houck2040/artisci huggingface dataset:
for the past 10 summers the texas a&m college of geosciences has hosted high school students from across the country on the texas a&m campus providing them with an in-depth look into the geosciences as part of the geosciences exploration summer program or geox geox is a summer program designed for high school students interested in science and the world around them students are given the unique opportunity to interact with faculty experts from the college and get a foundational understanding of the variety of ways someone can make a difference with a degree in those fields judy nuñez the director of recruitment for the college of geosciences leads the team that coordinates geox each summer with concerns of health and safety due to the covid-19 pandemic they took the program online and accepted a record 151 students for the two-week event even though there was no minimum amount of required work for campers during geox the majority of them joined in every morning and stayed through the entire days interactive presentations the interesting part about having an online geox was that the campers could define their own success with the virtual camp nuñez said you could see they wanted to be engaged by asking questions and commenting on what they already knew about topics they really connected with the information they were learning and it kept bringing them back each day when initially creating the schedule for the virtual geox it became clear that an online format could open up even more opportunities for the students attending she said with location no longer being a factor faculty current students former students advisory council members and many others jumped at the opportunity to present one of the first geox sessions hosted by dr nick perez an assistant professor in the department of geology and geophysics took the campers on a virtual tour of his research experiences in peru perez spoke about the formation of volcanoes techniques researchers use to study those volcanoes and how that data is used to make decisions about the past and the future i wanted to share why i have enjoyed being a geoscientist perez said i also wanted students to know that studying geoscience will allow them to find their passion which can be any mixture of disciplines hydrology and water policy human rights and mining earth history and earths future with climate change these and so much more are where we need students to focus my hope was to instill a level of curiosity and wide ranging interest so that students will realize that the geosciences is the place for them dr chrissy wiederwohl instructional associate professor in the department of oceanography has served as a faculty presenter to geox for several years and shared her expertise with students again this year i look forward to participating in geox every summer because of the campers and counselors she said the campers' level of engagement is through the roof every single year and this year was no different even using an online platform i hope my participation does two things: promote awareness and understanding about oceanographic issues and give campers a glimpse of what being an oceanographer entails
geox campers participating in a virtual yell practice with the aggie yell leaders
more than 25 faculty members representing all four departments in the college of geosciences presented on a vast array of topics from their fields of research through these presentations campers travelled virtually from the arctic to the antarctic down into the trenches of the pacific even to learning about rovers on mars they had the opportunity to virtually launch a weather balloon talk to a paleontologist and do several hands-on activities right from their homes geox also gave the campers an opportunity to hear from doc hendley the founder of wine to water a nonprofit organization whose mission it is to provide clean water to people around the world after learning about water insecurity from dr wendy jepson earlier in geox the campers were able to hear first-hand from hendley about the effects water insecurity can have on a community he challenged each camper to focus on finding something they are passionate about and use their tools talents and education to make a difference in the world while in-person field trips were unavailable this year that didnt stop campers from taking two virtual tours of facilities early during the second week campers were taken on a virtual tour of bps houston headquarters and learn about the ways careers in the geosciences are making a difference in the world the final day of geox was spent at the texas a&m soltis center for research and education in costa rica this experience included a tour and an activity the campers could participate in from their homes this was the first time geox was able to offer a live international tour of a facility to wrap up the last day the campers got to have one more glimpse into life as an aggie geoscientist with all the campers donning their maroon geox shirts the aggie yell leaders led everyone in a virtual fightin texas aggie yell practice marking the completion of the 10th geox program nuñez is proud that the virtual experience was deemed a great success and plans to explore holding both a residential and a virtual camp next year and though geox could evolve in the years to come its mission of educating future leaders on the importance of the geosciences will remain by stephanie taylor 10
dr yina liu 13 assistant professor of oceanography (photos couresy of liu)
