Worldwide the alga Chlamydomonas nivalis is known for turning snow pink and was now chosen as alga of the year 2019. 200 Years have passed since captain John Ross made his first Arctic expedition, where he charted the peculiar pink snow and tried to identify the reason for the coloring under the microscope. The snow alga and its life cycle remain mysterious ever since. Dr. Thomas Leya from the Fraunhofer IZI-BB, an expert on snow algae, explains the phenomenon and where to find such algae. Leya is a member of the Phycology Section in the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) that chose Chlamydomonas nivalis as alga of the year 2019.