Lisa McKeon
Biography
Education
B.A. Zoology. 1991. University of Washington, Seattle
Research Interest
Lisa McKeon is a physical scientist who has assisted with a wide array of climate related studies since joining the Climate Change in Mountain Ecosystems project in 1997.Currently, she oversees The Repeat Photography Project, which contributes to documentation of the glaciers of Glacier National Park and provides the basis of many collaborative efforts of educational outreach for climate change.
Science and Products
Grinnell Glacier 1938-2019
USGS employees have taken photos of Grinnell Glacier from this vantage point many times since beginning the Repeat Photography Project in 1997. Each successive photo has shown the glacier to be smaller resulting in the growth of Upper Grinnell Lake.
Image Use
Most of the repeat photography images available on this website are in the public...
Jackson Glacier 1941-2019
This vantage point of Jackson Glacier is familiar to many visitors who stop along Going to the Sun Road to view the glacier. These images are particularly descriptive of the change in the glacier's size because both images show the glacier without much seasonal snow, allowing for a more accurate assessment of the glacier's true size.
Image Use
Most of the repeat photography...
Kintla Glacier 1901-2019
In the 118 years between photos, Kintla Glacier has receded into much smaller, distinct patches.
Image Use
Most of the repeat photography images available on this website are in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. Images with restrictions are noted below the downloadable image....
Grinnell Glacier 1938 - 2016
Notice the man standing on the glacier in the center of the historic photograph. The figure lends a frame of reference to the photo pair, allowing the viewer to more easily interpret the depth of ice and the loss of volume when compared to the 2016 image.
GLACIER SIMULATION
The simulation reflects the predicted exponential rise in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, a 2xCO2 "global warming" scenario, by 2030 with a concurrent warming of 2-3 degrees centigrade (4-5 degrees Fahrenheit) by the year 2050. In addition it assumes that precipitation, primarily during the winter, will increase over the same time period five to 10 percent. The animation view of the Blackfoot-...
Climate Change in Mountain Ecosystems (CCME)
Climate change is widely acknowledged to be having a profound effect on the biosphere with many and diverse impacts on global resources. Mountain ecosystems in the western U.S. and the Northern Rockies in particular are highly sensitive to climate change. In fact, the higher elevations of the Northern Rockies have experienced three times the global average temperature increase over the past...
Repeat Photography Project
Climate change research in Glacier National Park, Montana entails many methods of documenting the landscape change, including the decline of the parks namesake glaciers. While less quantitative than other high-tech methods of recording glacial mass, depth, and rate of retreat, repeat photography has become a valuable tool for communicating effects of global warming. With evidence of worldwide...
Retreat of Glaciers in Glacier National Park
Worldwide glacier recession is well documented (1,2) and varied model projections suggest that certain studied GNP glaciers will disappear in the next few decades, between 2030 (3) to 2080 (4). USGS scientists in Glacier National Park are collaborating with glaciologist from Alaska and Washington and using emerging technologies to understand glacier-climate interactions to advance the...
Landscape Change Photography
Repeat photography is being used by the CCME program to document landscape change. Glaciers have been the primary focus of this park-wide survey and this collection of repeat photographs, available for download on the CCME website, have been used to illustrate the effects of climate change in venues across the globe. These powerful images, with their inherent ease of interpretation, have...
Linking Climate Change Science and Art
What began as an effort to document and analyze the retreat of glaciers in Glacier National Park, has become a collection of striking photographs displayed on museum walls.