houck2040/artisci huggingface dataset:
potter discussed how heat content of the ocean affected the rapid intensification of harvey based on tropical cyclone heat potential (tchp) thcp is defined as the integrated heat of the ocean water column above the 26 °c isotherm (constant temperature) which is a useful metric to estimate the energy available to fuel a hurricane despite the observation of significant heat increase in the texas coastal surface water tchp was much lower than normally associated with the rapid intensification of hurricane this may suggest that tchp may not be an ideal metric for shallow coastal environment or other factors might have contributed potter said dimarco presented in-situ observations based on texas automated buoy system (tabs) data collected from 10 buoys in the gulf of mexico including 8 buoys along the texas coast and 2 buoys in flower garden banks national marine sanctuary 100 miles offshore of galveston texas these buoys provided real-time observations throughout the passage of the storm including temperature salinity and current velocity these measurements were used to monitor the distribution of terrestrial freshwater flux along the coast after harvey made landfall strong surface currents were continuously observed during the harvey dimarco said maximum was up to 160 cm/s which was the strongest current ever that was measured in this region during the past two decades based on our measurements an unusual massive freshwater plume had been detected along the texas coast but the storms floodwater and contaminants that posed a threat to the coastal marine ecosystems luckily did not reached the protected reefs of the flower garden banks national marine sanctuary he said lastly the university of floridas valle-levinson found that three conditions prevented harveys floodwater from flowing into the ocean first and second were buffalo bayou and the san jacinto river which were so overwhelmed that a bottleneck of freshwater clogged and slowed flows to the ocean thirdly high sea-level rise made the flooding worse in the houston area because the ocean was preconditioning the flooding in houston and galveston bay valle-levinson said for more details view the full video record of the press conference talk on agus youtube channel by bumsoo kim
texas sea grant wants students to have a safe spring break at the beachmar 8 2018as thousands of college students converge on texas beaches this month the texas sea grant college program at texas a&m university would like everyone to be aware of the dangers of rip currents which can sweep even the strongest swimmer out to sea rip currents cause at least 100 deaths each year at united states coastal and great lakes beaches a rip current is a horizontal current that pulls people away from the shore drowning deaths occur when people pulled offshore are unable to keep themselves afloat or swim to safety dr christian brannstrom associate dean for academic affairs in the college of geosciences has studied rip currents and beachgoers perceptions of them he warns that it can be much more difficult for occasional beach visitors to identify rip currents compared to frequent beach users including surfers who ride rip currents out to the breaking waves so they can surf back to shore but there are some clues that can help there are signs beach visitors can look for including a break in the incoming wave pattern; a channel of churning choppy water; an area with a visible difference in water color; or a line of foam seaweed or debris moving steadily seaward brannstrom said rip currents often form around man-made structures like piers groins and jetties and theyre also more likely to form when there are heavy surf conditions texas sea grant the national weather service and the united states lifesaving association (usla) recommend that beachgoers learn to swim and never swim alone; be cautious at all times especially when swimming at unguarded beaches; and whenever possible swim at lifeguard-protected beaches and obey all warning signs and instructions from lifeguards if you are caught in a rip current usla recommends the following strategy: remain calm to conserve energy and think clearly dont fight the current by trying to swim against the current straight to shore escape the current by swimming in a direction following the shoreline when free of the current swim at an angle – away from the current – toward shore if you are unable to escape by swimming float or tread water when the current weakens swim at an angle away from the current toward shore if you dont think you will be able to reach the shore draw attention to yourself – face the shore and call or wave for help other factors that can increase the danger include consuming excessive alcoholic beverages before entering the water texas strong alongshore current can also be a danger especially to young children many people have died trying to rescue rip current victims if you see someone in trouble get help from a lifeguard if there is no lifeguard yell instructions on how to escape throw the victim something that floats and have someone call 9-1-1 additional information about avoiding and surviving rip currents is available at wwwripcurrentsnoaagov by cindie powell
