houck2040/artisci huggingface dataset:
collecting peat samples from frozen land is far from the beach vacation most students imagine for their summer breaks but for five aggie geography majors a freezing summer field expedition to the far reaches of the southern hemisphere was unforgettable from may 21 to june 8 2018 texas a&m university department of geography assistant professor and national geographic explorer dr julie loisel led a group of five current undergraduate students along with a geophysicist from the university of wyoming dr andrew parsekian to tierra del fuego in southern patagonia chile patrick campbell 18 geography major served as photographer and videographer on the trip funded by a grant from the national geographic society the expeditions objective was to sample peatlands and determine carbon stocks using peat cores and ground-penetrating radar the process of sampling each peatland location included: coring subsurface gpr mapping and collecting surface vegetation samples the team also set up a weather station and water-level data loggers in monitoring wells peatlands are unique environments that hold deep layers of important environmental data peatlands are also the most effective sink of carbon on the planet loisel said
traveling to the end of the world the journey to get to southern patagonia and to their final destination – karukinka park – was long the research crew flew more than 10 hours total loisel said in addition to a day-long drive that included a ferry ride across the magellan strait on the last leg of the trip the crew stopped along the way to explore a shipwreck and see a rare colony of king penguins karukinka translates to ‘our land which accurately describes the park and its purpose loisel said the park has goals that revolve around conservation and sustainability and is only open to visitors who come to learn research and discover the base camp that the students would call home for the duration of the trip had no running water and only minimal electricity it was almost winter solstice during their time there so the sun set around 5:30 pm and rose at 10 am the students had to chop wood to fuel the houses fires both for warmth and for cooking their meals the long dark hours spent together in the cabins helped the group establish a strong bond with each other she said video by patrick campbell
the importance of peatlands 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 they also contain decomposed plant fragments volcanic ash and many other relicts from the past that can date back thousands of years she explained that peat deposits can be cored and their layers read like a history book peat cores are a sort of natural time capsule and their content reveals important information about the local and regional environment
students map the ground to prepare to collect peat samples photo by patrick campbellstudents collect peat core samples from the ground photo by patrick campbell
sampling in peatlands the first collection site was called rasmussen peatland located at higher elevation towards the cordillera darwin this peatland was harsh with freezing air temperatures and strong winds the peatland surface was frozen and covered with iced-over puddles obtaining core samples there provided good training for new members interesting vegetation and beautiful views loisel said next the crew traveled to flarks peatland this area was different from the previous one; in a milder valley its vegetation was more lush and displayed bright colors of reds oranges and yellows this peatland had also been cut down by the eroding action of a river which allowed the team to observe the peat layers directly over the next four days the team traveled to four more sites to learn more about this research view campbells photo journal and video by taylor fuechec 18
dr carlos dengo 78 has been awarded the michel t halbouty geosciences medalwilliam r bill thomas 75 has been recognized with the geosciences distinguished alumni award
each distinctly renowned for their geosciences expertise service to the aggie family and legacy contributions to science four exemplary award recipients have been named by the texas a&m university college of geosciences the recipients will all be recognized on oct 5 at the college of geosciences distinguished achievement awards ceremony which will be held at 6:30 pm in the gates ballroom in the memorial student center dr carlos dengo 78 dr carlos dengo 78 former director of the berg-hughes center for petroleum and sedimentary systems at texas a&m has been awarded the michel t halbouty geosciences medal after earning his bachelors in geology from syracuse university dengo received a masters in geology from texas a&m in 1978 followed by a doctorate in geology in 1982 he went on to excel in a decades-long career at exxonmobil starting out at exxon production research company prior to his retirement in 2012 dengo served as the director and geoscience vice president of exxonmobils upstream research company and prior to that as director and vice president of exxonmobil research qatar dengo now serves as principal at tierranos consulting llc he has served on numerous boards and counsels in his field and has served on the american geophysical union board of directors since 2015 while serving as director of the berg-hughes center at texas a&m from 2014-2017 dengo provided essential vision and leadership his vision was to establish texas a&ms department of geology and geophysics as a pre-eminent academic center to educate future generations of students with the technical and leadership skills to succeed in academia and/or the oil industry said dr anthony knap director of the geochemical and environmental research group at texas a&m he has been and still is a phenomenal representative