houck2040/artisci huggingface dataset:
steve dimarco named marine technology society fellowdr steve dimarco was recently awarded the prestigious title of marine technology society fellow for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of ocean science and innovationdec 16 2020on oct 8 the marine technology society (mts) presented their annual awards at the virtual global oceans 2020: singapore – us gulf coast conference among this years recipients was dr steve dimarco professor in texas a&m universitys department of oceanography and ocean observing team lead at the geochemical and environmental research group (gerg) dimarco was honored with the distinguished title of mts fellow alongside four other professionals in the field of marine science and technology the society incorporated in 1963 didnt start awarding the title until 1975 mts bestows the title on select members in recognition of their contributions to the advancement of society objectives and distinguished achievements in their field a very small percentage of membership gets this award so for me its a very prestigious award dimarco says its very humbling to receive it and to be nominated this award is well-deserved says dr shari yvon-lewis head of texas a&ms department of oceanography dimarco specializes in creating and operating real-time ocean observation systems and he emphasizes the need for more technically trained professionals in the field to that end he makes every effort to create connections for his students in industry and government in addition to academia thats really where the ocean observing system focus in our department and college comes from the training of the next generation of professionals that maybe dont need a phd but know how to operate equipment process data and have knowledge of how the ocean functions dimarco says i place a lot of my students within industry and government dimarco also points out his departments commitment to hiring veterans for their unique skillsets work ethic and character gerg operates the texas automated buoy system (tabs) in the gulf of mexico and employs several veterans as technicians they are my heroes dimarco says nothing exemplified that more than when hurricane harvey hit those guys were out on the boat servicing one of the buoys off of south padre island dr dimarco has always put students first he is an advocate for students gaining real-world experience and skills yvon-lewis says he has been instrumental in the development (and continued improvement of) of our master of ocean science and technology (most) degree program which focusses on teaching students these important and marketable ‘met ocean and ‘ocean data analysis skills by justin agan '18
on oct 8 the marine technology society (mts) presented their annual awards at the virtual global oceans 2020: singapore – us gulf coast conference among this years recipients was dr steve dimarco professor in texas a&m universitys department of oceanography and ocean observing team lead at the geochemical and environmental research group (gerg) dimarco was honored with the distinguished title of mts fellow alongside four other professionals in the field of marine science and technology the society incorporated in 1963 didnt start awarding the title until 1975 mts bestows the title on select members in recognition of their contributions to the advancement of society objectives and distinguished achievements in their field a very small percentage of membership gets this award so for me its a very prestigious award dimarco says its very humbling to receive it and to be nominated this award is well-deserved says dr shari yvon-lewis head of texas a&ms department of oceanography dimarco specializes in creating and operating real-time ocean observation systems and he emphasizes the need for more technically trained professionals in the field to that end he makes every effort to create connections for his students in industry and government in addition to academia thats really where the ocean observing system focus in our department and college comes from the training of the next generation of professionals that maybe dont need a phd but know how to operate equipment process data and have knowledge of how the ocean functions dimarco says i place a lot of my students within industry and government dimarco also points out his departments commitment to hiring veterans for their unique skillsets work ethic and character gerg operates the texas automated buoy system (tabs) in the gulf of mexico and employs several veterans as technicians they are my heroes dimarco says nothing exemplified that more than when hurricane harvey hit those guys were out on the boat servicing one of the buoys off of south padre island dr dimarco has always put students first he is an advocate for students gaining real-world experience and skills yvon-lewis says he has been instrumental in the development (and continued improvement of) of our master of ocean science and technology (most) degree program which focusses on teaching students these important and marketable ‘met ocean and ‘ocean data analysis skills by justin agan '18
example of playground with two distinct environments shown in the visible spectrum a) sun-exposed artificial turf which increases the overall long and shortwave radiation felt by a child; b) shaded sandbox under large tree which decreases the short and longwave radiation and lowers average surface temperature (credit: dr jennifer vanos)example of playground with two distinct environments shown in the infrared spectrum a) sun-exposed artificial turf which increases the overall long and shortwave radiation felt by a child; b) shaded sandbox under large tree which decreases the short and longwave radiation and lowers average surface temperature (credit: dr jennifer vanos)
