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New issue of National Parks magazine spotlights Jill Baron's decades-long research studies of air and water quality in Rocky Mountain National Park

By Fort Collins Science Center December 15, 2023

The winter issue of National Parks, the magazine of the National Parks Conservation Association, has an article about Jill Baron written by Senior Editor Nicolas Brulliard, with photos by Emily Sierra. It describes her career studying the effects of air pollution in Loch Vale watershed.

Read the full article: The Long Haul
two researchers sit on a plank over a rushing stream, forest and grasses in the background
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Tim Weinmann and Jill Baron collect water samples in the Loch Vale Watershed. Photo by Emily Sierra for The Long Haul · National Parks Conservation Association (npca.org).
 

Since the 1980s, Jill Baron has studied nitrogen deposition in the Loch Vale Watershed inside Rocky Mountain National Park. Consistent findings of high levels of nitrogen deposition in and around the park's alpine lakes, along with many decades of outreach by Baron and her collaborators, has resulted in multiple federal and local campaigns to reduce nitrogen pollution in the United States.

Read more about Baron's career as a researcher and climate champion in The Long Haul, by Nicolas Brullaird (National Parks Conservation Association), and learn more about Baron's work within the USGS through the publications, science pages, and news items linked below.

Banner Photo: Jill Baron and graduate student Mollie Hendry hike through Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo by Emily Sierra for the National Parks Conservation Association.

 

Loch Vale weather and precipitation sampling station in Rocky Mountain National Park
Photo of Jill Baron, on a raft surrounded by mountains.
Jill Baron on the frozen Loch Vale lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.
A group of students listen to Dr. Jill Baron speak at Loch Vale in Rocky Mountain National Park.

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