Geologist preserves the chilly fact of Earth’s previous

This story seems within the fall 2025 issue of MSU Denver Magazine.

At the National Science Foundation’s Ice Core Facility in Lakewood, the freezer all the time wins. At least, that’s the adage Richard Nunn lives by. As assistant curator of the power, Nunn typically works in its subzero freezers sustaining an astonishing assortment of ice cores — slices of the previous that put his physique and mind to the take a look at.

In the frozen depths of the power, Nunn, a 2010 Geology graduate of Metropolitan State University of Denver, takes care of among the world’s most informative and valuable sources of scientific knowledge. During lengthy days within the deep freeze of 11 under zero, Nunn wears layers of winter gear, takes breaks to heat his fingers and eats extra energy than regular, due to the freezer’s impact on his metabolism. All the whereas, his costs — frozen witnesses to passage of time so huge it’s arduous to examine — encompass him, meticulously cataloged and stored in superb storage situations.

“It’s the largest collection of ice cores in the world,” stated Nunn. Handling the frozen materials is barely the tip of the, properly, iceberg. Nunn manages a database of samples, processes new ice from the sphere, distributes samples to researchers and helps with on-site analysis.

“There really is no average day,” he stated.

For many years, scientists have drilled ice cores from the glaciers and ice sheets in polar areas; the power’s cores come from Greenland, Antarctica and North America. Ice cores act as a sort of time capsule for the paleoclimate — the local weather of the traditional previous — trapping the environment in air bubbles which can be buried within the ice by centuries of compacting snow and, generally, volcanic ash or mud.

“It’s the only source on the planet (for) a direct measurement of what our atmosphere was composed of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years ago,” stated Nunn. By preserving proof of historical temperatures and greenhouse gases, ice cores reveal how the planet has modified. Researchers date the ice cores and use them to re-create what the planet’s local weather seemed like at totally different factors.

---

RELATED: The case of the disappearing glaciers

---

We can use that knowledge to tell ourselves about what’s taking place now that people have pumped plenty of carbon into the environment, stated Nunn. Postindustrial ice cores present faster, extra drastic change, he stated — a warning as people method crucial local weather tipping factors. “Things are changing way faster than should happen naturally,” he stated.

Nunn’s each day duties change too, alongside analysis schedules. But, he says, his MSU Denver bachelor’s diploma in Geology, which he earned in 2010, has served him properly. “I had some of the best professors,” he recalled.

Nunn transferred data gained as a Geology main to layered matter a lot colder than the slabs of rock he had grow to be aware of as a geologist. “I have a really wonderful spot in my heart for MSU Denver,” he stated.

Nunn has shaped friendships and connections with scientists world wide, and he feels the burden of his chilly job.

“Every once in a while, I realize I am storing and maintaining ice that predates humanity,” he stated.  “Not just civilization but us as a species.”

If all goes as deliberate, these samples will function crucial reference factors for local weather scientists for generations to return. And future researchers could have Nunn and his colleagues to thank for holding these essential scientific sentinels protected.

 

Learn extra concerning the Applied Geology program at MSU Denver.