of the college throughout his career william r bill thomas 75 william r bill thomas 75 chief executive officer of eog resources has been recognized with the geosciences distinguished alumni award bill thomas leadership honors the aggie core values and provides our current aggies with a peerless role model said dr debbie thomas interim dean of the college of geosciences bill constantly innovates strategies to outpace industry peers and set the standard of excellence across industries over 37 years at eog resources he has worked his way up through the eog leadership ranks she said bill continues to promote an organizational culture of cultivating leadership within the team interim dean thomas said thus the leaders at eog emerge with an organizational pride and a personally vested interest in the success of the entire team – excellence that fosters loyalty and loyalty that perpetuates excellence i have had the privilege to get to know bill and i am continually inspired by his accomplishments and his career path but even more so by his humility
dr ruth mullins perry 04 has been awarded the geosciences young alumni award the weather channel has been recognized with the geosciences innovator award
dr ruth mullins perry 04 dr ruth mullins perry 04 marine scientist and regulatory policy specialist at shell exploration and production company has been awarded the geosciences young alumni award prior to joining shell in 2014 perry received a bachelors in biology in 2004 a masters in oceanography in 2008 and a doctorate in oceanography in 2013 all from texas a&m dr perry is an exceptional scientist and has demonstrated an exceedingly broad expertise and disciplinary experience said dr steve dimarco texas a&m oceanography professor who served as her doctoral and post-doctoral advisor for the past five years dr perry has been developing private-public partnerships for shell to help improve industry and community knowledge of the offshore marine environment she has served on several boards and committees and has made presentations to the us congress to advocate for sustained ocean monitoring for societal benefits and to help advance the understanding of human impacts on the marine environment perry also conceptualized and is leading the ocean observing partnership of the stones observatory in the gulf of mexico which is a unique public-private collaboration the stones observational platform will provide interdisciplinary observations in 3 000 meters for decades to come and stands as a model for future private-public partnerships dimarco said the weather channel the weather channel has been recognized with the geosciences innovator award the weather companys primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news the environment and the importance of science to our lives said dr shari yvon-lewis texas a&m oceanography department head this broadcast reaches over 80 million households covering a variety of geosciences-related topics such as hurricanes climate change volcanoes and earthquakes the channel uses advanced technology and visualization tools to translate complicated and sometimes life-saving scientific information to the general public their contributions to geoscience and stem education are vast several members of the weather channel team have received special permission to travel during hurricane season and will be present at the awards ceremony on oct 5 at texas a&m for more details on the colleges awards read about our awards and recognitions by leslie lee 09
the new canadian high arctic research station (chars) in cambridge bay nunavut photo courtesy of chars
lying quietly at the top of the world the arctic tundras ancient frozen soils store enormous amounts of carbon these uniquely important landscapes have thick peat soil horizons and are vulnerable to warming temperatures the national science foundation (nsf) recently funded a new research project examining these systems and whether expanding peatlands may provide a "sink" for some of the carbon lost as permafrost thaws and texas a&m university department of geography assistant professor dr julie loisel will lead a team from texas a&m conducting a portion of the research in far northern canada this new project will look at how arctic soils have been responding to warmer temperatures loisel said we know that vegetation has been growing faster due to warmer and longer growing seasons across most of the arctic a phenomenon referred to as "greening" but we don't know how or if this increase in biomass transfers to soils titled peat expansion in arctic tundra: pattern process and the implication for the carbon cycle the projects additional teams will be led by: dr zicheng yu lehigh university; dr philip camill bowdoin college; dr steve frolking university new hampshire; and qianlai zhuang purdue university the texas a&m team will be based at the new canadian high arctic research station (chars) in cambridge bay nunavut our main goal is to gather meteorological ecological and paleoecological data to look into the relationships between air and soil temperatures vs rates of carbon sequestration in soils from the eastern half of victoria island and the bathurst inlet region loisel said
the new canadian high arctic research station (chars) in cambridge bay nunavut photo courtesy of charsthe texas a&m research team studying arctic soils will gather meteorological ecological and paleoecological data in cambridge bay nunavut