texas sea grant releases request for proposals for 2022-2024 research competitionnow seeking pre-proposals due jan 15 dec 14 2020texas sea grant has released a request for proposals for its 2022-2024 biennial research competition and pre-proposals are due jan 15 2021 through partnerships with the state of texas and the national oceanic and atmospheric administration texas sea grant conducts a competitive research grant program every two years that draws on the expertise of the states top researchers texas sea grant is seeking proposals from investigators at all texas universities and colleges others eligible include: nonprofit non-academic institutions; for-profit organizations; state local and indian tribal governments; and unaffiliated persons awards will support outcome-oriented research that spans broad areas of natural physical social behavioral and economic sciences and engineering; will improve the understanding wise use and stewardship of texas coastal and marine resources; and will generate substantial social economic and environmental impacts in texas texas sea grant encourages research that will respond to one or more of the research priorities as stated in the request for research proposals fy2022-2024 will achieve one or more of the focus area goals identified in the texas sea grant strategic plan 2018-2023 and which has an end user identified funded projects are selected using a competitive and rigorous peer-review process that considers the projects potential to produce substantial and beneficial impacts to society and its ability to integrate research and extension efforts the award period is feb 1 2022 – jan 31 2024 texas sea grant will host two pre-proposal webinars via zoom on dec 15 2020 and dec 18 2020 10:00 am – 12:00 pm no registration is required and a recording will be posted when available attendees may join these webinars online at txag/txsgpreproposalwebinar (passcode: 171030) visit txag/txsgrfp to learn more about the competition including important deadlines faqs and requirements media contact: for questions about proposal development submission and review or the eseagrant system contact mia zwolinski texas sea grant assistant director research and fiscal administration mzwolinski@tamuedu 979-458-0449 for questions about funding priorities contact dr pamela plotkin texas sea grant director plotkin@tamuedu 979-845-3902
texas sea grant has released a request for proposals for its 2022-2024 biennial research competition and pre-proposals are due jan 15 2021 through partnerships with the state of texas and the national oceanic and atmospheric administration texas sea grant conducts a competitive research grant program every two years that draws on the expertise of the states top researchers texas sea grant is seeking proposals from investigators at all texas universities and colleges others eligible include: nonprofit non-academic institutions; for-profit organizations; state local and indian tribal governments; and unaffiliated persons awards will support outcome-oriented research that spans broad areas of natural physical social behavioral and economic sciences and engineering; will improve the understanding wise use and stewardship of texas coastal and marine resources; and will generate substantial social economic and environmental impacts in texas texas sea grant encourages research that will respond to one or more of the research priorities as stated in the request for research proposals fy2022-2024 will achieve one or more of the focus area goals identified in the texas sea grant strategic plan 2018-2023 and which has an end user identified funded projects are selected using a competitive and rigorous peer-review process that considers the projects potential to produce substantial and beneficial impacts to society and its ability to integrate research and extension efforts the award period is feb 1 2022 – jan 31 2024 texas sea grant will host two pre-proposal webinars via zoom on dec 15 2020 and dec 18 2020 10:00 am – 12:00 pm no registration is required and a recording will be posted when available attendees may join these webinars online at txag/txsgpreproposalwebinar (passcode: 171030) visit txag/txsgrfp to learn more about the competition including important deadlines faqs and requirements media contact: for questions about proposal development submission and review or the eseagrant system contact mia zwolinski texas sea grant assistant director research and fiscal administration mzwolinski@tamuedu 979-458-0449 for questions about funding priorities contact dr pamela plotkin texas sea grant director plotkin@tamuedu 979-845-3902
dr jessica fitzsimmons photo courtesy of dr fitzsimmons map of the clarion-clipperton zone credit: international seabed authority
