Tags: Earth


Nanoparticle research may mean less radioactive contamination, safer nuclear power plants

Additionally, methods or concepts from this research may be applicable to capturing other radioactive materials, cleaning nuclear waste materials, cleaning nuclear waste environments such as rivers and lakes, removing radioactive vapors released in the atmosphere during nuclear accidents like Fukushima, or capturing non-radioactive contaminants found in the semiconductor industry. Nanoscience, she added, provides a way to use nature’s materials…


Hurricanes, Black Holes and Gamma Rays

If you're not following Marshall Shepherd on social media, you're missing out on an opportunity to learn about a whole spectrum of science-related topics that may never have crossed your mind previously. Shepherd, the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor  and the director for the program in atmospheric sciences at UGA, not only has his finger on the pulse of breaking news in the climate and weather research fields, he also…

photo of blue hole point, palau
Mapping the change in deep ocean habitats

Google maps for the undersea world? A new University of Georgia project is designed to make that become a reality. The project, Mapping Deep Blue Habitat in a Changing Climate, aims to create an underwater 3-D map that illustrates spatial information about habitat characteristics like temperature, oxygen, light, using computational and graphical tools so that scientists, stakeholders, and the public can “see” how the ocean habitats will change.…

bacteria with marine diatom
UGA joins collaboration on Theory of Microbial Ecosystems

The Simons Foundation has established a new collaboration investigating the mysteries of the microscopic communities that produce more than half of Earth’s oxygen, form the base of the marine food web and cycle nutrients through the ecosystem. The Simons Collaboration on Theory of Microbial Ecosystems, or THE-ME, will investigate how microbial ecosystems in the oceans form and function. The new collaboration will seek answers to three main…

blus and white NOAA logo
Three UGA students named 2017 NOAA Scholars

Congratulations to University of Georgia undergraduates Elizabeth Ashley, Kevin Cameron and Alexandra Mazurek, who were awarded 2017 Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarships from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 110 rising juniors from 64 universities in 33 states have been awarded 2017 Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarships. The Educational Partnership Program selected 8 students…

group photo of women in lab
Small Satellite lab hosts Women in Technology workshop

The Small Satellite Research Laboratory hosted a Women in Technology Workshop for young women from Madison County Middle School on Monday May 22. The workshop was directed by SSRL members David L Cotten (Assistant Research Scientist, Center for Geospatial Research (CGR) in Geography), Paige Copenhaver (Undergraduate, Physics and Astronomy), Natalie Davis (Undergraduate, Computer Systems Engineering), Sydney Whilden (Undergraduate, Physics and…

photo of hot springs
Researchers model cues guiding cell behavior

A diverse set of physical and chemical cues act upon individual cells to ensure coordinated multicellular behavior. Using the bacterium Myxococcus xanthus, a team led by University of Georgia and Rice University researchers has devised a data-driven model of the mechanisms that guide elaborate self-organization at the cellular level. The research, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides a blueprint for…

field of sunflowers
First sunflower genome sequence

They follow the sun's path throughout the day - hence their name in the Romance languages - and this news about the sunflower genome turns our attention to a new paper in Nature: [UGA] researchers are part of an international team that has published the first sunflower genome sequence. This new resource will assist future research programs using genetic tools to improve crop resilience and oil production. They published their findings today in…

photo of quantum computing mixing chamber
UGA to host Quantum Computing workshop May 18-19

To learn more and to register for the conference, visit https://www.physast.uga.edu/workshops/southeast-quantum-computing-2017/. The significance of hosting the workshop at UGA highlights the decades of work by the Center for Simulational Physics, which envisioned the wide use of computers in scientific research that we see today. Though it seems an obvious observation today, that is only a matter of technological advancement and…

man and student in lab with petri dish
Strand elected to National Academy of Sciences

University of Georgia Regents' Professor Michael R. Strand has received one of the highest honors a scientist can receive-election to the National Academy of Sciences: Strand, who holds an appointment in the entomology department of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and an affiliated appointment in the genetics department of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, is UGA's eighth member of the National Academies, which…

map with colored graphing
Noted and Quoted, April 2017

Franklin faculty and students continue to be quoted by and to author articles across worldwide media, including all major print publications. A sample from the past few weeks: Research by Archeology graduate student Sammantha Nicole Holder had her featured in The Guardian (reconstructing the diet of Napoleon's Grand Army) The other side of Confederate Memorial Day (Spalding Distinguished Professor of History, Emeritus James Cobb) – Time Four…

photo of man and woman in lab, with beakers
Rising water temperatures endanger health of coastal ecosystems

