13-02-2025
Stout professor, team of scientists study how small organisms have an effect on greenhouse gases
MENOMONIE — With the publication of a scientific report following research in the lakes of Iceland, researchers involved —including one from UW-Stout — are publishing part of the results.
With work recently published in 'Scientific Reports,' a study focused on melting glaciers and their release of methane as a greenhouse gas. Furthermore, the study focused on how microbes in glacial streams and lakes might be able to prevent methane from reaching the atmosphere.
The study began as a team of scientists ventured to glaciers in Iceland in 2018-2019 by National Geographic Explorer Kristin Strock, who was joined by UW-Stout biology and environmental science Assistant Professor Nicole Hayes. Also joining the research team was Bridget Deemer, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey; and Dickinson student Rachel Krewson.
'We received a National Geographic Explorer grant to go and look at methane cycling in Icelandic lakes, more generally than glacial lakes,' said Hayes. 'We were just really interested in seeing how much methane was being emitted from these lakes; we know that methane is a major greenhouse gas associated with climate change, and there is some research that suggests polar environments are likely to be major sources of methane. It seemed like a really great place to go to ask questions.'
'The perspective that I brought to Iceland was that my background is on how climate change is affecting lakes,' said Hayes, 'so thinking about how polar lakes might potentially be changing as a result of climate change, with methane being what we are actually measuring and thinking about.'
The research was supported by two years of grant funding, where team members collected samples from four locations connected to three glaciers named Langjökull, Snæfellsjökull, and Sólheimajökull.
Each location would require them to drive a four-wheeler truck and park alongside a road where they could trek to their site, carrying their equipment by hand. The scientists would then test water by filling bottles with meltwater from the glaciers and measure the amount of methane initially. Measuring them after a 24-hour incubation and agitation period would help indicate how much of the methane was eaten up by microbes.
Understanding the interactions between methane emissions, glacial systems and climate change was the focus of the project.
'Prior to this research project, there were not very many studies that looked at how much methane was being produced and consumed in big water bodies that were next to glaciers,' she said.
'We know that human activity and climate change is increasing the rate that glaciers are melting, and we know that glaciers as they melt release methane. So we really wanted to ask the question of: how much of that methane is ending up directly in the atmosphere, and how much of it is being used up as a food source for the different microbes that live in the glacial melt water?'
While the paper on the overall research is still not complete, the recent report published back in October 2024 focuses on a subset of the overall research.
Hayes said, 'With Icelandic lakes, there is evidence that they are getting warmer — glacial lakes in particular. Glaciers are melting, so there is a lot more water and materials that are being flushed out from underneath the glaciers, and that is where a lot of the methane that we are interested in is coming from… What we found was in the sites that we looked at, microbes are eating a good amount of the methane.'
'You can also ask a lot of really interesting questions about methane in Wisconsin lakes,' she said. 'That is not necessarily the research that I do, but our lakes are also experiencing climate change. So we see shorter winters with less ice and less snow, maybe warmer temperatures during the summer, precipitation patterns are different… So climate change is still impacting these lakes.'
As the paper only represents a subset of what they were working on, Hayes said a complete paper of what their research entailed is still in the works.
'It is always exciting to get a paper, and I think it is extra exciting when we all started this very early in our careers,' she said. 'It took a lot of work to get to the point where we could get it published, because it is a slow process.'
Furthermore, the experience in Iceland is something that she said she can take back to her work at Stout, as she continues measuring climate change and the water quality of bodies of water like Lake Menomin.
'It was amazing to work with this great group in Iceland,' said Hayes. 'They asked great questions; they worked so hard. It is so intellectually satisfying and also fun to do research with really excited students, and so I do try to carry that forward in my role at Stout.'
Continuing, she said, 'I also think that doing independent research is a cornerstone of being a successful science student. The students that do it get so much out of it; they gain so much and grow as independent scientists, so it is just so exciting to watch students go through that process and become more confident and learn more about themselves.'
