Tags: Earth


Marshall Shepherd talks climate

UGA Research magazine and now the UGA homepage feature this terrific article on atmospheric sciences hero, Marshall Shepherd: The bogeymen he faces aren't humanoid, however, but the misinformation he calls "zombie theories" — the litany of benighted arguments that human activities are not, after all, the root cause of global climate change. Time and time again, atmospheric scientists have countered these assertions — such as "The climate change…

map of Georgia
Climate change vulnerability assessment

Yesterday, The Guardian and ABC News quoted geography professor Marshall Shepherd about a study showing population concentrating into areas facing significant temperature rises. Today, we released news about a study authored by Shepherd and his colleagues about vulnerable populations in Georgia that are highly susceptible to climate change: The study, published May 18 in Applied Geography, examines not only the sensitivity and…

plane over Gulf of Mexico
Use of dispersants in oil spills

The complexity of what happened in the Deepwater Horizon/BP drilling platform explosion and resulting sea-floor oil gusher that flowed for 87 days is only dwarfed by what has happened in the time since. The clean-up, which began immediately, has been a Herculean effort that continues to this day. But a new perspective article in Nature by Samantha Joye and her colleagues brings attention to one problematic aspect of the clean-up: the use of…

storm on radar
Shepherd in WAPO

Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Geography J. Marshall Shepherd addressed the debate (and political gamesmanship) surrounding cuts to NASA's earth science budget in the Washington Post last week: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, one of the few people that has actually seen our home planet from the vantage point of space, issued a statement noting that proposed cuts, “gut our Earth science program and…

chem formula with sand
Chemists trap molecular species of silicon oxides

In an inspiring breakthrough, chemistry researchers have stablized one of the most abundant silicon oxides in the universe: Using a technique they developed in 2008, the UGA team succeeded in isolating silicon oxide fragments for the first time, at room temperature, by trapping them between stabilizing organic bases. "In the 2008 discovery, we were able to stabilize the disilicon molecule, which previously could only be studied at extremely low…

grass and planet
Earth Week 2015

What can I do? It's always the question, arriving custom built with the pre-supposition that our individual efforts won't go very far to change anything, to make a difference. Especially where protecting the Earth is involved. It's so big and complex, and after all, you're just one person. One person who shops, who buys, who moves about your day, who is observed by others, who take their cues from you and from whom you accept affirmation of the…

earth graphic
Athens Science Café

Special treat from the folks at the Athens Science Cafe tonight beginning at 6 pm at the Foundry: Marshall Shepherd talks about communicating weather and climate: "Zombies, Sports, and Cola: What does it mean for communicating weather and climate?" led by Dr. Marshall Shepherd from the UGA Department of Geography. Dr. Shepherd is the director of the UGA Atmospheric Sciences program and is a Georgia Athletic Association…

woman on ship
Joye receives SEC Faculty Award

Congratulations to Samantha Joye, Athletic Association Professor in Arts and Sciences and professor of marine sciences, who was named UGA's 2015 recipient of the Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award: The award, which is administered by SEC provosts, comes with a $5,000 honorarium and recognizes professors with outstanding records in teaching and scholarship who serve as role models for other faculty and students. ... Joye's…

woman with plants
Fast-growing trees

The creation of biofuels from trees involves a host of challenges, including but certainy not limited to the breakdown of lignin. So researchers have been approaching the problem from a variety of angles and here is the latest glancing blow for renewable energy production: Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that manipulation of a specific gene in a hardwood tree species not only makes it easier to break down the wood into…

pond green
CyanoTRACKER

An extraordinary new tool developed by some of our best researchers to protect Georgia's inland waterways by engaging the public that enjoys them the most: In August 2014, dangerous levels of a toxin produced by harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie compromised the water supply in Toledo, Ohio, as well as many other smaller cities and towns. The bloom, spawned by large concentrations of cyanobacteria that occur naturally in all ecosystems, produced…

Tornado in manitoba
Climatology Research Lab looks into the future of storms

Statistical techniques like downscaling allow climate researchers to peer across extraordinarily large amounts of different kinds of data to give us a better idea of what to expect in terms of the broader changes in the climate and how those may translate into recurring weather events in the future. Researchers from the department of geography recently published an unequivocal new study: More tornadoes will be commonplace by the year 2080 as a…

The White House
Shepherd to moderate 'Champions of Change' event at White House

In his Climate Action Plan, President Barack Obama laid out a series of steps to combat carbon pollution, prepare for climate-change impacts and lead global efforts to tackle this shared challenge. The steps range from broad, national policy to recognizing localized efforts and the people behind them. One of these will take place Monday, Feb. 9 at the White House and will be hosted by UGA's Marshall Shepherd: Shepherd, the University of Georgia…

protest with sign, flowers
Climate Change Governance

 

diagram of carbon cycle
Science advances: the marine carbon cycle

The amount of dissolved carbon in the world's oceans is roughly equivalent, and likely greater, than atmospheric concentrations of CO2. Some of it gets semi-permanently sequestered, some gets released up into the atmospheric in a process that has been in place for millions of years. But with the global carbon picture changing, understanding the details of these processes has become more urgent: the slightest changes in ocean temperature or…


