houck2040/artisci huggingface dataset:
loisel will lead the interdisciplinary project and her collaborators are dr andrew klein dr michael bishop dr david cairns dr anthony filippi and dr oliver frauenfeld department of geography; dr atlas wang department of computer science and engineering; dr christine morgan department of soil and crop science; dr anita rapp department of atmospheric sciences; and dr zenon medina-cetina zachry department of civil engineering permafrost soils cover about 19 million square-kilometers of the arctic landscape and store about 1 700 billion tons of organic carbon equivalent to more than twice the total amount of carbon dioxide that is currently in the atmosphere loisel said should this carbon be released from those frozen soils it would act as a positive feedback that amplifies climate change the issue is that the magnitude of future greenhouse gas emissions from permafrost-affected ecosystems remains a large source of uncertainty in earth system models she noted that models analyzed for the latest report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change did not include permafrost this is alarming loisel said because most of the northern near-surface (top 3 meters) permafrost is predicted to thaw by the end of this century the teams goal is to combine high-resolution imagery and machine learning techniques to generate high-resolution maps of permafrost-affected ecosystems in the arctic provide new soil carbon stock and flux estimates for this region and document rapid changes in permafrost soils and associated greenhouse gas emissions by leslie lee 09
texas a&m oceanography student named as 2019 knauss fellowship finalistjul 11 2018a texas a&m university oceanography doctoral student has been selected to receive the john a knauss marine policy fellowship for 2019 andrea kealoha will spend a year starting next february in washington dc on a paid fellowship with either the legislative or executive branches of the federal government the knauss fellowships pair highly qualified graduate students who have an interest in ocean coastal and great lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources with hosts in the legislative and executive branches of government this provides a unique educational opportunity for students to learn about national policy decisions affecting these natural resources placement of the 2019 class of finalists will mark the 40th anniversary of the john a knauss marine policy fellowship which has paired more than 1 200 early career professionals with federal government offices since its inception in 1979 kealoha is studying the effect of climate change on the health of coral reefs by looking at how water chemistry changes affect coral growth she said that the importance of such ecosystems is something she learned early on as a hawaiian where im from coral reefs are a critical component of our culture economy and food supply she said after moving to texas and visiting the flower garden banks it helped opened my eyes to the importance of coral reefs at the national and global scale kealoha said she is excited to work with some of the most influential ocean professionals in the country and for the chance to have an impact on a much larger scale the knauss fellowship will give me the chance to learn how science supports and translates into policies and to engage in national policy efforts and discussions to protect ocean resources she said coral reefs are threatened by many local and global stressors and i think its really important that we do as much as we can to learn about and protect them so that they can continue to provide services for future generations the knauss fellowship program is open to students who are enrolled toward a degree in a graduate or professional program; they are required to apply through the nearest state sea grant program the fellowship is named in honor of one of sea grants founders former national oceanic and atmospheric administration administrator john a knauss by alex hood
a texas a&m university oceanography doctoral student has been selected to receive the john a knauss marine policy fellowship for 2019 andrea kealoha will spend a year starting next february in washington dc on a paid fellowship with either the legislative or executive branches of the federal government the knauss fellowships pair highly qualified graduate students who have an interest in ocean coastal and great lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources with hosts in the legislative and executive branches of government this provides a unique educational opportunity for students to learn about national policy decisions affecting these natural resources placement of the 2019 class of finalists will mark the 40th anniversary of the john a knauss marine policy fellowship which has paired more than 1 200 early career professionals with federal government offices since its inception in 1979 kealoha is studying the effect of climate change on the health of coral reefs by looking at how water chemistry changes affect coral growth she said that the importance of such ecosystems is something she learned early on as a hawaiian where im from coral reefs are a critical component of our culture economy and food supply she said after moving to texas and visiting the flower garden banks it helped opened my eyes to the importance of coral reefs at the national and global scale kealoha said she is excited to work with some of the most influential ocean professionals in the country and for the chance to have an impact on a much larger scale the knauss fellowship will give me the chance to learn how science supports and translates into policies and to engage in national policy efforts and discussions to protect ocean resources she said coral reefs are threatened by many local and global stressors and i think its really important that we do as much as we can to learn about and protect them so that they can continue to provide services for future generations the knauss fellowship program is open to students who are enrolled toward a degree in a graduate or professional program; they are required to apply through the nearest state sea grant program the fellowship is named in honor of one of sea grants founders former national oceanic and atmospheric administration administrator john a knauss by alex hood