"Rising ocean temperatures are changing the way coastal ecosystems-and probably terrestrial ecosystems, too-process nitrogen," said Hollibaugh, Distinguished Research Professor of Marine Sciences in UGA's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "Much of the global nitrogen cycle takes place in the coastal zone." Hollibaugh and researcher Sylvia Schaefer found midsummer peaks in concentrations of nitrite alongside massive increases in numbers of…

headshots of two women students
Ganeshan and Wilkes named 2017 Udall Scholars

UGA added two new Udall Scholars to its ranks this year as third-year students Shreya Ganeshan and Elizabeth Wilkes were honored for their leadership, public service and commitment to issues related to the environment. Each year, the Udall Foundation awards about 60 scholarships to college sophomores and juniors for their efforts related to Native American nations or their work in environmental advocacy and policy. Ganeshan, from Johns Creek, is…

field with windmill and approaching storm
Thunderstorm asthma epidemics

"Thunderstorm asthma is a very complex phenomenon and involves interactions of allergens like grass pollens, thunderstorms and susceptible groups of people," said lead author Andrew J. Grundstein, professor of geography in UGA's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "Our study may help anticipate significant thunderstorms by employing a technique that helps identify wind magnitudes commonly associated with thunderstorm asthma outbreaks." The…

photo of flooded New Orleans
Migration from sea-level rise could reshape cities inland

A major new publication sheds light on one of the implications of sea level rise - where will displaced people from inundated coastal areas go? In a paper published today in Nature Climate Change, researchers estimate that approximately 13.1 million people could be displaced by rising ocean waters, with Atlanta, Houston and Phoenix as top destinations for those forced to relocate. The study is the first attempt to model the destination of…

man with bugs under glass, kids
Georgia Museum of Natural History: Dogs Exhibit

The Georgia Museum of Natural History delves right into the heart of UGA with their current exhibition about the history of dogs: It’s sort of like an old joke by Groucho Marx, who said, “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” But “How ‘Bout Them Dogs: A Brief Look into the Evolution and Domestication of Our Best Friend” takes viewers inside of a dog -- into the bare bones. The exhibit is open…

four people with shell, interior photo
Major collection moves to Laboratory of Archeology

St. Catherines Island, located along the Georgia coast, is a culturally and ecologically unique barrier island that contains diverse evidence of human occupation that spans more than 4,000 years. It is home to the most completely excavated Spanish mission in the Southeast; archaeological work on the island has been taking place for more than 42 years. The extensive archaeological collection that includes artifacts and other…

woman with building, outside, photo, day
Two Franklin students named 2017 Goldwater Scholars

Congratulations to UGA juniors and Honors Program students Morgan Gibbs and Mallory Harris, who are among 240 students across the nation to be recognized as Barry Goldwater Scholars, earning the highest undergraduate award of its type for the fields of mathematics, natural sciences and engineering: Gibbs and Harris are each studying in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Gibbs, from Peachtree City, is majoring in chemistry and minoring in…


Noted and Quoted, March 2017

Special performances, populism and budget cuts were just some of the many headlines featuring the work and expertise of Franklin faculty during March. A sample: Trump administration seeks big budget cuts for climate research – Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor Marshall Shepherd quoted in Scientific American The dark side of populism, article by B. Phinizy Spalding Professor of History Emeritus James Cobb in Flagpole UGA…

man with yellow flower and microscope
Record number of NSF Graduate Research Fellowships for UGA students, alumni

• Avery Elizabeth Wiens, chemical theory, models and computational methods. That's an amazing list, and note the interdisciplinary fields of study. The future of science is happening right now on our campus. Congratulations to these students and alumni - these broadly prestigious fellowships also have an extraordinary financial impact on the careers of young scientists. A vital program, indeed. Image: 2017 National Science Foundation…

students in the lab
UGA CubeSat one step closer to space

Great news from NASA for students and faculty working diligently to design and build UGA's first satellite: The University of Georgia CubeSat project is among 34 small satellites selected by NASA to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard missions planned to launch in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The UGA project, led by a team of undergraduate students and including faculty from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering, performs…

satellite photo over the Pacific Ocean
‘Atmospheric rivers’ also common in the Southeast

Some timely and informative new research from geography faculty and graduate students on aspects of the erratic weather seen recently: Much of the flood-inducing rainfall that has pummeled California over the last month flowed into the region via a river in the sky. But these so-called atmospheric rivers, which transport large quantities of water vapor poleward from the tropics, can wreak havoc in the Southeast as well. University of Georgia…

woman outside with water, boat
Researchers receive Moore Foundation grant to study the global ocean microbiome

A $1.3 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation will allow Franklin researchers to uncover answers about an important metabolic link that takes place in the Earth's oceans: Microorganisms in the largest microbial habitat on Earth, the ocean microbiome, function similarly to microorganisms in the human gut; they perform chemical transformations that keep the whole system healthy. Phytoplankton, the microbial primary producers of…

four people walking outside
"Demain" screening tomorrow at Cine

The event is part of Cine's Science On Screen series, a grant program sponsored by the Coolidge Corner Theatre and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that creatively pairs film screenings with lively presentations by notable science and technology experts. Tremendous opportunity for our students, courtesy of the Global Georgia Initiative and outreach efforts of Franklin College faculty members. $5 or free for Cine Members and Students with valid…

black holes in space, illustration
2017 Boyd Distinguished Lecture: LIGO discovery

In his talk, Reitze will discuss what makes gravitational waves so difficult to detect and how the ability to do so opens an unprecedented new window to the cosmos.  Welcome to campus, Dr. Reitze. We look forward to this terrific lecture this week, free and open to the public.    
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