a new international research effort is setting out to complete one of the largest environmental assessments both in scope and scale ever conducted in the ocean dr jessica fitzsimmons associate professor in texas a&m universitys department of oceanography is part of the international team of researchers which is working to establish a baseline understanding of environmental and ecological processes throughout the water column from the sea floor to the ocean surface the environmental impact assessment is funded by deepgreen metals inc and is one of the biggest obstacles to gaining a mining license for polymetallic nodule mining in international waters from the united nations international seabed authority the company has interests in extracting metals such as copper cobalt zinc and manganese from polymetallic nodules on the seafloor and has invested over $3 million in the water column assessment to date more than $300 000 of which has been granted to fitzsimmons at texas a&m university the environmental assessment will be a collaboration led by researchers from the school of ocean and earth science and technology (soest) at the university of hawai'i at manoa with contributions from researchers at the japan agency for marine-earth science and technology (jamstec) and fitzsimmons and her team at texas a&m i'm a chemical oceanographer who studies trace metals in the open ocean; as you might expect mining for these metals in the bottom of the ocean is likely to change metal inventories in seawater fitzsimmons says im on the chemical oceanography team looking at metals nutrients contaminants carbonate chemistry and organics that might be released through resuspension of seafloor sediments into the overlying water column the company has been granted exploration rights by the international seabed authority for certain tracts of ocean in an area of the pacific ocean near hawaii called the clarion-clipperton zone (ccz) numerous other companies have also been given exploration rights in this area
peatlands in tierra del fuego (photo by patrick campbell)texas a&m students and peatlands in tierra del fuego (photo by patrick campbell)
peatlands occupy 3% of the global land area but contain about 25% of the global soil carbon stock equivalent to twice the amount in the worlds forests and experts say that huge amount of carbon is not as secure as scientists once thought this is cause for major concern says dr julie loisel assistant professor in the department of geography at texas a&m today she and a multidisciplinary team of 69 scientists from around the globe published a paper with a clear message: peatlands hold an enormous amount of carbon are not as stable as previously thought and must be fully accounted for in earth system models in fact the scientists predict that the carbon balance of peatlands will shift from a sink to a source this century that means that instead of absorbing carbon from the atmosphere peatlands will instead release carbon and exacerbate climate warming in a positive feedback loop said loisel the study warns that more than 100 billion tons of carbon could be released from peatlands by 2100 primarily because of anthropogenic impacts in tropical peatlands that said the authors stress this estimate is highly uncertain ranging from a carbon gain of 103 billion tons and a loss of 360 billion tons but it highlights the need for improved peatland management and peatland integration in models which would also help constrain estimates in the future titled expert assessment of future vulnerability of the global peatland carbon sink and published in nature climate change today the paper combines existing research with survey estimates from 44 leading peatland experts the authors also agreed that peatland science is a critical research area that needs further support to fully understand the peatland-carbon-climate nexus what are peatlands and why should we preserve them peatlands store large quantities of carbon within their thick soil layers over thousands of years which causes them to act as a cooling climate agent on a global scale loisel said this large and dense carbon store is the result of the slow process of belowground peat accumulation under saturated conditions that has occurred over millennia the carbon is preserved in peat because its cold and/or wet she said the last thing we want is for this carbon to be quickly released back to the atmosphere or go up in smoke recent large peat wildfires in indonesia and russia to only name a couple have made the news over the past few years because they can release as much carbon in a few months as total human carbon dioxide emissions in a year
peat blocks cut up and drying on racks in tierra del fuego (photo by loisel)dr julie loisel
in addition to wildfires climate change impacts such as permafrost degradation rising temperature drought and sea level rise are causing many peatlands to emit carbon and peatland destruction caused by land-use change also poses a critical threat thats where we can collectively make a difference loisel said we have a responsibility to stop the destruction of peatlands and find sustainable practices lessons must be learned from places like indonesia where most peatlands have been destroyed and converted to palm oil plantations according to the researchers achieving a balance between wise peatland use and economic needs has shown difficult but they hope that their study highlights the need to protect the worlds peatlands with effective policies we must avoid making the same mistakes in the amazon and the congo basins where large peatlands were recently discovered she said improving earth system models atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions associated with degraded peatlands account for 5-10% of the global annual anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions despite their small geographic footprint the researchers said yet peatland ecosystems have not been integrated into the main earth system models used for future climate change projections and they are not considered in integrated assessment models used in impact and mitigation studies according to the researchers including peatlands into assessment models that project future socio-economic change and carbon emission pathways could help develop incentives such as peatland carbon pricing and sustainable practices and change the way these ecosystems are valued and managed loisel said as for their inclusion in earth system models the team believes they have been neglected thus far because