Everyone has heard that no two snowflakes are alike. In this podcast, Dr. Marshall describes snow as one of the most dynamic and variable materials on earth. Snow changes from the moment it forms in the sky, as it is blown across the landscape, and as it begins to settle and compact, until it melts and eventually ends up in our water supply. The pattern of snow distribution at the hillslope scale is often highly variable, in terms of both the total amount of water stored in solid form as well as the mechanical properties, and this variability leads to complicated and interesting problems for snow avalanche and hydrologic science. Dr. Marshall takes you inside this important research, and discusses its relevance in straightforward terms.