The headwaters and immediate downstream freshwaters of many major Albertan rivers are hydraulically fed by snow and glacial melt and are therefore under threat due to climate change. The headwaters of these rivers are hotspots of biodiversity, hosting unique algal and microbial communities that form the base of climatically-sensitive riverine food webs. As such, documenting the changing chemical and biological diversity of these freshwaters is crucial for understanding their response to climate change. The ACA Grant in Biodiversity supported two research objectives of my PhD: (1) Quantification of seasonal, interannual, and spatial patterns in glacial melt freshwater biogeochemistry (biology + geology + chemistry), and (2) Characterization of metabolism (productivity + respiration) across these same riverine gradients. Preliminary results from Objective 1 indicate that while concentrations of over 40+ physicochemical parameters remain low in our pristine headwater sites, the amount of biogeochemical constituents exported out of the system may be especially high in summer due to pronounced snow and glacial contributions to flow. This result relates directly to Objective 2, where organisms at the base of riverine food webs such as microbes and algae that define the metabolism of the in-river system are especially sensitive to freshwater biogeochemistry. Results for Objective 2 suggest that respiration exceeds productivity across our mountain system, though this is expected to change from increased terrestrial inputs and warmer temperatures associated with climate change. Overall, my PhD research provides evidence of how increasing glacier melt contributions are affecting the base of food webs in Alberta’s primary watersheds.