Back In 1969, before he came to Keene State, Professor Emeritus of Geography Klaus Bayr decided to climb the Grossglockner, the highest mountain in his native Austria. He’s been back many times since, and during those visits, he became familiar with the nearby Pasterze Glacier, the largest in the eastern Alps. And during those visits, he became aware that the Pasterze was changing. “The glacier is shrinking—terribly—it’s lost a lot of mass,” Dr. Bayr observed.

The Margaritze Reservoir collects the meltwater of the glacier, and a hydroelectric power station uses that water to produce electricity. So far, the Pasterze is producing plenty of meltwater, “but if the glacier melts away, it will obviously affect power production,” Dr. Bayr observed. He has been working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) since the 1980s to study the glacier’s rate of recession. NASA supplies satellite data and images, and Dr. Bayr has been ground truthing that data—walking the glacier’s perimeter, with GPS in hand, to determine its exact edge. Glaciers push a lot of till in front of them: rocks, dirt, and debris. With sometimes several feet of till on top of the ice, it’s difficult to tell from satellite images just where the glacier ends. Dr. Bayr’s ground truthing supplies that essential data.
Continue reading Climate Change Study Wins NASA Grant →

Deb Gode, from the Winchester Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, and Richard Righter, DVM, were among a small group that assembled near the entrance to the Owl Athletic Complex on October 17 to release a rehabilitated barred owl into the wild.

The Winchester Wildlife Rehabilitation Center is a local non-profit that rehabs about 200 birds and animals each year, often with Dr. Righter’s generously donated help. This owl suffered a head injury and broken leg after being hit by a car, and spent nine weeks at the Center. The brushy stretch of wetlands between the entrance gate and the athletic fields should offer her a good home, and we hope she sticks around and prospers for many years. Look for her at night games!

Early Sprouts, KSC’s award-winning effort to instill healthy nutrition and eating habits in preschool-age children by engaging them in gardening, exploring, and cooking fresh produce, was the subject of a New Hampshire Public Radio story on October 11. Early Sprouts has proven itself as an effective way to get preschoolers interested in eating vegetables and nutritious food. “Looking at when children develop food preferences, most of it happens prior to the age of five, so if we are really serious about preventing the obesity epidemic, we’ve got to start young,” explained Associate Professor of Health Sciences Karrie Kalich.