HWS News
10 July 2025 • Research Where Does Lake Effect Snow Begin? HWS Students Investigate
Decades of data help reveal the surprising origins of cold air over the Great Lakes.
Finding a meaningful research question is the first step students take in their summer research with Professor of Geoscience Neil Laird.
The goal in choosing the right question is to understand where the scientific conversation has been — and where it has yet to go. This summer, two of his students are exploring where the cold air from lake effect snow originates. Using two decades of data, they’re determining how long it takes to reach the Great Lakes and what atmospheric conditions are involved.
Laird, who has studied lake effect snow for 30 years was surprised no one had investigated this before.
“We just say, ‘Oh, cold air comes from the north,’ right? And no one’s looked closely at where exactly it does come from,” Laird says. “I was shocked no one had looked at that.”
To find out, students must go back in time, rather than forward, as most atmospheric science is oriented. Cameron Crowell ’26 and Bek Lopez ’28 are analyzing data from 20 winters, focusing on the five days prior to each lake effect snow event.
They’ve found that some cold air originates in Greenland, the North Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of Alaska; some comes from the North Atlantic. But all of it travels to converge at the Great Lakes to generate lake effect snow.
The research builds on Crowell’s work from last summer, when he investigated air pathways to the Great Lakes by analyzing hundreds of backward trajectories to identify atmospheric patterns.
“Every question you may answer throughout the research process opens up a brand-new question,” Crowell says.
This summer, he’s collaborating with Bek Lopez ’28, whose research focuses on how these air masses change enroute, especially their temperature.
“You’d think air masses from three distinct regions would have temperatures reflecting those origins, but that’s surprisingly not the case,” Lopez explains. “My research has really just begun, and I’m so glad to be a part of something like this. My partner and I are building maps to present our findings in a few weeks.”
Summer Research offers Total Immersion
“Science isn’t sitting in isolation and working on a project by yourself,” Laird says. “It is so collaborative.” Problem-solving, sharing perspectives and engaging in the process is key, and for many undergraduates, it's brand new.
Students spend part of their summer on campus working closely with a faculty mentor. Projects vary in timing, and students receive campus housing and a weekly stipend.
Over the summer, students share their work beyond HWS — at conferences in Albany, N.Y. and Plymouth, N.H., and throughout the year. These experiences help students engage not just with a research question, but with the research process itself.
That’s what excited Laird when he joined HWS in 2004.
“I saw real value in being able to provide first-time research experiences to undergraduates. It’s a very meaningful experience,” he says. “This informs their approach to so many things in life. Our research program is something many small liberal arts or primarily undergraduate institutions don’t have.”
Lopez says attending conferences offers a glimpse into the world of scientific careers.
The Right Research Question--plus Interdisciplinary Thinking--Opens Doors
Ainsley Innus ’27, who recently won the Albert Holland Physics Lecture Competition for a presentation applying Bernoulli’s equation to wind, is applying that interdisciplinary mindset this summer.
As a geoscience major, she’s studying blowing snow occurrences for her summer research, expanding on her independent study conducted during the spring semester.
“We looked into one question last semester and are looking at two more this summer to understand spatial variations of blowing snow across the U.S. and Canada,” she says.
Collaborative research has strengthened her writing and problem-solving skills.
“In working with data, it’s been necessary to make decisions about which analyses to pursue for meaningful results,” Innus says. “This research has taught me to think creatively and evaluate different options for analyzing data.”
Top: Summer research students work in the HWS Geoscience Weather and Climate computer lab during the 2025 HWS Summer Research and NEPARS Research Experiences for Undergraduates programs.
