to right) are Kateřina Kopalová, Jan Kollár, Eva Hejduková, Raquel Viso, and Hristina Kochoska. In the front row is Tereza Vošická and Tyler Kohler.
View of a diatom community taken from Cape Royds, Ross Island, dominated by the genus Luticola. Luticola is one of the most common, and most diverse diatom groups in the McMurdo Sound Region, and in Antarctica generally. Interestingly, not only are most Luticola species unique to Antarctica, but many of them seem to be unique to the McMurdo Dry Valleys as well.
While there are about 50 different diat
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Meet the Salvatore Lab! The Planetary Exploration Lab (PEL) at Northern Arizona University uses remote sensing to study landscape processes and microbial ecosystems in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) in Antarctica. Remote sensing is the process of collecting data from afar, typically with satellites and drones. Dr. Mark Salvatore, co-Principal Investigator for the MCM LTER, leads the team of drone pilots that fly multispectral and thermal drones, process multispectral satellite data, and collect ground-based validation spectra and samples to support the LTER in understanding the geological and ecological systems of the Dry Valleys. The PEL team (also consisting of graduate students Ian Marrs and Gavin Moriarty, in addition to several undergraduate students), also use the Dry Valleys to understand the possibilities of life elsewhere in the solar system, as the MDVs are the closest terrestrial analogue environment to the surface of Mars. Stay tuned for more team introductions and awesome research! #McMurdoDryValleys #Antarctica #LTER #NAU #RemoteSensing
Mark Salvatore in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, 2010
Dr. Mark Salvatore is an Associate Professor and the Associate Chair of the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science at Northern Arizona University. His research focuses on understanding the evolution of planetary surfaces through physical and chemical processes, with a particular emphasis in cold and dry environments.
Gavin Moriarty is a third-year Astronomy and Planetary Science PhD student at NAU interested in the development of instrumentation and utilization of remote sensing techniques in field analogue sites to better understand how to more effectively search for life throughout the universe.
Ian Marrs is a fifth-year Astronomy and Planetary Science PhD candidate at NAU interested in planetary analogue environments, particularly near-surface high-temperature environments, where remote sensing and geochemical tools may help us to understand the origin of these environments and their potential habitability.
Drone selfie by Gavin Moriarty
Collecting hyperspectral measurements
Spectral data from F6
Iceberg with Mt. Erebus
Drone flown to c
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Meet the McMurdo LTER’s Physical Limnology and Meteorology Team (fondly known as C511)! Our team includes members of the Doran Lab at Louisiana State University (LSU) and the Dugan Lab at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison). We manage the MCM LTER’s network of lake monitoring stations and meteorological stations throughout the Dry Valleys.
Today, our team includes Dr. Hilary Dugan, Dr. Peter Doran, Dr. Danny Szydlowski, Kayla Hubbard, and Sam Blackburn (with an honorary mention to our favorite brainchild, Charlie Dougherty). Swipe to read more about everyone’s research!
Dr. Hilary Dugan is Co-PI for the McMurdo LTER’s Physical Limnology and Meteorology team and leads the Dugan Lab at UW-Madison. As a limnologist, Hilary studies how terrestrial and atmospheric changes, such as warming air temperatures or land use patterns, alter biogeochemical fluxes and aquatic processes in lakes in both Wisconsin and Antarctica.
Dr. Peter Doran is Co-PI of the McMurdo LTER’s Physical Limnology and Meteorology team and the John Franks Endowed Chair at Louisiana State University. He’s spent nearly 30 field seasons in the Dry Valleys studying the hydrology, biogeochemistry, and paleolimnology of Antarctica’s perennially ice-covered lakes. Peter’s work includes the use of the Dry Valleys as analogs to help in the search for evidence of extant or extinct life on other worlds.
Kayla Hubbard is a PhD student in the Dugan Lab at UW-Madison. Their research is focused on the intersection between hydrogeology, glaciology, and limnology in the McMurdo Dry Valleys – specifically the connectivity and water movement between these three types of systems. Kayla is interested in using geophysical field surveys, groundwater modeling, and glacier dynamics to understand hydrogeology in polar environments.
Dr. Danny Szydlowski is a postdoc in the Dugan Lab at UW-Madison. He studies the resilience of lakes to changes in weather and climate using tools such as long-term research, comparative studies, modeling, and whole-lake experiments. He is excited to start working on lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys with the goal of better understanding their stability and resilience in the f
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The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) has established the Diana Wall Graduate Student Publication Excellence Award in honor of Dr. Diana Wall (1943–2024) and her extraordinary contributions to science, mentorship, and society.
A pioneering soil ecologist and champion for biodiversity, Diana spent decades studying life in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys, revealing the critical roles that microscopic soil organisms play in even the most extreme environments. She was also the founder of the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative and served as AIBS President in 1993.
