Tags: Earth

carbon ocean cycle diagram
Deciphering Ocean Carbon

The complex unpacking of how micro-organisms work - and work together - in the world's oceans continues apace, as this new perspective article by marine sciences faculty members attests: In the past, studying the connections between ocean-borne compounds and microbes has been impractical because of the sheer complexity of each. Three University of Georgia faculty members-along with an international team of scientists-bring to the forefront…

man with Earth orbiting graphic
Leaplings

Faculty members Marshall Shepherd, Danny Krashen and Kevin Moore, along with a few UGA students, explain why today is Leap Day:  

portrait of two men
CSP at Thirty

The 29th annual Center for Simulational Physics Workshop at UGA will take place the week of Feb. 22. Hosted by the UGA Center for Simulational Physics, it will be held in Room 322 of the physics building. The meeting is open to the UGA community, but registration is required. For more information, including the complete schedule of invited speakers, visit csp.uga.edu. We'll have a longer piece up at the UGA.EDU this week to commemorate…

building under construction, day
The Science Learning Center

Students studying the physical and biological sciences will usher in a new era this fall with the opening of the Science Learning Center on South campus: The Science Learning Center, a three-story, 122,500-square-foot building tailor-made for undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics instruction, opens for classes in August. The SLC will offer a new setting for effective teacher-to-student interaction and student-to-student…

model form with t shirt
Natalie Chanin, Georgia Sewn Expo

Continuing this weekend, Athens Fashion Collective and the Willson Center's Global Georgia Initiative present sustainable fashion events featuring Natalie Chanin, founder and designer of Alabama Chanin, and Georgia Sewn, a one-day expo of the regional fashion design industry: Chanin is an internationally recognized leader in the sustainable fashion movement. Based in Florence, Alabama, her company, Alabama Chanin, produces garments and other…

headshot with ACS logo
Harrop selected as ACS Emerging Investigator

The American Chemical Society, in its Select Virtual Issue, featured the research of 17 emerging investigators in the field of bioinorganic chemistry, including UGA associate professor of chemistry Todd Harrop. The feature highlighted the group of early career researchers who have received their Ph.D. since 2004. Born and raised in San Francisco, CA Harrop was a chemistry/biology split major at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, CA where he did…

earth, sun model
Leap Year, explained

Professor Marshall Shepherd uses his Forbes column to embark on a perfectly understandable explanation of why we have seasons, the actual length of Earth's trips around the sun, et voilà, the need for a Leap Year: Throughout the year, different parts of the Earth receive the Sun’s rays more directly. In Boreal Winter, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun. At the same time, Austral Summer is happening because the Southern…

man with instruments, inside
Molecular fingerprints track oil and dispersants

Oil-degrading marine microorganisms in the Gulf of Mexico are the focus of a broad array of research at UGA, and a new study documents biodegradation in deep seawater using ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry: The challenging task of quantifying the chemical composition of oil and weathered oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill has been the focus of past studies and continues with ongoing investigations. The researchers in this…

woman with people on boat, day
Joye: Standing Firm

UGA marine scientist continues to influence policy as a scientist, teaching and inspiring as she brings relentless energy to complex problems in our marine ecosystems: Today, on World Oceans Day, Joye has invited the press to tour the research vessels, Endeavor and Point Sur, that she and other scientists and students use to reveal what's happening under the deep blue waters. Journalists and photographers, as well as two documentary film…

oysters in hand
Marine Extension to launch hatchery

Oysters in Georgia (Geoysters?) have a healthy past and now their future is also looking strong, thanks to the efforts of UGA Marine Extension: Marine Extension has opened the state's first oyster hatchery, which is expected to revive the once-thriving oyster industry in Georgia. The hatchery will help establish an oyster aquaculture industry in Georgia, allowing harvesters to farm single oysters that can be sold on the half-shell, a lucrative…

woman with marsh
Understanding the global ocean microbiome

The community of microorganisms in the world's oceans turn out to be the most important control mechanisms of how the Earth functions. Understanding their function and behavior will leverage our grasp on how the Earth will adjust to broad environmental changes, says Mary Ann Moran in a review article in the journal Science: The ocean microbiome covers the majority of the Earth's surface, extending an average of more than 2 miles deep to the sea…

woman outside day
Class of 2015: Carmen Kraus

In just over seven days, double major Carmen Kraus (B.S. in Ecology, B.F.A. in Scienitific Illustration) will join the distinguished ranks of UGA graduates. What brought her to that unique combination of credentials? Attending the Ecological Society of America annual meeting convinced me once and for all that I had chosen the correct career path. I went to as many lectures as I could, focusing mainly on bioremediation but also hearing some…

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…
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