Nestled in the Uinta Mountains of northern Utah, a series of pristine lakes are facing a new threat—humans. Geography professor and chair Katrina Moser led a team of researchers in the region this summer to better understand how human activity, like agriculture and warming temperatures because of climate change, is leading to dramatic changes in a water system far from populous areas.

"The most notable change is that air and water temperatures are warmer," said Moser.

"When I first started working in the region, I never took my long underwear off because it was always cold and windy and we are working in the water. This year I worked in a T-shirt."

While the lakes are changing due to human-driven climate change, Moser said they didn't expect to find that nutrients are being deposited into the lakes through the atmosphere, likely from agricultural activity.

Moser was joined by fourth-year geography student Chad Dickson who, as part of an Undergraduate Research Summer Internship, was examining the rock glaciers in the area to understand long-term climate change impacts and what is causing a dramatic transformation in the region's lakes.

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