The lake tahoe basin is an area cherished for its natural beauty

Proposed research aims to enhance the understanding and management of environmental challenges in the basin. Task 1 focuses on assessing the impact of wildfires and vehicle emissions on snowpack black carbon particulate loading, utilizing remote sensing and fieldwork across tahoe's watersheds. Task 2 aims to assess plastic pollution and the chemical 6PPD-Q derived from tire rubber to better understand sources and transport in the basin. Task 3 expands the tahoe environmental observatory network to monitor climate change impacts on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, including real-time data sharing. Task 4 involves detailed hydrological modeling in select watersheds to explore first-order controls on streamflow sensitivity to changes in albedo related to climate, land cover change, and aerosol deposition. Scaling motifs are proposed to transfer learned information across the tahoe basin to identify those watersheds most sensitive to change. Together, these tasks aim to advance scientific knowledge and inform sustainable management practices of the tahoe basin. The project will engage tahoe resource managers, early career researchers and undergraduate students. Outreach efforts will utilize manager trainings, videos, social media, and local science events to enhance public understanding of scientific research in the tahoe basin.