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James Sickman
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Project: Inter-decadal variability in aquatic ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada; a synthesis of the 30-year record from Emerald Lake, Sequoia National ParkJames Sickman is an associate professor of hydrology at the University of California, Riverside. His research interests include global environmental change, biogeochemistry, limnology, and environmental isotopes. Over the last 30 years, he has been compiling long-term hydrochemical data (such as pH, alkalinity, and nutrient levels) on remote watersheds and lakes in the Sierra Nevada. While at CIRES, he will work with William Lewis, director of the Center for Limnology, to synthesize and analyze that data. His objective is to better understand how changes in precipitation and global climate affect the hydrochemistry and primary productivity (the manufacture of organic molecules via photosynthesis and chemosynthesis) of high-altitude aquatic ecosystems. In dry regions, like the Sierra Nevada, the amount of rain and snow varies widely with season, year, locale, and other factors, so these watersheds are especially responsive to environmental changes, such as warming or fluctuations in snowpack dynamics (depth, duration of snow cover, and time of snowmelt in the spring). One main product of Sickman’s work will be a book on Sierra Nevada lakes and aquatic ecosystems, written with his co-investigator, John Melack, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and other colleagues. Plenty of sweat equity has also gone into this research: Sickman and his team hike or ski up to nine miles into remote lakes year-round to collect water samples. “This spring, we had to drill through 4.9 meters of ice and slush to reach liquid in Emerald Lake,” he says. Although working in a beautiful place like the Sierra Nevada “is a real treat,” says Sickman, he’s looking forward to spending time in Colorado’s backcountry and visiting “such famous field sites as Niwot Ridge and Loch Vale” for the first time. Sponsor: William Lewis Email: james.sickman@ucr.edu |
