Tags: Earth

oil globs in surf - photo
UGA researchers among recipients of GoMRI grants

Of the $38 million recently awarded to study the effects of oil on the Gulf of Mexico, two marine sciences faculty members had seperate projects funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative research board: “The Research Board was impressed with the quality of the 288 applications received,” said Dr. Rita Colwell, Chairman of the GoMRI Research Board. “As is our practice, all proposals underwent a rigorous merit review process like that used…

two women in lecture hall
Joye at BLUE Ocean Film Festival

Formerly Chief Scientist of NOAA, Dr. Earle is a National Geographic Explorer in Residence and was instrumental in adding the oceans layer to Google Earth. Great work, Dr. Joye. The power of film to help address conservation issues worldwide could prove decisive thanks to the tireless efforts of filmmakers, scientists and producers working together to bring attention and support solutions. Image: Samantha Joye with Sylvia Earle, BLUE Film…

smoking oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico
Unified Microbiome Initiative

Leading scientists are urging for the creation of a major initiative to better understand the microbial communities critical to both human health and every ecosystem: In two papers published simultaneously in the journals Science and Nature, the scientists called for a government-led effort akin to the Brain Initiative, a monumental multiyear project intended to develop new technologies to understand the human brain. “This is the beginning of…


Collaborative Education: Marine Science

Great news out from the Franklin College department of marine sciences yesterday. A book written by UGA Sapelo Island Marine Institute director and professor of marine science Merryl Alber has been distributed to every Georgia public library in the state thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation. The book focuses on teaching children of all ages about the importance of salt marshes. The book is just one product of the Georgia…

people, children, in a garden
The Campus of 2035

What role does today's college campus play in broader sustainability efforts? Our scientists and engineers conduct research and develop bench-scale projects that show promise; other researchers document the effects of mankind on the planet, generate new ways of thinking about waste, urban infrastructure and even visual representations of society's conflicting interests and desires. But what of the campus itself? While not isolated from its…

graphic on space background
The science of natural disasters: "When Nature Strikes"

An original video series released yesterday explores the science of natural disasters to reveal the human and economic toll caused by catastrophic events. The series, “When Nature Strikes: Science of Natural Hazards” is produced by NBC Learn, the educational arm of the NBCUniversal News Group, in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Geosciences and The Weather Channel. The ten-part video series draws on…

hands, hymnal, child's legs
Native American hymn singing, AIR Talks

Events connected to the Return From Exile exhibition continue this week on campus and at the Lyndon House Arts Center. Tonight at 6 pm Native American filmmaker and friend of the blog Sterlin Harjo returns to Athens to show his new film, This May Be The Last Time: Tracing a heartfelt journey, award-winning filmmaker Sterlin Harjo interweaves the tale of a mysterious death in 1962 with the rich history of the powerful hymns that have united…

satellite in space
NASA and Cube-sats

NASA’s CubeSat Launch initiative (CSLI) provides opportunities for small satellite payloads to fly on rockets planned for upcoming launches. These CubeSats are flown as auxiliary payloads on previously planned missions. CubeSats are a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites. The cube-shaped satellites are approximately four inches long, have a volume of about one quart and weigh about 3 pounds. A lecture on the program will be held…

map with colored regions
New method for calculating Urban Heat Island intensity

The urban heat island effect describes how the spatial configuration of cities, the materials in them (such as asphalt), lack of vegetation and waste heat can modify temperature. A new study from reseachers in the department of geography using a new method for calculating urban heat island intensities clarifies the conflict on whether urban density or sprawl amplify these effects more: It also provides a ranking of the top urban heat…

glacier with ice melting
NASA Research on Sea Level Rise in Greenland

A NASA Interdisciplinary sciences project by UGA faculty lead by Thomas Mote and including Patricia Yager and Renato Castelao collected data this summer at the top of the world: On Greenland’s ice sheet, a vast icy landscape crisscrossed by turquoise rivers and dotted with melt water lakes, a small cluster of orange camping tents popped up in late July. The camp, home for a week to a team of researchers, sat by a large, fast-flowing river. Just…

two men in a TV studio
Shepherd and Knox on the Weather Channel

If you have to fly for work or pleasure, you will enjoy this show and its really cool images and videos.  We were burning up the Twitters with this all weekend, but such is our pride and not just for this example of fantastic expertise that is important to the public. We're continually humbled by Dr. Shepherd's ability to share his scholarship in a wide variety of media. And now that he has a regular broadcast perch at The Weather Channel…

woman outside day
Voarintsoa awarded Faculty for the Future Fellowship

Geology doctoral student Ny Riavo Voarintsoa has been selected for the Faculty for the Future Fellowship Award, sponsored by the Schlumberger Foundation to support talented women from developing and emerging countries who are pursuing advanced degrees in science and engineering at leading universities: Recipients are chosen based on their leadership qualities, academic ability and engagement toward science and education as a development tool in…

