Ohio State University Science team visit Great Basin Park

The Great Basin National Park is home to many natural wonders and is a tourist destination for many reasons, including its geographic features. The rural nature of its population centers lends minimal light and noise pollution. The remote locations in the mountain ranges are home to many different types of plants and animals adapted specifically to this region. Naturally, these unique aspects of the area invite the inquisitive to learn more, not just about the Great Basin area, but provide the opportunity to gather data that is hard to find elsewhere in the world. Astronomers come for dark skies, hydrologists study the basin’s groundwater, and more recently, an expedition from Ohio State University came to further meteorological science.

The University’s glacier environmental change research team has visited the park since 2006. These teams are led by Dr. Bryan Mark, who has brought students from the research team to the area for the last 20 years. Students typically work on various projects depending on their degree specializations, but much of the interest concerns the Lehman Rock Glacier inside Great Basin National Park. For example, Tal Shutkin, a Fulbright-Hays Research fellowship recipient for his dissertation Glacial Impacts in the Andes- has visited the Great Basin National Park twice, both for his own research and experience and to assist other students conducting their own research.

The focus of the most recent excursion was research by grad student Emily Mazan. Emily is a meteorology student at the University working with unique sensor systems for mountainous terrain. Emily is working on a long-term project to gather data to study the changing weather and climate patterns in Great Basin National Park. “We monitor changes in air temperature, humidity, stream flow, and the Lehman Rock Glacier. We have also sampled tree and lake cores over the years to better understand the natural history of the park,” explained Emily.

“We typically visit once per year during the summer, but this year we will be visiting in the winter for the first time […] we will be conducting research to determine how winter snowpack impacts our temperature and humidity sensors.”

Mazan has worked on the challenging task of working with air data from the mountains’ sensors covered in snow during winter. For many reasons, this could be detrimental to the accuracy of the data that Emily would use to track trends in the area’s weather patterns where temperature and humidity data are obstructed. Warm weather readings would provide accurate information, but winter seasons could be unreliable and throw off overall data.

So, not only was this trip to check on and maintain these sensors, but Mazan had another goal. With some consistent data from the snow-packed sensors, Emily made a model to accurately determine air temperature regardless of snow cover on top of the equipment. Not only would this be extremely helpful in the research that the University’s glacier environmental change research team conducts, but it also would translate well as the model can be used in other places, as mountain regions can be challenging to gather data sets from. It can also be used by other science teams working on similar projects with similar equipment.

All of this research, of course, is done in the mountains in rough terrain where the team camped out in the Great Basin National Park. The team stated that during their time out, one of the unique challenges of a trip like this during the winter is less about the cold or the elements but the challenge of getting all of the equipment they need to gather data from their vehicles to the operational areas. Mazan led the way in creating some unique sled fabrications in order to pack equipment into the work sites, such as self-braking systems so that should a sled slip from hand, it wouldn’t continue to slide downhill.

Even still, some points proved especially challenging and some equipment had to be left behind under shelter in order to continue on while prioritizing key instruments.
To top off this incredible trip, not only was the mission successful, but once the team of Emily, Tal, and Dr. Mark descended, they spoke at the schools in Baker, doing local outreach on their projects.

The Great Basin National Park research continues to provide valuable insights into the region’s unique climate and environment. Thanks to the efforts of Emily Mazan, Tal Shutkin, Dr. Bryan Mark, and the other students who visit the area, scientists now have better tools for collecting accurate data in challenging mountain conditions. Their work not only benefits future research in the park but also helps improve similar studies in other remote areas. Plus, their visit wasn’t just about gathering data—they took the time to share their findings with local students, making science more accessible to the community. With ongoing studies like these, the Great Basin remains an essential place for both discovery and education.