Made possible through Diana’s generous bequest to AIBS, this annual award will recognize a master’s or PhD student who is the lead author of an outstanding peer-reviewed article published in BioScience. The award celebrates early-career scientists who can synthesize complex biological concepts and communicate them to a broad scientific audience—continuing Diana’s legacy of collaboration, mentorship, and service to science and society. 🌱❄️🔬
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The MCM-LTER has come to the SCAR 2026 Open Science Conference in Oslo! Here’s a look at what to expect this week. If you’re around, come say hi!👋
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Meet the Wormherders! We study the tiny animals that inhabit the soils of Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys. While microscopic roundworms (nematodes) gave us our name, we also investigate other microscopic soil animals, including tardigrades and rotifers. Together, these remarkable organisms help us understand how Antarctic soil ecosystems came to be structured the way they are, and how they respond to climate change and other human-caused environmental disturbances.
The Dry Valleys are among the simplest ecosystems on Earth. With no plants, no native mammals, and very little direct human impact, they provide an exceptional natural laboratory for understanding how nutrients cycle through soil and what makes ecosystems resilient. Our research spans scales, from ecosystem processes and long-term ecological change to the molecular mechanisms that allow these animals to survive environmental extremes and evolve adaptive responses to changing conditions.
The Wormherders are led by Dr. Byron Adams, a Co-PI with the McMurdo LTER, and are based at Brigham Young University. This season’s team includes PhD students Asif and Kepler, master’s students Sol, Kimberlynn, and Nick, and several outstanding undergraduate researchers. Former postdoc Jake Shaffer recently began a visiting faculty position at Colgate University, and former PhD student Abigail Borgmeier recently started a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Florida.
Last year’s Wormherders team photo at McMurdo Station. (L-R, Byron, Kimberlynn, Sol). Every field season brings together a team of researchers with complementary expertise, all working to better understand life in one of Earth’s most extreme environments.
Kimberlynn and Sol collect soil samples to investigate how Antarctic soil animals respond to repeated extreme warming events, helping us understand how polar soil communities may change in a warming world.
Sol heads out from field camp to one of our long-term experimental sites. The soil samples collected here will be processed and analyzed at Crary Lab back at McMurdo Station, where they become part of one of the world’s longest-running ecological studies of Antarctic terrestrial ecosystem
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Meet the Barrett Lab! 🏔️❄️Based at Virginia Tech, the Barrett Lab studies soil biogeochemistry in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica—the coldest, driest desert on Earth. 🔬🇦🇶Led by Dr. Jeb Barrett, co-Principal Investigator of the McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER, our lab investigates how biology and chemistry shape Antarctic soil ecosystems. Jeb first joined the LTER over 20 years ago as a postdoctoral researcher with Ross Virginia and now serves as a co-Principal Investigator. Our current LTER team includes graduate students Sophia Gomez and Ryan Snow and undergraduate researcher Yanna Lobo. Stay tuned as we introduce the other McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER labs and the incredible research they’re doing to better understand the extreme ecosystems in Antarctica! 🌎#McMurdoDryValleys #virginiatech #LTER #SoilScience #Biogeochemistry
Jeb Barrett with graduate student Sophia Gomez📍Canada Glacier, Taylor Valley
Ryan Snow is a second-year PhD student at Virginia Tech interested in understanding the ecophysiological adaptation strategies of microbial communities under extreme abiotic conditions. Outside of research, he is an avid reader who enjoys spending time with his family. Ryan is preparing to deploy to McMurdo in the 2026-2027 season!
Sophia Gomez is a second-year MS student at Virginia Tech interested in understanding biogeochemical cycling at stream-soil margins and the influence of microbial communities on organic matter composition and turnover in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
Yanna Lobo is an REU student studying iron cycling and biogeochemistry along McMurdo Dry Valleys stream margins, examining iron speciation and concentrations across an oxic-to-hypoxic gradient using geochemical techniques in tandem with PCR.
PhD student in the Salvatore Lab, Gavin Moriarty taking hyperspectral measurements to estimate photosynthetic biomass in soils an experiment part of MCM6, Seasonal Soil Manipulation.
Terrestrial microbial mat from the margins of Canada Stream, Taylor Valley.
📍Camp at Lake Fryxell , Taylor Valley
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MCM Summer Outreach Update
Members of the McMurdo LTER community have been busy sharing their research!
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Resilent Futures TeacherWorkshop
Dr. Alex Rose presented on the MCM LTER team’s work around data-driven artwork at the Resilient Futures Teacher Workshop, presented by CU’s Center for Education, Engagement, and Evaluation (CEEE), formerly known as CIRES Education &…
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McMurdo Dry Valleys Featured on PBS
The first three episodes of the new PBS Show Life Unearthed with Ariel Waldman focus on microscopic life in the dry valleys. Check it out!
