Wed, 04/20/2022 - 1:31pm
Archaeologists have hypothesized that more than 4,500 years ago, communities on barrier islands along the southeastern coastlines of the North America were abruptly abandoned due to a sudden shift in climate. But new research from the University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology indicates that environmental change was happening both during the settlement of these island villages and—over centuries longer than previously believed—during their…
Thu, 02/24/2022 - 11:44am
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy holds a first-of-its-kind roundtable with some of the nation’s leading scientists on Thursday, including UGA atmospheric scientist J.Marshall Shepherd, to discuss the urgent need to combat the climate crisis and to counter arguments for delaying climate action:
The event, which has not previously been reported, will bring together a diverse group of 17 climate scientists, social scientists…
Mon, 02/21/2022 - 10:56am
Scientists from around the world continue their work in Antarctica near the Thwaites Glacier. Marine sciences professor Patricia Yager and her team are keeping us updated with great images and details about their progress and ongoing challenges to the work.
Unstable sea ice and a large iceberg broken off from the deteriorating Thwaites Glacier are blocking two research ships with dozens of scientists from examining how fast the crucial ice shelf…
Wed, 12/08/2021 - 11:35am
From the "Great Resignation" to cryptocurrency, La Nina, zoom fatigue, and fungal blooms, Franklin College faculty offered expertise, scholarship, and opinion in media platforms across the world. A sample of recent reporting and stories from the month of November and early December:
Cameras off can lessen fatigue – Kristen Shockley, associate professor of psychology, quoted by Sales and Marketing
Why it’s time for the term “minority” to…
Mon, 10/25/2021 - 1:35pm
Franklin faculty members provided clarity and guidance in the media on a range of issues from climate change to workaholism over the course of October. As sampling of a few of the many recent stories:
The “extra” Atlantic hurricane name list will likely be used soon — but not the Greek alphabet – Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of geography and atmospheric sciences Marshall Shepherd writing at Forbes
Why Bezos, Musk, Page…
Thu, 09/23/2021 - 10:55am
Increasingly extreme heat threatens the health and comfort of city dwellers. That’s why researchers from the University of Georgia have developed a new dynamic heat exposure index that captures varying heat exposure within urban environments.
“This is the first time a dynamic heat exposure model has been proposed, thanks in part to recent technological advances in sensing and big data,” said Deepak Mishra, professor, associate head of the…
Thu, 09/16/2021 - 12:01pm
The University of Georgia, along with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will co-lead a new National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center that will pursue and promote a deeper understanding of the microbial worlds and chemical processes that swirl throughout the Earth’s oceanic ecosystems.
The new Center for Chemical Currencies of a Microbial Planet (C-CoMP), based at Woods Hole in Falmouth, Massachusetts, is one of six…
Tue, 09/07/2021 - 3:40pm
Department of geography researchers are collaborating with faculty from the Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources and the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences on a four-year project supported by a grant from NOAA to connect marsh health with local economics and environmental impact. Our colleagues in the Warnell School report:
The forces at work in a marsh require a delicate balancing act.
Rising and falling tidewaters…
Thu, 07/29/2021 - 11:06am
The shoots of plants get all of the glory, with their fruit and flowers and visible structure. But it's the portion that lies below the soil — the branching, reaching arms of roots and hairs pulling up water and nutrients — that interests plant physiologist and computer scientist, Alexander Bucksch, associate professor of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia.
The health and growth of the root system has deep implications for our future.…
Wed, 06/30/2021 - 11:48am
The Ray C. Anderson Foundation has awarded a $300,000 grant to Emory University and its partners for the next phase of the Georgia Climate Project, a state-wide consortium of nine colleges and universities working to strengthen Georgia’s ability to prepare for and respond to a changing climate.
The Georgia Climate Project was founded in 2018 as a collaborative effort among Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the…
Fri, 01/15/2021 - 11:59am
What do the 3,000-year-old actions of an Egyptian pharaoh say about how we should tackle the biggest challenges of the 21st century?
Quite a bit, according to anthropologists at the University of Georgia who analyzed archeological evidence over thousands of years to examine how societies have approached adversity. Their work suggests that rigid, top-down approaches to complex problems have been a doomed strategy throughout human history. Instead…
Mon, 10/19/2020 - 12:03pm
Sally E. Walker, the inaugural Shellebarger Professor in Geology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, gives students field research experiences through which they propose hypotheses, collect and analyze data, and communicate their findings:
What are your favorite courses and why?
My favorite courses concern connections: how evolution of life on Earth affected geological and atmospheric processes and vice versa. The naturalist John Muir…
New Research Reveals Effect of Global Warming on Greenland Ice Melt, Consequences for Sea Level Rise
Wed, 08/19/2020 - 11:11am
New analysis of almost 30 years’ worth of scientific data on the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet predicts global sea level rise of at least 10 centimetres by the end of the 21st Century, per global warming trends.