photos courtesy of lance belobrajdicphotos courtesy of lance belobrajdic
the pat tillman foundation has named texas a&m university college of geosciences student lance belobrajdic 20 to the 10th class of tillman scholars in recognition of his service leadership and potential belobrajdic is currently an undergraduate student in the department of atmospheric sciences as well as a graduate student in the department of oceanography through the master of ocean science and technology 5-year accelerated graduate degree program the 2018 class of tillman scholars is a diverse innovative group of leaders dedicated to making an impact in their chosen fields from nursing practice and water conservation to business administration public policy and beyond tillman foundation board chair and co-founder marie tillman said this years class of scholars will receive more than $13 million in scholarships for their academic pursuits air force experience informed belobrajdics academic choices belobrajdic enlisted in the air force in 2006 and after three deployments during operation iraqi freedom he served in a new capacity with air force special operations as a special operations weather team (sowt) technician during his training he was immersed into combat operations and atmospheric and environmental sciences he said he gained the skills necessary to install ground weather instruments for medical evacuation sites in afghanistan conduct avalanche zone assessments for public highways in turkmenistan and survey water quality for villages in north africa motivated by his fieldwork in atmospheric and environmental sciences and his experiences providing assistance to disadvantaged communities belobrajdic separated from the military in 2016 to pursue academic degrees at texas a&m changing career paths from active-duty military to a full-time student civilian has been a challenge he said im grateful my continued educational development and community involvement has served my college and country so well i am deeply honored for the opportunity to be a part of the pat tillman foundation and his legacy as i continue my journey towards nasa
belobrajdic also actively serves with outreach programs to provide water purification in remote locations and severe weather reporting in the central united states he continues to serve as a weather forecaster in the texas air national guard we are very proud to have an exceptional student like lance in the new five-year two-degree program said dr shari yvon-lewis texas a&m oceanography department head about the pat tillman foundation in 2002 pat tillman put his nfl career on hold to serve in the military family and friends established the pat tillman foundation following pats death in april 2004 while serving in afghanistan created to honor pats legacy of leadership and service the pat tillman foundation invests in military veterans and their spouses through academic scholarships a national network and professional development opportunities read more about the two additional aggie 2018 tillman scholars at texas a&m today learn more about the master of ocean science and technology 5-year accelerated graduate degree program by leslie lee 09
on may 14-24 dr lisa campbell and undergraduate researcher victoria scriven a senior in the department of oceanography at texas a&m university visited the stazione zoologica in naples italy stazione zoologica is a research institute founded in 1872 by the renowned biologist anton dohrn interdisciplinary research is conducted not only in biological oceanography but also in various fields such as evolution neurobiology cell biology scriven participated in the trip as a member of seawater a high-impact learning research program funded by the college of geoscience that helps undergraduate students establish research and field experience with faculty and staff in oceanography and at the geochemical and environmental research group (gerg) the seawater program also helps students develop leadership skills by serving as a mentor for research experience for undergraduates (reu) students in the oceanographys reu program observing the ocean during the summer campbell who is a professor of oceanography and the william r bryant chair in oceanography is involved in a joint project with scientists at the stazione zoologica funded by the european union scientific research & cooperation program focusing on the toxic diatom pseudo-nitzschia multistriata the objective of this project is to isolate the species in the gulf of mexico to compare with the gulf of naples i thought it will be a good opportunity for victoria to meet the scientists and learn their technique at the stazione campbell said victoria scriven is one of the first undergraduates in the new oceanography department major starting this august as the 2018 seawater undergraduate she will be working with dr campbell and mentor the 2018 reu undergraduates helping in the lab and advice on the campus visiting the stazione was the beginning of my research training said scriven diatoms are one of the ecologically important phytoplankton that are made of unique and geometric structure of siliceous shells they provide the basis of the food chain in both marine and freshwater environments and are a major source of atmospheric oxygen via photosynthesis however some species such as pseudo-nitzschia multistriata produce toxins which may accumulate in shellfish which can lead to human health risks from shellfish poisoning italys gulf of naples is one of the first study areas where pseudo-nitzschia multistriata were found