Gulf of Mexico 3D rendering
Establishing baseline data for the world's oceans

Samantha Joye explains in Science's Perspective section that only through collecting both baseline data and consistent long-term observations after pollution events is it possible to piece together the impacts of environmental disasters like oil spills: one of the biggest challenges in evaluating the environmental impacts of the Macondo blowout was the lack of baseline data—both in the water column and along the seabed, where as much as 15…

smartphone screen
Smart[phone] integration of town/gown transit

A UGA app developed to make travel easier between campus and surrounding greater Athens now includes real time information on city bus routes: Since its initial launch in 2013, the UGA mobile app's most popular feature for students has been a bus tracker for Campus Transit. Now, Athens Transit buses are included in the app, which tracks buses and displays schedules of when buses are expected to arrive at each stop. The UGA mobile app also…

students on a boat, water
Oceanographic training on the R/V Savannah

Discover UGA features the Skidaway Marine Institute and the work of our marine sciences faculty: Students from UGA and other universities spent the first half of the course at the UGA Marine Institute on Sapelo Island and the second half at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. During the intensive studies program, they researched animals, plants, microbes and processes in coastal environments and participated in a small research cruise…

man in lab with plants
When thieving weeds attack

An international group of scientists that includes assistant professor of genetics Dave Nelson has discovered how parasitic plants, which steal their nutrients from another living plant, evolved the ability to detect and attack their hosts. Their findings were  published recently in the journal Science: As plant roots grow, they release hormones called strigolactones into the soil. This is a signal that normally helps fungi form a…


Symposium Highlights Undergraduate Research

Later this month, a symposium will highlight the research of 10 undergraduate students from across the country who have been participating in a 10-week Research Experiences for Undergraduates program funded by the National Science Foundation. Boasting from programs as prestigious as MIT and University of California, Berkeley, the students will present their research in nanotechnology and biomedicine Friday, July 31 beginning at 8 a.m. at the…

people with inflated bounce house
Weather-related accidents and conditions

Great demonstration at the geography building yesterday, and our colleague Jessica Luton shares the story: The UGA Geography building lawn looked more like a setup for a child’s birthday party or a carnival than a research project Thursday afternoon as students gathered around a red and yellow bounce house. The students, who are both undergraduate and graduate students studying atmospheric science, are taking a summer geography class meant to…

earth photo from space
The Earth as a Battery

Analogies can be highly effective expressions of a point that seems to go missing and/or is very difficult to understand - take the point, for example, that the Earth's resources are indeed exhaustible and need to be conserved, protected, enhanced and replenished: "You can think of the Earth like a battery that has been charged very slowly over billions of years," said the study's lead author, John Schramski, an associate professor in UGA's…

sun set over water
The Climate for Climate News

Whatever the curent state of the art on presenting/denying/affirming the realities and consequences of a changing global climate, UGA and Franklin College scholars have long been a trustworthy source of expertise on the subject. And it is a complex subject, which is why it calls for scholarship from such a wide range of fields from marine sciences to geography and atmospheric sciences to microbiology, forestry, ecology and the biological…

freshwater wetland photo
Methane emissions

And speaking of the need to protect pristine areas, some that might not be thought of as necessarily pristine also deserve greater consideration of their important functions as natural areas. This new study emphasizes methane sinks that need to be better understood: Though they occupy a small fraction of the Earth's surface, freshwater wetlands are the largest natural source of methane going into the atmosphere. New research from the University…

Ocoee scenic byway photo
Buffer Zones Needed

Interesting findings from Warnell School researchers that could have much broader implications (than just the sites mentioned) - natural wilderness areas need the protection of buffer zones: Coveted for their beauty, these wilderness areas draw innumerable outdoor enthusiasts eager for a taste of primitive nature. But University of Georgia researchers say these federally protected nature areas have a problem: Their boundaries have become prime…

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UGA grad Wx Challenge Champ

UGA graduate Jordan McLeod recently took home top prize in the 2014-2015 WxChallenge, an annual national collegiate weather forecasting competition: McLeod, who was earning his master's degree at UGA when the forecasting competition began in fall 2014, beat out nearly 2,000 participants ranging from undergraduates to tenured professors from over 100 colleges and universities. ...   To compete, participants forecasted the weather conditions-…

oceans graphic with text
World Oceans Day

Samantha Joye and other ECOGIG scientists participated in person and online to celebrate, and elaborate on, World Oceans Day on June 8: World Oceans Day is the United Nations-recognized day of ocean celebration and action. People all over our blue planet organize events to support action to protect the ocean. This year, the theme is Healthy oceans, healthy planet. ECOGIG hosted a Media and Education Day in Gulfport, Mississippi …

face graphic
On truth

Astute piece in the Chronicle Review about the opportunism of disputing the truth that actually grew out of the academy: It’s not just garden-variety ignorance that periodically appears in public-opinion polls that makes us cringe or laugh. A 2009 survey by the California Academy of Sciences found that only 53 percent of American adults knew how long it takes for Earth to revolve around the sun. Only 59 percent knew that the earliest…
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