The estimates, which scientists warn are “conservative” given the powerful effects of changes in weather systems and possible ways of accelerating ice loss, are broadly consistent with recent predictions reported by the…
Wed, 07/29/2020 - 10:47am
Outbreaks of harmful algae have increased in recent years due to warming trends and longer summer seasons. Also called cyanobacterial algal blooms or CyanoHABs, these large-scale ecological disturbances are often caused by increased urbanization, nutrient pollution, poor waste management and warming weather. The algae can produce toxins that are harmful to humans, pets and aquatic ecosystems.
The CyanoTRACKER project, a collaboration between…
Wed, 07/15/2020 - 2:36pm
An interdisciplinary team of scientists studying thousands of oyster shells along the Georgia coast, some as old as 4,500 years, has published new insights into how Native Americans sustained oyster harvests for thousands of years, observations that may lead to better management practices of oyster reefs today.
Their study, led by University of Georgia archaeologist Victor Thompson, was published July 10 in the journal Science Advances.
The new…
Tue, 06/16/2020 - 12:47pm
In a gaming experience that takes players into the near future to explore the mysteries of the ocean, “Beyond Blue” is a new video game launched by E-Line Media in conjunction with the BBC and the researchers behind its “Blue Planet II” series.
The game allows players to become part of a new research team using groundbreaking technologies to see, hear and interact with the ocean in a meaningful way. University of Georgia Regents’ Professor …
Tue, 10/29/2019 - 12:00pm
Franklin faculty contributed popular press articles about issues of the day and had their research reported around the world. A sample from over the past month:
The grimy history of the Attorney General’s Office, associate professor of history Stephen Mihm in his regular column at Bloomberg
Here’s your answer when someone asks “How can it be so cold if there’s global warming?” Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric…
Mon, 10/21/2019 - 2:55pm
Earth system scientists have identified another culprit (other than rain) that causes a river to overflow its banks: leafy plants.
In a study published today in Nature Climate Change, the UCI researchers describe the emerging role of ecophysiology in riparian flooding. As an adaptation to an overabundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, trees, plants and grasses constrict their stomatal pores to regulate the amount of the gas they consume,…
Tue, 10/01/2019 - 12:48pm
When Hurricane Dorian roared up the East Coast during the first week of September, the places where people live and work in several states were under threat. The first line of protection against storm damage was made up of coastal vegetated ecosystems, including nearly 300,000 acres of salt marshes in Georgia.
The salt marsh, seagrass, and mangrove ecosystems that bore the brunt of pounding waves are not, however, immune from damage.…
Thu, 09/26/2019 - 2:45pm
For plant biology major and Goldwater Scholar Sarah Saddoris, research has played a primary role in defining her goal to improve the production of the global food supply:
As my primary focus, research has played a defining role in my studies. I have spent my fair share of Friday nights in the lab finishing experiments at 2 in the morning and many game days in Davison Life Sciences (benchwork waits for no man!). I have also had the opportunity to…
Tue, 09/17/2019 - 2:11pm
In the world of climate change studies, there are extensive global and regional models but fewer site-specific models. Lindsey Cochran, a postdoctoral research associate with the University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology, is working with digital data from the Georgia coast to recreate models that simulate site-specific changes from now until 2100.
“Archaeologists care a lot more about the context in which an artifact was found than the…
Tue, 08/27/2019 - 10:25am
Franklin faculty continue to lead by sharing their expertise on many international issues of the day. A recent sampling:
Greenland’s in the middle of a record melting event - Distinguished Research Professor and Franklin College associate dean Thomas Mote quoted in a widely circulated article, Science Alert
Academics, sports or both? A personal reflection from an atmospheric scientist - Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of…
Fri, 08/23/2019 - 11:30am
The American Geophysical Union has awarded its 2019 Climate Communications Prize to Marshall Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Geography at the University of Georgia. The award for recognition of the communications of climate science is among the class of 2019 Union honorees announced August 22.
An international nonprofit scientific association with 60,000 members in 137 countries, The…
Fri, 07/05/2019 - 10:36am
Though causes of the civilizational collapse that took place in the Maya lowlands of southeastern Mexico and Central America during the Terminal Classic Period (1200 – 900 before present) remain uncertain, changing precipitation patterns have long been suspected.
Now, a new study from the University of Georgia and the Florida Museum of Natural History establishes fossilized white-tailed deer teeth as part of the climate record, a reliable proxy…
Fri, 06/28/2019 - 2:02pm
Even during the quiet days of June, Franklin College faculty expertise never sleeps! Here are a few of the many articles written by or featuring the work of faculty members from across the college over the past month:
Meteorologists fear 5G network could take forecasting back to the 1980s, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Geography Marshall Shepherd speaking on CBS This Morning
Researchers use…