as thousands of college students converge on texas beaches this month the texas sea grant college program at texas a&m university would like everyone to be aware of the dangers of rip currents which can sweep even the strongest swimmer out to sea rip currents cause at least 100 deaths each year at united states coastal and great lakes beaches a rip current is a horizontal current that pulls people away from the shore drowning deaths occur when people pulled offshore are unable to keep themselves afloat or swim to safety dr christian brannstrom associate dean for academic affairs in the college of geosciences has studied rip currents and beachgoers perceptions of them he warns that it can be much more difficult for occasional beach visitors to identify rip currents compared to frequent beach users including surfers who ride rip currents out to the breaking waves so they can surf back to shore but there are some clues that can help there are signs beach visitors can look for including a break in the incoming wave pattern; a channel of churning choppy water; an area with a visible difference in water color; or a line of foam seaweed or debris moving steadily seaward brannstrom said rip currents often form around man-made structures like piers groins and jetties and theyre also more likely to form when there are heavy surf conditions texas sea grant the national weather service and the united states lifesaving association (usla) recommend that beachgoers learn to swim and never swim alone; be cautious at all times especially when swimming at unguarded beaches; and whenever possible swim at lifeguard-protected beaches and obey all warning signs and instructions from lifeguards if you are caught in a rip current usla recommends the following strategy: remain calm to conserve energy and think clearly dont fight the current by trying to swim against the current straight to shore escape the current by swimming in a direction following the shoreline when free of the current swim at an angle – away from the current – toward shore if you are unable to escape by swimming float or tread water when the current weakens swim at an angle away from the current toward shore if you dont think you will be able to reach the shore draw attention to yourself – face the shore and call or wave for help other factors that can increase the danger include consuming excessive alcoholic beverages before entering the water texas strong alongshore current can also be a danger especially to young children many people have died trying to rescue rip current victims if you see someone in trouble get help from a lifeguard if there is no lifeguard yell instructions on how to escape throw the victim something that floats and have someone call 9-1-1 additional information about avoiding and surviving rip currents is available at wwwripcurrentsnoaagov by cindie powell
how could geospatial analytical tools help identify and measure public health risks what does mapping dentist office locations have to do with occurrences of chronic disease could mapping a shade-maximized route around campus minimize uv exposure and have public health benefits tackling such complicated problems through independent research work is the task given to 10 undergraduate students who travel to texas a&m university to participate in the cyberhealthgis research experiences for undergraduates (reu) program each summer the department of geography department of computer science and engineering and department of epidemiology and biostatistics partner to host undergraduates from across the country in the reu program for 10 weeks the national science foundation funds the nationwide reu program and the college of geosciences at texas a&m university helps host three reus including this one applications for the summer 2018 reu are due march 15 and students from anywhere in the us can apply
isaac lello-smith a 2017 reu participant collecting data for his research projectsummer 2017 reu participants learn to build a circuit
the program is highly competitive and we accept about one third of our ten students from geography majors a third from computer science majors and a third from public health majors said dr daniel goldberg one of the three faculty leaders of the reu we help them learn how to do interdisciplinary research and work in teams to solve problems that affect the health and well-being of americans dr tracy hammond computer science and engineering professor and dr jennifer horney department head and associate professor in the department of epidemiology and biostatistics also lead the reu with the guidance of graduate students and faculty members they develop their own research idea find data to support it and then figure out ways to use technology and maps to communicate their findings horney said each student gets one-on-one guidance and research training from faculty mentors i was exposed to so many new ideas and ways of thinking said sterling laboo a 2017 reu participant and public health student at texas a&m the mentors help the students complete an entire research project in just 10 weeks – collaboratively posing executing and evaluating a research project resulting in research advances in cyberhealthgis several students have had their reu research published in academic journals following their summer research experience every student who has come through this program has shown themselves to be capable researchers goldberg said one of our main goals is to introduce these students to different research and different techniques and different fields that theyre not familiar with the most important thing i learned this summer is that interdisciplinary fields are really important said maeve scully a 2017 reu participant and geography major at the ohio state university all of my peers here now have experience in three fields versus just one scully said that during the reu program she built on her geography knowledge and learned the computer programming language python and how to build a circuit which will make her a more appealing candidate to employers for more information: apply to this reu program watch more video interviews with reu participants by leslie lee
