There are a couple of students who walk to the Linne glacier every other day to study the glacier in depth. Besides the ongoing weather station data collection and ablation measurements (removal of material from the surface of the glacier), Terra, a student from University of Chicago is interested in studying how particles on the snow effects the loss/melting of the snow. In a natural environment there is dust, dirt, sediments etc on the top of the glacier so a glacier isn't completely white. These particles arrive on top of the glacier by winds or rain or other transport methods. A clean glacier or a dirty glacier absorbs the suns rays differently depending on the amount and type of particles. Terra is running some controlled experiments to learn more about how surface particles effect the Linne glacier.
When I asked Terra what is the most interesting thing she has learned so far from her research, she replied 'when it is raining the surface of the glacier lowers at an incredibly fast rate'. 
Terra looking at an array of particles in her experiment.
Terra looking at particles on the glacier.
Terra on her way back from the sauna after a long day on the glacier.
Another student, Simon, from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington is taking water samples every 2 hours (automatic sampling system) from two different places just below the glacier where glacier melt water is flowing. He is studying the sediments which he filters from the 2 hour samples. The type and amount of sediments can vary from hour to hour. He is planning to correlate the work with the sediments found in various locations in the lake to better understand the sediment changes which occur due to changes in weather to correlate with changes in sediment over time to try and correlate to climate change.
When I asked Simon what is the most interesting thing he has learned from his research, he replied 'the complexity of the system is much more than I thought it was and it is interesting to study at a closer level'
Simon drinking some of his glacier study water.
Simon getting the water sampler ready for the glacier
Simon setting up his sediment and water sampler.