Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Arctic clouds, games, and a sun-loving dog

Visiting Fellow, NSIDC

A person in a black, floral print shirt poses, smiling at an overlook with green, vegetated mountains
- Courtesy of Kara Hartig

Kara Hartig, a CIRES postdoctoral visiting fellow at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), studies Arctic clouds and how they affect surface temperature using observations and models. In the summer of 2023, she spent 2 weeks at a research station in Greenland learning about the Greenland Ice Sheet. The landscape was “radically different” from anything she had seen before. Hartig enjoys playing video and board games with friends, and she has a dog named Daisy who likes to lounge in the sun. Hartig’s family has a fun way to get around each other in the kitchen — “We say, out loud, ‘beep beep’ to get someone to move aside.” 

A person in sunglasses stands with a hand on their hips in front of ruins
A person strikes a pose on the edge of a building overlooking a city
A person with a side cut in dark clothing smiles in front of vegetation

Humans of CIRES Q&A

Q: What are you studying at CIRES?

I study Arctic clouds and how they affect surface temperature, working with both direct observations and climate model simulations.

Q: Where is the most exciting place you’ve traveled to for research?

Greenland! I spent two weeks at a research station there in the summer of 2023 to learn about the Greenland Ice Sheet, and it's radically different from anywhere I've ever been before. Stark and beautiful.

Q: Does your family have any quirky traditions?

When we need to get past each other in the kitchen, we say, out loud, "beep beep" to get someone to move aside. It is now instinctual for me, and I would do it to my friends in grad school only for them to stare me down while I stared back, equally confused, wondering why they weren't getting out of the way. But I won in the end, because now they all do it, too!

Q: What is your favorite thing to do on the weekend?

I spend a lot of my free time playing video games and board games with friends. Most of my friends live in other states, and games have become my favorite way to hang out remotely.

Q: Do you have any pets? Tell us about them.

I adopted my first-ever dog just after starting my postdoc here! Her name is Daisy — She's a 6-year-old Australian cattle dog mix who had a litter of puppies just before I met her, and she now wants to spend almost all of her time sleeping in the sun.