image of pseudo-nitzschia multistriata through the microscope (photo courtesy of victoria scriven)victoria scriven in the lab (photo courtesy of victoria scriven)shelves with diatom cultures (photo courtesy of victoria scriven)
during the visit in naples scriven learned how to establish cultures of the diatom pseudo-nitzschia multistriata prepare cultures for electron microscopy and extract dna for sequencing and phylogenetic analysis dna extraction is not itself unique however certain diatoms require specific protocols and tips scriven said so learning their technique was one of the main reason why i went because they have experience doing dna extraction on pseudo-nitzschia multistriata scriven said she will apply their techniques to study the gulf of mexico and eventually will have a joint comparative study on pseudo-nitzschia multistriata i think it was a good opportunity for her to learn about the project but also to interact with international scientists said campbell the researchers in the stazione zoologica are some of the leading experts in phytoplankton taxonomy it was a great experience for her to see and learn their technique as well as develop the collaboration the relationships she developed there will be valuable resource for her future research career it was a really beneficial experience i was lucky to get the opportunity to join the project with dr campbell said scriven i enjoyed working with all the staff and students at the stazione zoologica scriven said i was actually living with three phd students we went to the institute every morning work and come back home together the training was very intense during the couple of weeks but i learned a lot overall the protocols that i learned will be valuable scriven is also the vice president of the tamu scuba diving club during her free time while in italy she dove at the underwater archaeological park at baia
underwater photograph of the mosaic from a submerged roman villa in the underwater archaeological park (photo courtesy of victoria scriven)
navigating the 5 200-acre texas a&m university campus just got a little simpler for aggies with disabilities thanks to recent improvements made to the texas a&m aggie map students faculty and staff on an interdisciplinary development gis team successfully designed new features for the map which now includes campus navigation via walking and biking for visitors students faculty and staff of all abilities texas a&ms aggie map has been enhanced to offer routing services to/from anywhere to anywhere on and off campus with a brand new mobile interface designed for modern phones those who use mobility devices can use the interface to find routes that easily guide them to accessible entrances via accessible routes on the aggie map avoiding obstacles such as curbs and stairs texas a&m is committed to maintaining an accessible campus community and complying with the americans with disabilities act (ada) and now the official map of campus also reflects the important features that make aggieland accessible to all having access to the locations of accessible building entrances automatic doors and the ability to map out accessible paths on the online aggie map makes the campus map more accessible and usable by everyone regardless of ability or disability said tracey forman assistant director for disability services in texas a&m disability services with the addition of text-based directions it also adds a new layer of accessibility to individuals with visual disabilities interdisciplinary team making aggie map more inclusive for their work on the aggie map accessibility project the gis team received a 2018 excellence outstanding team award from the texas a&m division of finance and operations the award is generously funded by the association of former students the gis teams work is a great example of how the entire texas a&m community can come together to solve problems said texas a&m executive vice president for finance and operations and chief financial officer dr jerry r strawser the combination of faculty staff and students bringing their expertise has created an asset of tremendous value for our campus we were so pleased to be able to recognize their outstanding work
a screenshot of the aggie map with the accessible entrances layer visible
brianna hendrickson doctoral student in the department of atmospheric sciences at texas a&m university and alyssa alsante doctoral student in the department of oceanography sailed aboard the r/v atlantis for the north atlantic aerosols and marine ecosystems study (naames) march 20 - april 13 both received the unique opportunity to join this research cruise through dr sarah brooks texas a&m atmospheric sciences professor naames is an interdisciplinary program investigating the major processes controlling the marine ecosystems and aerosols funded by national aeronautics and space administration (nasa) naames focuses on the north atlantic ocean where conspicuous plankton blooms occur annually those blooms make the regions an excellent test region to resolve the linkages between marine plankton aerosols and climate variabilities – based on combination of ship-based airborne and remote sensing measurements hendrickson and alsante said
sunset over the north atlantic (photo courtesy of alyssa alsante)the researchers aboard on r/v atlantis (photo courtesy of lee harrington)
