• MCM IV -- Increased Connectivity in a Polar Desert Resulting from Climate Warming: McMurdo Dry Valley LTER Program.  2011-2017. Funded by National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs.
• Astrobiology of Icy Worlds: Habitability, Survivability, and Detectability. 2008-2014. Funded by NASA Astrobiology Institute.
• West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice core. 2009-2012. Funded by National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs.
• MCM III -- The Role of Resource Legacy on Contemporary Linkages Between Biodiversity and Ecosystem Processes in a Cold Desert Ecosystem: The McMurdo Dry Valley LTER Program.  2005-2011. Funded by National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs.
• International Polar Year 2007-2008: Polar Night Project. Funded by National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs.
• ENDURANCE (Environmentally Non-Disturbing Under-ice Robotic ANtarctic Explorer). 2008. Funded by NASA, Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets Program.
• MSU SubZero Science and Engineering Research Facility. 2006-2008. Funded by the Murdock Charitable Trust.
• MSU SubZero Science and Engineering Research Facility. 2006-2008. Funded by the National Science Foundation - Major Research Instrumentation program.
• Paleorecords of biotic and abiotic particles in polar ice cores.  2005-2008. Funded by National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs.
• Nuclear-Magnetic Resonance and Electrical Measurements of Unfrozen Water in Mars-Analog Materials: Implications for Habitability at Subfreezing Temperatures on Mars. 2005-2007. Funded by NASA, Exobiology Program.
• The McMurdo Dry Valley Lakes Microbial Observatory - Microbial Diversity and Function in the Permanently Ice-Covered Lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. 2003-2007. Funded by the National Science Foundation, Division of Molecular and Cell Biology.
• Laboratory Experiments and Mathematical Modeling of a Hydrocarbon Spill on the ice cover of Lake Fryxell, Antarctica.  2004-2005 season plus one year no-cost extension. Supplemental SGER to MCM LTER II.
• MCM II--The Role of Natural Legacy on Ecosystem Function and Structure in  a Polar Desert: The McMurdo Dry Valley LTER. 1999-2005.  Funded by National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs.
• Geomicrobiology of Vostok Ice: Implications for Life in Lake Vostok. 2001-2004. Funded by National Science Foundation, Life in Extreme Environments (LExEN).
• The Biogeochemistry of Dimethylsulfide (DMS) and Related compounds in a Chemically Stratified Antarctic Lake. 1999-2002.  Funded by National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs.
• Microbial Life within the Extreme Environment Posed by Permanent Antarctic Lake Ice. 1998-2001.  Funded by National Science Foundation, Life in Extreme Environments (LExEN).
• Teachers Experiencing Antarctica (Elissa Elliot): Microbial Life with the Extreme Environment Posed by Permanent Antarctic Lake Ice. 1998. Funded by National Science Foundation, TEA.
• Teachers Experiencing Antarctica (Valerie Sloan): The Biogeochemistry of Dimethylsulfide (DMS) and Related compounds in a Chemically Stratified Antarctic Lake. 1999. Funded by National Science Foundation, TEA.
• MCM I--McMurdo Dry Valleys: A Cold Desert Ecosystem. 1993-1999.  Funded by National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs.
• National Science Foundation Research for Undergraduate Education (RUE) supplemental award to Biogeochemistry of DMS and related sulfur compounds in a Chemically Stratified Antarctic Lake. 1999.
• Bacterial Dynamics Under Antarctic Lake Ice. 1996-1999.  Funded by Montana Space Grant Consortium Graduate Student Award (Christina Takacs).
• National Science Foundation Research for Undergraduate (RUE) supplemental award to Antarctic Dry Valleys: A Cold Desert Ecosystem. 1997.
• National Science Foundation Research for Undergraduate Education (RUE) supplemental award to Antarctic Lake Ice Microbial Consortia: Origin, Distribution, and Growth Physiology, 1997.
• Antarctic Lake Ice Microbial Consortia: Origin, Distribution, and Growth Physiology. 1995-1998. National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs.
• National Science Foundation Research for Undergraduate Education (RUE) supplemental award to Biogeochemistry of Nitrogen in a Highly Stratified, Permanently Ice-Covered Antarctic Lake. 1993.
• National Science Foundation Research Education for Undergraduate Education (RUE) supplemental award to Antarctic Dry Valleys: A Cold Desert Ecosystem, 1993.
• Biogeochemistry of Nitrogen in a Highly Stratified, Permanently Ice-Covered Antarctic Lake. 1992-1995. National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs.
• Nuisance Algal Blooms in the Colstrip Surge Pond: Causes and Consequences, 1992-1993. Funded by Montana Power Company.
• Photoadaptation by Phytoplankton in Permanently Ice-Covered Antarctic Lakes: Response to a Non-Turbulent Environment. 1989-1992. Funded by National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs.
• Impact of Sewage Effluent and Survival of Pathogenic Organisms in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. 1991-1992. Funded by National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs.
• Influence of Phosphorus and Other Environmental Parameters on Toxin Production by the Blue-Green Alga Anabaena flos-aquae. 1991. Funded by the Soap and Detergent Association and Procter and Gamble.
• The Effects of Nutrient Enrichment on Benthic Algae and Young-of-the-Year Salmonid Production in the Clark Fork River. 1991. Funded by the Soap and Detergent Association and Stone Container Company.
• Nutrient Dynamics and Attached Algal Growth in a Large River, 1990. Funded by The Soap and Detergent Association, Procter and Gamble and Stone Container Company.
• Persistence, Distribution and Environmental Impact of Enteric Bacteria in Antarctic Seawater. 1990. Funded by National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs.
• Quantitative Estimation of the Effects of Operation of Libby and Hungary Horse Dams on the Reservoirs Fisheries. 1988-1989. Funded by Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
• Factors Regulating Nuisance and Potentially Toxic Blue-Green Algal Blooms in a Through-Flow Ecosystem. 1986. Funded by Montana State Water Resources Research Center.
• Response of Aquatic Nitrogen Cycling and Plankton Productivity to Acidification. 1985-1988. College of Graduate Studies, Montana State University, Faculty Creativity Program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Regulation of Nitrogen Fixation by Organic Matter in Aquatic Ecosystems. 1987-1990. Funded by Procter and Gamble.
• A Laboratory and Field Study of the Interaction of Microalgae and Bacteria in Aquatic Biofilms. 1985-1986.  National Science Foundation, Ecology Program.