Jill Baron

My family drives electric vehicles for many of the same reasons as others in Colorado: quiet ride, less maintenance, and critically, no heat-trapping emissions or nitrogen oxide emissions from the tailpipe. Gas and diesel vehicles produce pollutants that create ozone, harm human health, and contribute to climate change. As a scientist, I spent my career studying the impact of air pollutants on Rocky Mountain National Park.

Mountain lakes are sensitive indicators of anthropogenically driven global change, with lake sediment records documenting increased primary production during the twentieth century. Atmospheric nutrient deposition and warming have been attributed to changes in other Western mountain lakes, however, the intensity of these drivers varies.

Sources/Usage: Some content may have restrictions. Visit Media to see details. Since the 1980s, Jill Baron has studied nitrogen deposition in the Loch Vale Watershed inside Rocky Mountain National Park. Consistent findings of high levels of nitrogen deposition in and around the park's alpine lakes, along with many decades of outreach by Baron and her collaborators, has resulted in multiple federal and local campaigns to reduce nitrogen pollution in the United States.