Robinson Fall Commencement Address

The university's Fall Semester 2014 graduate Commencement featured self-proclaimed "proud and fortunate son of the South" Gregory H. Robinson, the UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. A truly inspiring address that resonates with the realities of our past and our best hopes for the future. Dr. Robinson personifies the best of us in every way. Great words to take into the New Year. Graduate Speaker from UGA BVP on Vimeo.


Genome analysis creates tree of life for modern birds

Long long ago in a land far far away not so far from here at all, crocodiles, dinosaurs, and birds all arose from early reptiles called thecodonts.   Using new computational methods developed by assistant professor of statistics Liang Liu, Travis Glenn of the College of Public health and others, an international team of scientists has shed more light on an obscure period of avian evolution and further untangle the bird family tree. Members…


Eco-initiatives and individual motivation

A new UGA study in the American Review of Public Administration, from faculty in the School of Public and International Affairs, presents findings on individual behaviors by public employees that is all well and good: Authored by Justin M. Stritch, a former doctoral student in public administration and policy, and Christensen, who also is the school's Ph.D. director in the department of public administration and policy, the research found that…


Understanding how plants adapt to water stress

If there's one thing we take for granted more than the infinite availability of water, it would be the technical ability of our best scientists should that availability ever come into question. Well, the infinite availability of water is very much in quesiton and what is the reaction of scientists? Looking to Mother nature for clues to survival in water-limited environments: [With] a $1.5 million collaborative grant from the National…


Anthropocene lecture: repairing the world

The final event in this fall's very successful Anthropocene Lecture Series takes place tonight at 7 p.m in the Chapel. No scientific investigation can be complete without the inclusion of a moral perspective and tonight's lecture looks at the ways theology and science can work together: The physical sciences tell us the what and the how regarding the condition of the earth, but the why question -- why should we engage in helping to repair our…


Dorsey, Garfinkel and Joye elected to AAAS

Fantastic news for the Franklin College and UGA, as three faculty members including Franklin dean Alan Dorsey were elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science: an honor bestowed upon them by their peers for "scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications." These three faculty members are among 401 new AAAS Fellows who will be presented with an official certificate and a gold…


New funding for ECOGIG-2

Samantha Joye's tireless work in the Gulf of Mexico in the aftermath of the 2010 Macondo well blowout will continue thanks to a major new support stream: Joye has received a new grant to continue its studies of natural oil seeps and to track the impacts of the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. The project, known as ECOGIG-2 or "Ecosystem Impacts of Oil and Gas Inputs to the Gulf," is a collaborative, multi-…


The 'Anthro' in Anthropcene

Who is the 'Anthro' in Anthropocene? A very good question, and professor of philosophy and women's studies Chris J. Cuomo provides the answer Thursday at the Chapel in this week's installement of the Anthropocene Lecture Series: The term “anthropocene” has gained enormous popularity among scientists who believe that we are currently in a global geological era that is distinguished by the extensive and lasting impacts that “human” activities (i.e…


Fritjof Capra lecture: Systems view of Life

The Franklin College is one of the sponsors of an important Chapel lecture this week by Physicist and systems theorist Fritjof Capra on the "Scientific Understanding of Living Systems and the Systems View of Life" Nov. 13 at 3 p.m. What is a systems view? That's why we'll attend the lecture but, the namesake of our Odum School of Ecology, Eugene Odum, along with his brother Howard T., was an early pioneer of systems ecology - a holistic…


Carbon Sequestration in Salt Marshes

The importance of the world's rainforests, and to some extent the mangroves, as storage sinks for atmospheric are carbon well-known. But salt marshes, too, are extraordinarily efficient mechanism for photosynthesis and the production of biomass that work together to sequester carbon at a high rate. So disappearing wetlands along the coast present much more peril than loss against storm surge, which itself plays significant part in their role in…


Joye at Blue Ocean Film Festival

Samantha Joye, Athletic Association Professor in Arts and Sciences, is participating as a judge in the internationally acclaimed "BLUE Ocean Film Festival and Conservation Summit", underway in St. Petersburg Florida.  Joye joins global leaders in ocean conservation including Sylvia Earle, founder of Mission Blue, marine advocates Fabien and Celine Cousteau, grandchildren of Jacques Cousteau, and royal philanthropist Prince Albert II of…
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