Hi-RISE news

Team members Lee, Taylor and Ram-Devi spent two weeks on fieldwork, first trekking the Manaslu circuit from Jagat to Dharapani, then working along part of the Annapurna circuit from Pisang to Tilicho.

They collected the same samples as the Everest region trips from 20 different rivers. These will allow the team to do large-scale comparative studies between three regions of Nepal to assess the importance of climatic and geological differences alongside glacier effects.

Our team members Duncan and Taylor have returned to the Everest region this month to resample rivers and streams. They are being assisted by Mahesh (HRE guide), Max Glines (Cary Institute) and Katie Miles (Lancaster Uni). We are collecting the same types of samples as our previous trips to allow for seasonal and pre v post monsoon comparisons to be undertaken. We are also now retrieving sensors that have been left in the rivers for the last year. (Pics from Max and Taylor)

Congratulations to Claudia Alvarado who has been awarded a Turing International Research Placement. The funding will allow Claudia to return to Kathmandu later this summer to work with Ram Devi and Deep on invertebrate identification.

Deep and colleagues from Tribhuvan braved the winter conditions to revisit the five core sampling sites and successfully resampled four of them. One site, a small tributary stream with no glacier inputs, had frozen over completely and could not be sampled.

Project team members Nicky, Claudia, Taylor and Alex visited the Everest region, trekking from Lukla to Everest base camp. They successfully sampled 24 sites for water chemistry, dissolved greenhouse gases, algae, bacteria, fungi, archaea,and invertebrates.

More than 40 attendees came to a workshop in Kathmandu, where the Hi-RISE team introduced the research projects to a diverse audience of government officials, business leaders, NGO representatives and Nepalese scientists/students. See the Engagement section of the web page for further details.

Ram Devi and Deep have successfully completed the sampling of our five core sites along the Everest trekking route. These sites are being sampled approximately quarterly to track seasonal biological dynamics, and they also include sensors to measure changes in water level and temperature.

The main component of Hi-RISE, the NERC funded project, started on April 1st 2025. On April 7th, Lee, Duncan and Claudia departed the UK for Kathmandu and began the first field visits. This trip took place with several other colleagues who are working on the Khumbu Glacier above Everest base camp as part of the Losing their Cool project.