Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research

INSTAAR's traditional research focus has been on polar and alpine regions, where effects of global change are especially pronounced. In recent decades, research has broadened to include environmental challenges that span local, regional, and global scales and environments around the globe. Topics include Quaternary and modern environments, human and ecosystem ecology, biogeochemistry, landscape evolution, hydrology, oceanography, and climate. Field sites are located across all seven continents and the world's oceans. Several research programs are conducted through INSTAAR, including the Niwot Ridge and McMurdo Dry Valleys sites of the Long Term Ecological Research Network and the Boulder Creek site of the Critical Zone Observatory. INSTAAR operates the Mountain Research Station, a field research facility near Niwot, Colorado. The institute publishes Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, a peer-reviewed journal. It hosts the International Arctic Workshop in alternate years.

Inaugurated in 1951, INSTAAR is the oldest research institute at the University of Colorado. Its origins extend back further, to CU's mountain camps and labs of the early 20th century. In 2019 Merritt Turetsky was the first woman to be appointed Director of INSTAAR.