texas sea grant awards $5 700 in grants to support undergraduate research projectsfeb 28 2018by cindie powell the texas sea grant college program at texas a&m university has awarded $5 700 in research grants to six 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 undergraduate research program which designates texas sea grant scholars from among those who are selected for the launch: undergraduate research scholars program recipients receive up to an additional $1 000 from texas sea grant 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 2017-18 texas sea grant scholars program recipients along with their respective fields of study institutions and projects are listed below: faith kramer environmental studies texas a&m university deep sea corrallium sp in the northwest hawaiian islands basal diameter-colony height curve and colony height-age curve laura leonard marine biology tamug dissolved organic matter cycling following a major flooding event in galveston bay texas naomi mathew marine biology tamug biodiversity of the class scyphozoa in the gulf of mexico thomas page marine biology tamug feeding ecology of sheepshead (archosargus probatocephalus) in the northwest gulf of mexico william prouse offshore and coastal systems tamug vegetative nullification for aerial photogrammetry taylor strope marine biology tamug the effects of hurricane harvey on the biodiversity and abundance of hydromedusae in galveston bay
by cindie powell the texas sea grant college program at texas a&m university has awarded $5 700 in research grants to six 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 undergraduate research program which designates texas sea grant scholars from among those who are selected for the launch: undergraduate research scholars program recipients receive up to an additional $1 000 from texas sea grant 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 2017-18 texas sea grant scholars program recipients along with their respective fields of study institutions and projects are listed below: faith kramer environmental studies texas a&m university deep sea corrallium sp in the northwest hawaiian islands basal diameter-colony height curve and colony height-age curve laura leonard marine biology tamug dissolved organic matter cycling following a major flooding event in galveston bay texas naomi mathew marine biology tamug biodiversity of the class scyphozoa in the gulf of mexico thomas page marine biology tamug feeding ecology of sheepshead (archosargus probatocephalus) in the northwest gulf of mexico william prouse offshore and coastal systems tamug vegetative nullification for aerial photogrammetry taylor strope marine biology tamug the effects of hurricane harvey on the biodiversity and abundance of hydromedusae in galveston bay
in may of 2013 the camptown cemetery in brenham texas was nothing but a dead-end road sign on a piece of neglected land a year later an official texas historical commission (thc) plaque finally was placed where that sign had been the brenham heritage museum led the restoration of the cemetery which began with removing decades of brush and decay several local biker groups a buffalo soldiers organization and numerous community members and groups also volunteered to help clear and restore the land uncovering more and more forgotten gravestones but there was one problem they needed technical assistance with: unmarked graves in mid-2013 a museum staff member reached out to the texas a&m university department of geology and geophysics because the museum wanted to know the location and extent of the cement burials the department knew how to help the history of camptown cemetery officially established in 1868 camptown cemetery is the oldest predominantly african american cemetery in brenham however it is believed that burials date back as far as the 1830s it is historically associated with mt rose missionary baptist church camptown cemetery remains hallowed ground and a precious record of the early history of the community reads the thc marker at least 40 former slaves are known to be buried there according to the church other people laid to rest there include texas revolution soldiers soldiers who were victims of yellow fever outbreaks of 1866-67 and veterans who served in wars a total of 81 headstones dot the land but the community restoration team estimates that around 196 people are buried there along with unmarked bodies many of the headstones had been moved and no longer sat in the correct locations
grave markers in camptown cemeterytexas a&m students working in camptown cemetery
aggie undergrads used technology to help then undergraduate student tate meehan under the advising of geology and geophysics professor dr mark everett used a noninvasive geophysical survey to detect soil disturbances or magnetic bodies within the subsurface to help identify potential sites of unmarked graves this successfully showed concrete structures below the surface but did not identify bodies that were not in concrete because of the clay rich soils and subtropical climate in this region of texas bodies not in caskets were nearly impossible to identify after meehan graduated the texas a&m university geography society continued his work this time to identify bodies below the surface that were not in concrete to do that they used a total station a traditional surveying technique that includes a laser mounted on a tripod and a reflecting