geographys george allen to lead new x-grant projecttexas a&ms x-grant program funds interdisciplinary researchjul 13 2020dr george allen assistant professor of geography and an aerial photo of the sacramento river (photo: istock)texas a&m university recently announced that eight interdisciplinary research projects will share $7 million in funding from round 3 of its x-grants program an initiative of the 10-year $100 million presidents excellence fund dr george allen assistant professor in the department of geography at texas a&m will lead one of the funded projects titled developing a smallsat mission to track global movement of water carbon and sediment across landscapes the study will focus on cotemporal satellite observations of changing water quality and water quantity new satellite technology is allowing us to track the flow of water in rivers and lakes like never before allen said we will be designing a satellite mission to be submitted to nasa that leverages this new technology to track the movement of important biogeochemical materials in earths rivers and lakes this information is valuable for managing earths surface water and ecosystem resources and understanding how the water carbon and sediment cycles are responding to changes in climate and land use allen will lead the project along with collaborators dr huilin gao associate professor of civil engineering dr daniel selva valero assistant professor of aerospace engineering and dr helen l reed regents professor of aerospace engineering the round 3 funded projects include 80 faculty members and other researchers from eight colleges the texas a&m health science center and the qatar and galveston campuses these interdisciplinary projects have the potential for significant advances in areas such as cancer and covid-19 therapies natural disaster response and mitigation novel space management mental health migration behaviors water quality and improvements to the efficiency of current technologies said vice president for research dr mark a barteau there were 142 one-page proposals submitted to the program 43 of which were chosen for preliminary proposals twenty-two were selected to submit final proposals after oral presentations and reviews by three reviewers each a panel met and chose the eight proposals for funding read more about the eight funded projects
dr george allen assistant professor of geography and an aerial photo of the sacramento river (photo: istock)
texas a&m university recently announced that eight interdisciplinary research projects will share $7 million in funding from round 3 of its x-grants program an initiative of the 10-year $100 million presidents excellence fund dr george allen assistant professor in the department of geography at texas a&m will lead one of the funded projects titled developing a smallsat mission to track global movement of water carbon and sediment across landscapes the study will focus on cotemporal satellite observations of changing water quality and water quantity new satellite technology is allowing us to track the flow of water in rivers and lakes like never before allen said we will be designing a satellite mission to be submitted to nasa that leverages this new technology to track the movement of important biogeochemical materials in earths rivers and lakes this information is valuable for managing earths surface water and ecosystem resources and understanding how the water carbon and sediment cycles are responding to changes in climate and land use allen will lead the project along with collaborators dr huilin gao associate professor of civil engineering dr daniel selva valero assistant professor of aerospace engineering and dr helen l reed regents professor of aerospace engineering the round 3 funded projects include 80 faculty members and other researchers from eight colleges the texas a&m health science center and the qatar and galveston campuses these interdisciplinary projects have the potential for significant advances in areas such as cancer and covid-19 therapies natural disaster response and mitigation novel space management mental health migration behaviors water quality and improvements to the efficiency of current technologies said vice president for research dr mark a barteau there were 142 one-page proposals submitted to the program 43 of which were chosen for preliminary proposals twenty-two were selected to submit final proposals after oral presentations and reviews by three reviewers each a panel met and chose the eight proposals for funding read more about the eight funded projects
li-wei vivian chao atmospheric sciences phd studentnancy okeudo atmospheric sciences phd student
a drought-stricken wheat field bakes in the sun july 27 2011 near hermleigh texas a severe drought had caused the majority of dry-land crops to fail in the region the past nine months had been the driest in texas at the time since record keeping began in 1895 (photo credit: scott olson/getty images)
jacob arnold 19 to receive ralph rayburn scholarship from texas sea grant this scholarship is named in honor of ralph rayburn 69 former texas sea grant associate director and extension program leader jul 2 2020jacob arnold a master of science student studying oceanography will receive the 2020 ralph rayburn 69 texas sea grant scholarship arnolds love for the ocean began at a young age and his curiosity grew over the years i became interested in studying oceanography simply because of my love of the ocean and interest in its processes he said within oceanography arnold has a variety of interests including glacial activity and the impact of glaciers on climate change his current research combines this fascination with glaciers with his curiosity for the unique characteristics of southern ocean water masses the southern ocean also known as the antarctic ocean is globally important because it is the only location in which all the world's oceans are able to mix additionally the region is home to antarctica which holds a