the research has major implications: if shallow peatlands are widespread throughout the arctic the overall net carbon storage capacity of tundra might be underestimated globally this research will assess those implications for global climate models it will also be addressing one of nsf's "ten big ideas for future nsf investments " navigating the new arctic this project is one of nine efforts in which nsf recently invested a total of $9 million all researching biosphere processes and their complex interactions with climate land use and invasive species at regional to continental scales the awards are funded through nsfs macrosystems biology and early neon (national ecological observatory network) science programs these projects leverage nsf investments in biological infrastructure to study how organisms and ecosystems respond to environmental changes from local to continental scales said joanne tornow nsf acting assistant director for biological sciences macrosystems biology is an approach that works to identify the scales of biological processes and patterns and their cross-scale interactions in non-linear surprising ways the new research awards will explore ecological interactions that operate across spatial and temporal scales findings from environmental biological and ecological research can be incomplete if interacting scales are not considered research in the macrosystems biology program explores interactions that operate across spatial and temporal scales findings from environmental biological and ecological research can be uncertain if measured on the wrong scales (eg studies of local effects that ignore impact of changing global processes) to learn more read the full arctic project description and about the other eight new awards recently awarded by the nsf macrosystems and neon programs by leslie lee '09
aapg 2018-2019 grants-in-aid awardcongratulations to geology & geophysics graduate students that were awarded 2018 aapg grants-in-aid!aug 22 2018congratulations to geology & geophysics graduate students that were awarded 2018 aapg grants-in-aid! the american association of petroleum geologists (aapg) provides various methods of funding through different programs the aapg foundation grantsin-aid program fosters research in the geosciences providing financial assistance to graduate students (currently enrolled in masters or phd programs) whose thesis research has application to the search for and development of petroleum and energy-mineral resources and/or to related environmental geology issues to be considered for an aapg grant-in-aid award graduate students are required to submit an abstract as well as an application project budget and summary of their research projects timeline the grants-in-aid committee scores each application at least three times scoring is based on the following five areas: students academic and employment history scientific merit of proposal suitability to program objectives financial merit of proposal and endorsement by faculty or department advisor grants are based on merit and in part on the financial needs of the applicant grants range from $500 to $3 000 and are to be applied to expenses directly related to the students thesis work such as field work and laboratory analyses wed like to congratulate the following graduate students that have been awarded 2018 aapg grantsin-aid: szu-ting kuo michel t halbouty grant ben richards james w milliken memorial grant of these students szu-ting kuo is a phd student working with dr hiroko kitajima and ben richards is a phd student working with dr art donovan
congratulations to geology & geophysics graduate students that were awarded 2018 aapg grants-in-aid! the american association of petroleum geologists (aapg) provides various methods of funding through different programs the aapg foundation grantsin-aid program fosters research in the geosciences providing financial assistance to graduate students (currently enrolled in masters or phd programs) whose thesis research has application to the search for and development of petroleum and energy-mineral resources and/or to related environmental geology issues to be considered for an aapg grant-in-aid award graduate students are required to submit an abstract as well as an application project budget and summary of their research projects timeline the grants-in-aid committee scores each application at least three times scoring is based on the following five areas: students academic and employment history scientific merit of proposal suitability to program objectives financial merit of proposal and endorsement by faculty or department advisor grants are based on merit and in part on the financial needs of the applicant grants range from $500 to $3 000 and are to be applied to expenses directly related to the students thesis work such as field work and laboratory analyses wed like to congratulate the following graduate students that have been awarded 2018 aapg grantsin-aid: szu-ting kuo michel t halbouty grant ben richards james w milliken memorial grant of these students szu-ting kuo is a phd student working with dr hiroko kitajima and ben richards is a phd student working with dr art donovan
the dudley j hughes '51 teaching microscopy labthe generous gift by mrs hughes will play a key part in preparing the next generation's geoscientists aug 21 2018during the september 29 2017 department open house and the re-dedication ceremony of the dudley hughes ‘51 lecture hall texas a&m college of geosciences interim dean dr debbie thomas announced the establishment of the dudley j hughes ‘51 teaching microscopy lab this incredibly generous gift by mrs hughes will add significant opportunities for hands-on learning for geology and geophysics students the gift was given in honor of her late husbands devotion passion and generosity for texas a&m university and the department of geology and geophysics mr hughes was an acclaimed exploration geologist and celebrated philanthropist the lab will feature new microscopes computers and equipment students will no longer need to share old run-down equipment construction for the new microscopy lab began in the summer of 2018 and is expected to be completed this fall dr mike pope geology and geophysics department head is excited for the improvements in the students learning experience that this lab will create mrs robbie hughes gift provides our undergraduate students with a world-class undergraduate microscopy laboratory and will provide them with an incredible high-impact learning experience that is second to none said dr pope we are very grateful to mrs hughes for choosing to honor her husband with this outstanding gift the college of geosciences believes the impact this technology will play a key part in preparing the next generations geoscientists robbie and dudley hughes '51
