National Ice Core Lab
In 2015 I reached out to Richard Nunn at the NICL to bring my Physical Geography class over to the facility for a field trip as part of my unit on climate change. The NICL is just down the road from Red Rocks campus, so we were really lucky to be able to start a collaboration. Richard and the NSF staff graciously welcomed RRCC students every spring semester I was at RRCC (except during COVID pandemic). Everyone agreed: it was the “coolest” field trip at Red Rocks! (it’s -40 in the ice core archive, get it!)
Thank You NICL!
Richard’s presentation and tour of the ice core lab, and his deep knowledge of core science and drilling practice, complimented my curriculum perfectly. This collaboration, and relationship with the staff and NICL, was one of the high points of my time teaching at RRCC, and a powerful way to teach climate change to students - to be able to touch the ice that provides the data that tells us about past climate makes the stuff we learn in the classroom tangible in a way few things can.