vast amount of freshwater in ice this freshwater flows toward the edges of the continent as ice sheets and glaciers which contact the southernmost portion of the southern ocean dense deep waters are produced in these regions which then flow to the deepest parts of the world's oceans this process causes changes in water characteristics such as temperature and salinity arnold explained these changes in water characteristics can indicate large-scale climate processes such as warming trends and glacial melt which can lead to rising sea levels further studying how freshwater interacts with southern ocean water masses and how those interactions affect antarctica can help researchers such as arnold identify specific mechanisms that may be causing global temperature trends that affect glacial melt and sea level changes in other words arnolds research is important because answers to questions about climate change may be found in the depths of the ocean after arnold graduates in december 2021 he plans to immediately begin pursuing his phd in oceanography so that he can acquire a position in academia as a professor i hope to do the two things i love: teaching and researching arnold said i am incredibly grateful to have been awarded the scholarship as it will contribute significantly to my academic focus this scholarship is named in honor of ralph rayburn 69 a graduate of texas a&m university rayburn first joined texas sea grant in 1978 as a marine agent for aransas and san patricio counties after several years as executive director of the texas shrimp association and in a number of roles at texas parks and wildlife department he returned to texas sea grant in 1999 as the associate director and extension program leader through his association with these three organizations he worked tirelessly for the protection of texas' marine resources but he is also remembered for his integrity professionalism work ethic and outgoing personality by callie rainosek '17 '19
jacob arnold a master of science student studying oceanography will receive the 2020 ralph rayburn 69 texas sea grant scholarship arnolds love for the ocean began at a young age and his curiosity grew over the years i became interested in studying oceanography simply because of my love of the ocean and interest in its processes he said within oceanography arnold has a variety of interests including glacial activity and the impact of glaciers on climate change his current research combines this fascination with glaciers with his curiosity for the unique characteristics of southern ocean water masses the southern ocean also known as the antarctic ocean is globally important because it is the only location in which all the world's oceans are able to mix additionally the region is home to antarctica which holds a vast amount of freshwater in ice this freshwater flows toward the edges of the continent as ice sheets and glaciers which contact the southernmost portion of the southern ocean dense deep waters are produced in these regions which then flow to the deepest parts of the world's oceans this process causes changes in water characteristics such as temperature and salinity arnold explained these changes in water characteristics can indicate large-scale climate processes such as warming trends and glacial melt which can lead to rising sea levels further studying how freshwater interacts with southern ocean water masses and how those interactions affect antarctica can help researchers such as arnold identify specific mechanisms that may be causing global temperature trends that affect glacial melt and sea level changes in other words arnolds research is important because answers to questions about climate change may be found in the depths of the ocean after arnold graduates in december 2021 he plans to immediately begin pursuing his phd in oceanography so that he can acquire a position in academia as a professor i hope to do the two things i love: teaching and researching arnold said i am incredibly grateful to have been awarded the scholarship as it will contribute significantly to my academic focus this scholarship is named in honor of ralph rayburn 69 a graduate of texas a&m university rayburn first joined texas sea grant in 1978 as a marine agent for aransas and san patricio counties after several years as executive director of the texas shrimp association and in a number of roles at texas parks and wildlife department he returned to texas sea grant in 1999 as the associate director and extension program leader through his association with these three organizations he worked tirelessly for the protection of texas' marine resources but he is also remembered for his integrity professionalism work ethic and outgoing personality by callie rainosek '17 '19
2020-2022 grants-in-aid of graduate research awardee maureen hayden is pictured standing in shallow water at the beach
dr grossman with the mass spectrometer used for clumped isotope analyses (photo courtesy of grossman)sigf faculty staff and students in 2018 (photo courtesy of grossman)