during the september 29 2017 department open house and the re-dedication ceremony of the dudley hughes ‘51 lecture hall texas a&m college of geosciences interim dean dr debbie thomas announced the establishment of the dudley j hughes ‘51 teaching microscopy lab this incredibly generous gift by mrs hughes will add significant opportunities for hands-on learning for geology and geophysics students the gift was given in honor of her late husbands devotion passion and generosity for texas a&m university and the department of geology and geophysics mr hughes was an acclaimed exploration geologist and celebrated philanthropist the lab will feature new microscopes computers and equipment students will no longer need to share old run-down equipment construction for the new microscopy lab began in the summer of 2018 and is expected to be completed this fall dr mike pope geology and geophysics department head is excited for the improvements in the students learning experience that this lab will create mrs robbie hughes gift provides our undergraduate students with a world-class undergraduate microscopy laboratory and will provide them with an incredible high-impact learning experience that is second to none said dr pope we are very grateful to mrs hughes for choosing to honor her husband with this outstanding gift the college of geosciences believes the impact this technology will play a key part in preparing the next generations geoscientists robbie and dudley hughes '51
on july 9-13 department of oceanography at texas a&m university faculty and other researchers collaborated to host a week-long under the sea camp for local youth held at the childrens museum of the brazos valley students who participated were 4 to 12 years old and each had the opportunity to complete hands-on science experiments and lessons many graduate students faculty and staff members helped make the camp happen including: drs chrissy wiederwohl katie shamberger and jason sylvan oceanography professors; tacey hicks miranda hooper and charles holmes ii oceanography graduate students; drs peter blum denise kulhanek laurel childress and carlos alvarez zarikian of the international ocean discovery program (iodp); and drew casey from texas sea grant the vision of the camp started when wiederwohl dropped her daughter off at a science camp at the childrens museum the previous year i asked the director of the museum if they would be interested in doing an ocean science camp then met with their director of education and the camp grew from there she said the camp is just one of the outreach programs that wiederwohl plans to create through the oceanography department i wanted a way to expand our outreach offerings and reach the local community in a more impactful way than just small presentations here and there wiederwohl said
dr chrissy wiederwohl teaching students about density (photo courtesy of leslie lee)students learning ocean acidification using straws to blow carbon dioxide into a ph indicator during dr katie shambergers lecture (photo courtesy of the childrens museum of the brazos valley)
during the camp children were able get their hands wet in learning marine science and different topics were covered each day by experts in the field on the first day wiederwohl taught the group about density the students looked at how fluids can have different densities and built an ocean in a bottle which can be used to set up internal waves and show how waves move energy on tuesday shamberger discussed ocean acidification and demonstrated common household items such as soap and vinegar and whether they are an acid or a base students also participated doing an experiment where they could see the direct relationship between carbon dioxide and acidifying water on the third day of the camp iodp faculty and students built mini sediment cores to explore the science of ocean drilling on thursday sylvan gave a lecture about ocean life from microbes to whales and on the last day of the camp texas sea grant experts talked about plastic pollution and how it is harming the ocean today students also had a chance to touch a real living brittle starfish
students touching a brittle starfish (photo courtesy of the childrens museum of the brazos valley)group photo of the under the sea camp after dr chrissy wiederwohl read the book larry gets lost under the sea (photo courtesy of the childrens museum of the brazos valley)
it was a lot of fun and the kids were so bright and passionate about the ocean wiederwohl said they shocked me several times with how much they knew about all aspects of the ocean the department plans to host the camp again in mid-july next summer it was great to expose them to all corners of oceanography and show them all of the great scientific questions we are trying to answer many did not realize that we had a world class oceanography department right here in the local community said wiederwohl anyone from the local community interested in having tamu oceanography visit their classroom or speak to their group can email ocean-outreach@geostamuedu by bumsoo kim