Noted and Quoted, March 2016

Franklin faculty expertise continues to gain influence in the media on a wide variety of crucial issues affecting American society and the world. A sample from the month of March:

The Washington Post files an editorial written by professors Marshall Shepherd and John Knox. The post is about “the unfortunate demise of the National Achievement Scholarship Program.”

U.S. News map: What going viral looked like 120 years ago. An interactive map, produced by University of Georgia’s eHistory initiative and the Georgia Tech Research Institute, uses the Library of Congress’ database of historical newspapers “to track frequency of keywords in newspapers and visualize the results across time and space,” reports Slate.com.

Molecular-level relationships key to deciphering ocean carbon. Marine sciences faculty members Mary Ann Moran, Patricia Medeiros and Aron Stubbins are among an international team of scientists working on technological developments that are providing scientists with tools to understand the connections between ocean-borne compounds and microbes.

A new study led by geography professor Deepak Mishra could help protect more than 13 million American homes that will be threatened by rising sea levels by the end of the century. Articles filed Forbes.com, Christian Science Monitor, Bloomberg, and USA Today and many others

New report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine says estimating the influence of climate change on some types of extreme events – such as heat waves, drought and heavy precipitation – is now possible. J. Marshall Shepherd, director of the atmospheric sciences program, contributed to the report and was one of three scientists who briefed government officials in Washington.

Are We Living Through a Narcissism Epidemic? Article in the The Guardian references the work of psychology department head and professor W. Keith Campbell

Mainstream news coverage of climate change fell dramatically in 2015 – “Climate scientists were entirely absent from the Sunday news shows, with one exception” reports Clean Technica.  That exception being an appearance by UGA’s J. Marshall Shepherd on CBS’ Face the Nation to discuss the importance of the UN Summit’s goal of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius.

Revamped satellite data shows no pause in global warming, reports the Associated Press. “Common sense and looking at how Earth was responding over the past 18 years kind of makes the finding a ‘duh’ moment,” said UGA’s Marshall Shepherd.

Report: Man-made climate change is fueling extreme weather events, reports The Weather Channel. “It’s the first definitive ranking of what events can be attributed to climate change,” said Marshall Shepherd, director of UGA’s Atmospheric Sciences Program and UGA Athletic Association Distinguished Professor.

Theater student presents absurd play 'The Bald Prima Donna' – R&B

Why March 1st is the start of spring (sort of). “March 1st is the start of meteorological spring,” writes Marshall Shepherd, director of UGA atmospheric sciences program and Ga. Athletic Association Distinguished Professor.

Director of UGA Women's Studies department attributes success to beginning – R&B

Climate change: Greenland melting tied to shrinking Arctic sea ice. Thomas Mote, professor and geography department head, contributes to a report that reveals high pressure systems spawn most of the warming that melts Greenland surface ice.

Meteorologists may be on the verge of forecasting tornadoes weeks in advance, reports Forbes.com. “Tornadoes remain one of the most elusive and fascinating phenomena in meteorology,” said Marshall Shepherd, Ga. Athletic Association Distinguished Professor and director of UGA’s Atmospheric Sciences Program.

The secret, pre-Internet history of ‘viral’ memes. Claudio Saunt, Russell professor of history, says “viral memes – little artifacts of culture that propagate and saturate rapidly – actually have a long and storied pre-digital history,” reports the Washington Post

Why Canada is dumping its gold and China isn’t, writes history professor Stephen Mihm in Bloomberg. Mihm, an associate professor of history at the University of Georgia, is a regular contributor to Bloomberg View.

Changing the conversation on climate change – KBIA.org quotes Marshall Shepherd