dr ethan grossman professor and michel t halbouty chair in the texas a&m university department of geology and geophysics recently received a $340 620 earth sciences (ear) grant from the national science foundation (nsf) to study the kinetics of clumped isotope reordering in carbonate minerals carbonate clumped isotopes is the name given to the field studying the co-occurrence of heavy oxygen (18o) and heavy carbon (13c) in the same molecules grossman said geoscientists have long used the proportion of heavy-to-light oxygen (18o vs 16o) in fossils and microfossils to reconstruct temperatures of ancient oceans in fact this approach is a mainstay in studies of deep-sea cores collected by the international ocean discovery program (iodp) he explained measurements of the proportion of heavy-to-light carbon (13c vs 12c) collected at the same time as heavy oxygen data are used to explore changes in the carbon cycle especially those connected with climate change rare isotopes hold clues to ancient temperatures the clumping of heavy oxygen and heavy carbon in the same molecule is a rare happenstance occurring in only 00067% of calcium carbonate molecules the amount of clumping is dependent on temperature and serves as a thermometer for ancient oceans free of the assumptions of other methods grossman said however deep burial of sediments and subsequent heating can reequilibrate or reorder the clumped isotope signatures grossman and dr sarbajit banerjee professor and davidson chair in science in the texas a&m department of chemistry and their students will reproduce this effect by heating different carbonate minerals in the laboratory at different temperatures for different durations to determine the rate of reordering
banerjees group will apply sophisticated modeling and measurement techniques to determine how changes in crystalline structure affect atom movement and consequently reordering rate solid-state chemistry techniques banerjee uses to help develop better battery technology the refined kinetics data and model will allow more accurate reconstruction of ancient ocean temperatures grossman explained and at the same time aid in hydrocarbon exploration by permitting more accurate representations of the burial temperatures of the sediments that generate fossil fuels texas a&m facilities provide cutting-edge capabilities the clumped isotope analyses are performed in the stable isotope geosciences facility (sigf) in the college of geosciences to make the measurement powdered carbonate is placed in a series of vials and an automated system adds drops of acid to the sample producing carbon dioxide grossman said the carbon dioxide is transferred through a vacuum line using liquid nitrogen into a mass spectrometer the clumped isotope instrument was purchased in 2017 as part of a $1 million award from the chancellors office to support mass spectrometry at texas a&m located in the eller oceanography and meteorology building sigf was established in 2009 to provide students faculty and staff with high-quality stable isotope measurements grossman is co-director of sigf along with dr brendan roark department of geography and together they operate the facility with drs niall slowey and yige zhang department of oceanography and facility manager dr christopher maupin with the wealth of data collected in this research additional applications in future projects are also possible grossman said including refining the temperature history of hydrocarbon-generating basins such as texas permian basin and determining ocean temperatures during the evolution of early animals grossman and banerjees grant will support two graduate students and one undergraduate student for the duration of the two-year project grossman believes that these research opportunities are invaluable to students because no matter what the job former students need problem-solving skills and research experience is all about solving problems learning technique is important but solving problems is critical by amanda hoth 21
aquaculture specialist joins texas sea grant texas sea grant has hired mario marquez as the programs new aquaculture specialist to meet the needs of the recent legalization of the oyster aquaculture industry in texasjun 24 2020 the recent legalization of oyster aquaculture in texas brings opportunities to support of this emerging industry to meet these new needs texas sea grant has hired mario marquez as the programs new aquaculture specialist he joins the extensive texas sea grant extension team which provides practical and science-based support to the texas coast marquez will be based in palacios tx and he will aid the expansion and development of the oyster aquaculture industry in partnership with the harte research institute at texas a&m – corpus christi he will coordinate with public and private stakeholders to facilitate economical and sustainable oyster aquaculture this assistance to the oyster aquaculture industry will include planning and program evaluation; assisting the integration of oyster hatcheries seed production and oyster farm operations; and educating and guiding stakeholders one of marquezs first major projects will be aiding the creation of a website to inform aspiring oyster farmers on how to navigate the permitting process and successfully start their new business im so excited to help in developing this new oyster aquaculture industry along the texas coast and growing some of the best oysters any texan would be proud of marquez said marquez comes to texas sea grant with extensive experience in aquaculture and oyster fisheries he is currently obtaining his phd in environmental sciences focusing on the ecosystem benefits of oyster aquaculture in oyster bay fl he was also a founder and ceo of the oyster company llc an oyster farm in northern florida marquez is a fellow with the national oceanic and atmospheric administration (noaa) environmental cooperative science center he also serves as an advisory board member for sea turtle inc and fishings future prior to working on his phd marquez received a masters of science and a bachelors of science in biology both from the university of texas at brownsville we are thrilled to have mario joining texas sea grant said cindy lyle senior associate director and extension program leader at texas sea grant oyster farmers will need assistance navigating the permitting process as well as launching and growing their businesses and marios expertise will be immensely helpful in this process and beyond