Alia LaurenKhan, PhD

  • AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
Alia Khan headshot

Dr. Alia Lauren Khan is an environmental engineer and cryospheric scientist studying how pollutants and warming affect snow and ice melt, and downstream water quality and quantity. Her work integrates field sampling, mapping with multi- and hyperspectral remote sensing from drones and satellites, and laboratory chemical analysis to investigate light-absorbing particles—such as black carbon, dust, and snow algae—and their influence on albedo and glacier melt. Her research spans the global cryosphere, from the Arctic and Antarctic to high mountain regions including the Himalayas, Andes, and Cascades, where she monitors snowpack dynamics and glacial hydrology to better understand changing water resources and their impacts on aquatic biogeochemistry. She has also conducted water quality research across South Asia in Cambodia, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Dr. Khan is an alumna of the EDC program, having completed the certificate program and her PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2016. She completed her practicum in Nepal on a USAID funded project to study the impacts of changing snow and ice melt on downstream water quality. She currently leads multiple NASA and NSF-funded awards and is always keen to work with students interested in exploring the interface of global engineering and a changing climate. Her contributions to environmental science and engineering have earned her multiple awards, such as an NSF CAREER Award, a Fulbright Scholarship, an Antarctic Service Medal, and an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

Education

  • PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, 2016
  • MS in Environmental Studies, University of Colorado Boulder, 2012
  • BSPH with Honors in Environmental Science and Engineering, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, 2009

