WWU’s Robin Kodner to Discuss ‘The Living Snow Project’ May 23 at City Hall

Western Washington University Assistant Professor of Biology Robin Kodner will present “Watermelon Snow: The Invisible Life in Bellingham's Backyard” starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 23, at the Bellingham City Council chambers, second floor, Bellingham City Hall, 210 Lottie St.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is offered as part of the annual “Science and the UniverCity” community science lecture series. It is sponsored by Western’s College of Science and Engineering, the City of Bellingham, and the BP Cherry Point Refinery.

In her presentation, Kodner will discuss her work on “The Living Snow Project,” a citizen-science initiative focused on Kodner’s research on watermelon snow, a complex microbial community of red algae that lives in seasonal snowfields high in places like the North Cascades. Kodner’s lab at Western uses the newest gene-sequencing technologies to generate DNA data on hundreds of samples of watermelon snow (so-called because it gives whole snowfields a reddish/pinkish hue) from colonies across the Pacific Northwest, and The Living Snow Project is a new way to enlist the aid of climbers, guides and mountaineers to be able to add samples to this collection effort.

For more information, contact Western Washington University’s College of Science and Engineering at (360) 650-6400.