they are not perceived as large players in the carbon cycle on a year-to-year basis and also because they are not particularly dynamic when undisturbed but this is changing now with the increase in wildfires permafrost thaw drought sea level rise and rapid conversion to agricultural land she explained to address this systemic problem a group of 20 peatland scientists from around the world gathered at texas a&m in 2018 for a 3-day workshop which eventually resulted in this study this is where the idea of surveying our colleagues about the role of each agent of change on the future of peatland carbon came to be loisel said the researchers concluded that the inclusion of peatland process understanding in models and particularly better attribution of the role of each agent of change on peatland carbon dynamics would help emphasize which processes are most important thereby increasing confidence in carbon flux predictions our research group is called c-peat and is composed of over 200 peatland scientists a subset of us meets annually virtually or in person to discuss the most pressing research questions that our community faces we have members from everywhere on the planet loisel has served as the co-lead of c-peat since 2018 alongside dr angela gallego-sala of the university of exeter by leslie lee texas a&m college of geosciences
seven launch undergraduate research scholars designated as texas sea grant scholarstexas sea grant has funded seven undergraduate research scholars at texas a&m university and texas a&m university at galvestondec 1 2020the texas sea grant college program at texas a&m university has awarded $7 000 in research grants to seven undergraduate students at the main campus in college station and texas a&m university at galveston (tamug) the students are funded as part of the texas sea grant scholars program which designates scholars from among those selected for the launch: undergraduate research scholars program whose proposal topic from any discipline is related to the marine environment recipients receive up to an additional $1 000 from the texas sea grant scholars program to supplement their research budgets the goal of the program is to encourage motivated undergraduate students to participate in research and to give them the opportunity to communicate their findings as principal authors to the universitys scholarly community the 2020-21 texas sea grant scholars program recipients their respective fields of study university and projects are listed below: leah bogan marine biology tamug comparative analysis of fin whale tag data through machine-based learning santiago canel soria environmental geoscience texas a&m screening for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (pfas) in sea turtles blood and tissue samples timothy chomiak marine sciences tamug cavity ring-down spectroscopy as a method for studying dissolved inorganic carbon (dic) cycling in aquatic systems edsel santoni delgado marine biology tamug melanophore response and behavior of the marine isopod sphaeroma quadridentatum in the presence of a common estuarine predator species james scolley marine biology tamug zooxanthellae counts in bleached coral madeleine thompson marine biology tamug viral activity and its role on prokaryotic communities within anoxic ecosystems brianne wharton university studies (oceans and one health concentration) tamug constraining dissolved organic matter fluxes from the houston/galveston watershed to the gulf of mexico for more information about the texas sea grant scholars program visit txag/txsgscholars by sara carney '13 texas sea grant communications manager
the texas sea grant college program at texas a&m university has awarded $7 000 in research grants to seven undergraduate students at the main campus in college station and texas a&m university at galveston (tamug) the students are funded as part of the texas sea grant scholars program which designates scholars from among those selected for the launch: undergraduate research scholars program whose proposal topic from any discipline is related to the marine environment recipients receive up to an additional $1 000 from the texas sea grant scholars program to supplement their research budgets the goal of the program is to encourage motivated undergraduate students to participate in research and to give them the opportunity to communicate their findings as principal authors to the universitys scholarly community the 2020-21 texas sea grant scholars program recipients their respective fields of study university and projects are listed below: leah bogan marine biology tamug comparative analysis of fin whale tag data through machine-based learning santiago canel soria environmental geoscience texas a&m screening for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (pfas) in sea turtles blood and tissue samples timothy chomiak marine sciences tamug cavity ring-down spectroscopy as a method for studying dissolved inorganic carbon (dic) cycling in aquatic systems edsel santoni delgado marine biology tamug melanophore response and behavior of the marine isopod sphaeroma quadridentatum in the presence of a common estuarine predator species james scolley marine biology tamug zooxanthellae counts in bleached coral madeleine thompson marine biology tamug viral activity and its role on prokaryotic communities within anoxic ecosystems brianne wharton university studies (oceans and one health concentration) tamug constraining dissolved organic matter fluxes from the houston/galveston watershed to the gulf of mexico for more information about the texas sea grant scholars program visit txag/txsgscholars by sara carney '13 texas sea grant communications manager