Publications

  • Rand, C. F., & Khan, A. L. (2025). How Commercial SmallSats Are Revolutionizing the Remote Detection and Mapping of Snow Algae. Frontiers in Remote Sensing, 6, 1572973.
  • Cordero, R. R., Feron, S., Malhotra, A., … & Khan, A. L.,et al. (2025). Heavy Metal Imprints in Antarctic Snow from Research and Tourism. Nature Sustainability.
  • Rand, C. F., & Khan, A. L. (2024). Applicability of Relatively Low-Cost Multispectral Uncrewed Aerial Systems for Surface Characterization of the Cryosphere. Remote Sensing, 16 (19), 3662.
  • Cordero, R. R., Feron, S., Damiani, A., MacDonell, S., Carrasco, J., Pizarro, J., Karas, C., Jorquera, J., Sepúlveda, E., Cabello, F., Fernandoy, F., Wang, C., Khan, A. L., & Casassa, G. (2024). Rapid Decline in Extratropical Andean Snow Cover Driven by the Poleward Migration of the Southern Hemisphere Westerlies. Scientific Reports, 14 (1), 26365.
  • Khan, A. L., Xian, P., & Schwarz, J. (2023). Black Carbon Concentrations and Modeled Smoke Deposition Fluxes to the Bare Ice Dark Zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The Cryosphere, 17, 2909.
  • Healy, S., & Khan, A. L. (2023). UAV Remote Detection of Snow Algae and the Radiative Forcing Responses in the North Cascades. Communications Earth & Environment, 4, 142.
  • Cordero, R. R., Feron, S., Damiani, A., Llanillo, P. J., Carrasco, J., Khan, A. L., Bintanja, R., Ouyang, Z., & Casassa, G. (2023). Signature of the Stratosphere–Troposphere Coupling on Recent Record-Breaking Antarctic Sea-Ice Anomalies. The Cryosphere, 17, 4995–5006.
  • Gold, A. U., Geraghty Ward, E. M., Marsh, C. L., Moon, T. A., Schoeneman, S. W., Khan, A. L.,et al. (2023). Measuring Novice–Expert Sense of Place for a Far-Away Place: Implications for Geoscience Instruction. PLoS ONE, 18 (10), e0293003.
  • Di Mauro, B., Cappelletti, D., Moroni, B., Mazzola, M., Gilardoni, S., Luks, B., Nawrot, A., Lewandowski, M., Dagsson Waldhauserova, P., Meinander, O., Wittmann, M., Kaspari, S., & Khan, A. (2023). Dust in Svalbard: Local Sources Versus Long-Range Transported Dust (SVALDUST). In SESS Report 2022 – The State of Environmental Science in Svalbard, pp. 62–77. Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System.
  • Cordero, R. R., Sepúlveda, E., Feron, S., Damiani, A., Fernandoy, F., Neshyba, S., … Khan, A. L.,& Casassa, G. (2022). Black Carbon Footprint of Human Presence in Antarctica. Nature Communications, 13 (1), 1–11.
  • Healy, S., & Khan, A. L. (2022). Mapping Glacier Ablation with a UAV in the North Cascades: A Comparison of Traditional Approaches to Glacier Mass Balance with Structure-from-Motion Technology. Frontiers in Remote Sensing, 3, 864517.
  • Cordero, R. R., Sepúlveda, E., Feron, S., Damiani, A., Fernandoy, F., Neshyba, S., … Khan, A. L.,& Casassa, G. (2022). Black Carbon in the Southern Andean Snowpack. Environ. Res. Lett.17044042,
  • Veyssière, G., Castellani, G., Wilkinson, J., Karcher, M., Hayward, A., Stroeve, J. C., Nicolaus, M., Kim, J. H., Yang, E. J., Valčić, L., Kauker, F., Khan, A. L.,& Rogers, I. (2022). Under-Ice Light Field in the Western Arctic Ocean during Late Summer. Frontiers in Earth Science, 10, 1337.
  • Khan, A. L.,Dierssen, H. M., Scambos, T. A., Höfer, J., & Cordero, R. R. (2021). Spectral Characterization, Radiative Forcing, and Pigment Content of Coastal Antarctic Snow Algae: Approaches to Spectrally Discriminate Red and Green Communities and Their Impact on Snowmelt. The Cryosphere, 15, 133–148.
  • Khan, A. L., Sokol, E. R., McKnight, D. M., Saunders, J. F., Hohner, A. K., & Summers, R. S. (2021). Phytoplankton Drivers of Dissolved Organic Material Production in Colorado Reservoirs and the Formation of Disinfection By-Products. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 9, 259.
  • Schulte, N., Khan, A. L.,Smith, E., Zoumplis, A., Kaul, D., Allen, A., Adams, B., & McKnight, D. (2021). Blowin’ in the Wind: Dispersal, Structure, and Metacommunity Dynamics of Aeolian Diatoms in the McMurdo Sound Region, Antarctica. Journal of Phycology, 57 (5), 1499–1512.
  • Khan, A. L.,Rittger, K., Xian, P., Katich, J., Armstrong, R., Kayastha, R., & Dana, J. (2020). Biofuel Burning Influences Refractory Black Carbon Concentrations in Seasonal Snow at Lower Elevations of the Dudh Koshi River Basin of Nepal. Environmental Research Communications, 2 (10), 105002.
  • Lee, S., Stroeve, J., Tsamados, M., & Khan, A. L. (2020). Machine Learning Approaches to Retrieve Pan-Arctic Melt Ponds from Visible Satellite Imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment, 247, 111940.
  • Diaz, M., Lyons, B., Welch, S., Welch, K., Khan, A. L.,McKnight, D., Adams, B., & Cary, C. (2020). Geochemistry of Aeolian Material from the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica: Insights into Southern Hemisphere Dust Sources. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 531, 115992.
  • Khan, A. L., Klein, A., Katich, J., & Xian, P. (2019). Local Emissions and Regional Wildfires Influence Refractory Black Carbon Observations near Palmer Station, Antarctica. Frontiers in Earth Science – Atmosphere Section, 7, 250.
  • Bracegirdle, T. J., Colleoni, F., Abram, N. J., Bertler, N. A. N., Dixon, D. A., England, M.,Favier, V., Fogwill, C. J., Fyfe, J. C., Goodwin, I., Goose, H., Hobbs, W., Jones, J. M., Keller, E. D., Khan, A. L., et al. (2019). Back to the Future: Using Long-Term Observational and Paleo-Proxy Reconstructions to Improve Model Projections of Antarctic Climate. Geosciences, 9 (6), 251.
  • Khan, A. L.,McMeeking, G., Schwarz, J. P., Xian, P., Welch, K., Lyons, B., & McKnight, D. (2018). Near-Surface Refractory Black Carbon Measured in Snow and Air in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica and Potential Impacts of Foehn Winds. Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres, 123 (19), 10967–10983.
  • Armstrong, R. L., Rittger, K., Brodzik, M. J., Racoviteanu, A., Barrett, A. P., Singh Khalsa, S. J., Raup, B., Hill, A., Khan, A. L.,et al.(2018). Runoff from glacier ice and seasonal snow in High Asia: separating melt water sources in river flow.Reg Environ Change19, 1249–1261.
  • Khan, A. L.,Wagner, S., Jaffe, R., Xian, P., Williams, M., Armstrong, R., & McKnight, D. (2017). Dissolved Black Carbon in the Global Cryosphere: Concentrations and Chemical Signatures. Geophysical Research Letters, 44, 8352–8360.
  • Khan, A. L., Dierssen, H., Schwartz, J., Schmitt, C., Hermanson, M., Painter, T., & McKnight, D. (2017). Impacts of Coal Dust on the Spectral Reflectance of Arctic Surface Snow in Svalbard, Norway. Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres, 122 (24), 13584–13599.
  • Stibal, M., Box, J. E., Cameron, K. A., Langen, P. L., Yallop, M. L., Mottram, R. H., Khan, A. L., et al. (2017). Algae Drive Enhanced Darkening of Bare Ice on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Geophysical Research Letters, 44, 11463–11471.
  • Gutt, J., Isla, E., Bertler, A. N., Bodeker, G. E., Bracegirdle, T. J., Cavanagh, R. D., Comiso, J. C., Convey, P., Cummings, V., De Conto, R., De Master, D., Di Prisco, G., D’Ovidio, F., Griffiths, H. J., Khan, A. L., et al. (2017). Cross-disciplinarity in the advance of Antarctic ecosystem research. Marine Genomics, 37, 1–17.
  • Khan, A. L., Jaffe, R., Ding, Y., & McKnight, D. M. (2016). Dissolved Black Carbon in Antarctic Lakes: Chemical Signatures of Past and Present Sources. Geophysical Research Letters, 43, 5743–5750.
  • Mayewski, P. A., Bracegirdle, T., Goodwin, I., Schneider, D., Bertler, N. A. N., Birkel, S., Carleton, A., England, M. H., Khan, A., & Russell, J. (2015). Potential for Southern Hemisphere Climate Surprises. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30, 391–395.
  • Khan, A. L. (2012). Creative Adaptation: Bangladesh’s Resilience to Flooding in a Changing Climate. In Climate Change Modelling for Local Adaptation in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region; Lamadrid, A., & Kelman, I. (Eds.); Community, Environment and Disaster Risk Management, Vol. 11; Emerald Group Publishing, pp. 159–175.
  • Brown, J., Stauber, C., Murphy, J., Khan, A., Mu, T., Elliott, M., & Sobsey, M. (2011). Ambient Temperature Incubation for the Field Detection of E. coli in Drinking Water. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 110 (4), 915–923.