four different cruises were conducted annually for each naames campaign during different seasons and the cruise both hendrickson and alsante participated in was a part of the spring season the cruise started in san juan puetro rico and ended in woods hole massachusetts along with more than 30 other researchers hendrickson and alsante represented texas a&m on the cruise the main research goal of naames was to understand the processes associated with the annual phytoplankton cycle and marine aerosol production in the north atlantic and the implications on climate said alsante aerosols are liquid droplets and fine solid particles suspended in the atmosphere the majority of aerosol are consisted of mineral dust and sea salt but also includes other particles such as volcanic ash sulfate nitrate and organic carbon this complex group of particles act as cloud condensation nuclei (ccn) and ice nucleating particles (inp) which affect the formation growth and lifetime of clouds in the atmosphere clouds alter the earths heat balance through scattering and absorption of sunlight and hence the climate of the earth
brianna hendrickson in front of the condensation particle counter (cpc) located on the texas a&m instrument rack (photo courtesy of dr sarah brooks)brianna hendrickson and alyssa alsante learning how to use the university of california irvine particle into liquid sampler (pils) instrument (photo courtesy of dr sarah brooks)
during the cruise hendrickson collected and measured marine aerosol particles related to cloud formation using a ‘ccn counter instrument her main goal was to assess the impact of phytoplankton processes on the climate by understanding aerosol and cloud production the aerosol properties including size and composition measured depend on the season and lifecycle of the phytoplankton said hendrickson i was also on the naames cruise during the fall season i was excited when i saw different patterns in the data from the spring season compared to the fall season alsante collected filters containing aerosols which were returned to the laboratory at texas a&m university for further analysis of particular interest is the potential for aerosol to act as ice nucleating particles (inp) causing water droplets to freeze at warmer temperatures than that of pure water in the atmosphere efficient inp are essential for the formation of clouds containing ice she also participated in collecting ambient cloud condensation nuclei (ccn) measurements to look at the number of particles that activate and grow to cloud droplet size inp and ccn measurements were taken continuously throughout the entire cruise in addition alsante and hendrickson were in charge of collecting samples from the sea surface microlayer for many research groups on the cruise it was actually my first time to be on a cruise hendrickson said i was nervous at the beginning but it was really an exciting experience one of the main reasons i came to graduate school was to gain lab and field experience now i have data that i can process and share with other researchers for collaboration also it was exciting to be involved in a nasa-funded project this research cruise was a great opportunity and learning experience for me alsante said i learned a lot of new skills and created many friendships along the way for more information about naames visit the official website by bumsoo kim
ocean currents storm surge measurements and solar cookers might sound like odd topics for atmospheric sciences students to study but for meteorology senior ethan williams they have been a major part of his undergraduate journey ethan williams ‘18 is from tomball texas and undergraduate research has been a highlight of his time in the department of atmospheric sciences at texas a&m university as an undergraduate research assistant for dr henry potter an assistant professor in the department of oceanography he has conducted research on hurricanes and tropical cyclones ive done a case study on hurricane ike and what the currents looked like during that storm and what it looked like when all that water got pushed up against the sea wall and coast in general williams said i also did a tropical storm surge project which helped to create a better index to use when predicting the storm surge for tropical cyclones and storms storm surge causes the greatest threat to life and property along the coast during a hurricane and ethans research provided valuable insight into the parameters that contribute most significantly to storm surges extent potentially leading to improved prediction potter said williams has also worked on green roof research projects with dr don conlee a professor in the department of atmospheric sciences and a few other undergraduates the green roof project involves instrumentation and data logging and other measurements to give students in-field experience he said we do the measurements for the data on the roof of the architecture building where they have a few plots of vegetation and plants native to the brazos valley solar cookers could benefit people all over the world with those undergraduate research experiences completed williams has now begun one on his own with potters advisement and the help of conlee in his current research project williams is measuring the effectiveness of solar cookers a solar cooker absorbs sunlight turns it into thermal energy and then heats a target so you can boil water or cook food with it he explained the solar cooker is equipped with basic weather measuring devices it has an anemometer for wind speed measurements a pyrometer for solar radiance measurements thermocouples for temperature measurement and we are looking into a humidity sensor for it
solar cooker instrumentation (photos by ethan williams)meteorology student ethan williams '18 (photo by chris mouchyn)