Arielle Koshkin grew up in Northern California, where she loved playing in the snow. As she grew up and decided to pursue higher education, Koshkin learned how important snow was to water resources in the arid western United States. She is a Colorado Scholar studying Hydrological Science and Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines.

According to Koshkin, approximately 70% of the water in the western United States is derived from snowpacks.

“I wanted to research something that was important and integral in the community where I grew up,” Koshkin said. “I research the way that wildfires are changing patterns of spring snowmelt. Wildfires alter the amount of water stored in snow and the timing of the spring snowmelt, disrupting the typical patterns of melt.”

Wildfires are burning higher into the seasonal snow zone, and the burnt forests are affecting how the snow accumulates and melts, Koshkin says.

“Black carbon is being shed from the trees, which decreases the reflectivity of the snow,” Koshkin said. “This leads to more energy being absorbed, which can make snow melt faster. The fires also reduce the tree canopy, which actually allows more snow accumulation on the ground. However, it also allows more sunlight to hit the ground and melt the snow.”

Koshkin’s study looked at the tradeoffs of the fire’s effects on the date the snow melts out across the western US. Her research found that snowmelt occurs up to two weeks earlier in the Pacific Northwest, where wildfires have ravaged the land. Additionally, the Intermountain West snowmelt can be prolonged in burnt forests because of colder snowpacks,

“It is evident that wildfires are negatively affecting the snowmelt patterns in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest,” Koshkin said. “This makes it harder to forecast water runoff from snowmelt onset, which makes it more difficult to catch water when the snow melts. Hopefully, my research will help us update our models and be able to better predict snowmelt patterns from burned forests in the future.”

Koshkin’s plans include potentially working in government research focusing on snow hydrology and climate research or accepting a faculty position at a university and continuing her research there. She is grateful to receive funding from ARCS, and it has encouraged her to continue studying.

“Oftentimes, graduate students aren’t paid a lot,” Koshkin said. “The funding from ARCS has allowed me to feel financially stable and to attend conferences. I have been able to attend these meetings and connect with colleagues to build a fruitful network.”