prism to locate the sites of unmarked graves the team identified a 17-meter tract that seemed to have grave-sized depressions in the dirt and then used gpr to analyze the area the students said the information was then processed into an image that showed soil disturbances that could possibly be unmarked graves but disintegration made it impossible for the gpr to completely confirm the graves service learning always a priority for aggies projects like this are important for many reasons everett said its a real-world problem and its outreach to the community its about cultural history; it is about connecting a community to its past he said theres so many different levels; it is about human dignity burial reversing neglecting and maintaining the past all of those things being in the field to do hands-on work was beneficial for the students as well as the community students learned about the challenges that you have when youre doing a project that is not necessarily a textbook project everett said partnering with the community for projects like this one is extremely important because its about showing them that were not in ivory towers sitting in our offices solving big mathematical equations or developing enormously complicated theories about things everett said we want to be useful we want to do practical things and we want our students to get experience not only with the equipment and that but also working on real problems with real people the research continues this service research project has continued and in the 2017 gis day poster contest now-graduate student hailey duncan senior gis student daniel huseman and now former students jacqueline clay and laura everett submitted a research poster about how the ground penetrating radar data was collected and processed for the cemetery project and what that analysis showed we chose this project because it was an opportunity to increase and apply the skills we were learning in lecture to a real-world situation duncan said more importantly this project had a lot of love and dedication behind it
the brenham community is continuing the work of preserving the cemetery and all the stories of the past that it holds you can learn more about camptown cemetery and the lives memorialized there at: the texas historical commission the camptown cemetery blog rose missionary baptist church rose missionary baptist church camptown cemetery photo gallery by taylor fuechec
two atmospheric science graduate students win seminar competitioncollaborative competition helps equip graduate students to communicate their sciencefeb 23 2018each semester the atmospheric sciences graduate council (asgc) invites graduate students in the department of atmospheric sciences to participate in the graduate student seminar semester-long friendly competition the graduate students each volunteer to give a presentation of their research in meetings several times during the semester to hear each participants 15 minute talk each presenter gets valuable feedback from the group and anonymous constructive critiques helping the graduate students improve their research presentation style and question-and-answer abilitiesbrooke adams (left) and chia-pang kuo (right)brooke adams and chia-pang kuo won the fall 2017 and spring 2018 competitions respectively this competition is an extremely helpful tool for students to practice their thesis defense in a relaxed environment and receive feedback from other students some of whom have already defended their own research said sophie mayne president of the asgc the two presenters with the highest feedback scores from their peers win a monetary prize as well as the opportunity to present a seminar to the entire department this is an invaluable opportunity to speak in front of experts in the field with a variety of different interests adams said and it motivated her to think about her research in a broader scope brookes research was titled understanding the impact of internal variability on our estimates of the transient climate response while chia-pang authored climate implications of longwave scattering by clouds by corey howard
each semester the atmospheric sciences graduate council (asgc) invites graduate students in the department of atmospheric sciences to participate in the graduate student seminar semester-long friendly competition the graduate students each volunteer to give a presentation of their research in meetings several times during the semester to hear each participants 15 minute talk each presenter gets valuable feedback from the group and anonymous constructive critiques helping the graduate students improve their research presentation style and question-and-answer abilities
brooke adams and chia-pang kuo won the fall 2017 and spring 2018 competitions respectively this competition is an extremely helpful tool for students to practice their thesis defense in a relaxed environment and receive feedback from other students some of whom have already defended their own research said sophie mayne president of the asgc the two presenters with the highest feedback scores from their peers win a monetary prize as well as the opportunity to present a seminar to the entire department this is an invaluable opportunity to speak in front of experts in the field with a variety of different interests adams said and it motivated her to think about her research in a broader scope brookes research was titled understanding the impact of internal variability on our estimates of the transient climate response while chia-pang authored climate implications of longwave scattering by clouds by corey howard