houck2040/artisci huggingface dataset:
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
a woman and children carrying water on their heads in traditional pots in rural india (photo credit: istock)
passengers wearing face masks ride the subway on april 28 2020 in new york city researchers esetimate that more than 66 000 infections were prevented by using a face mask in little over a month in new york city (photo: getty images)
at the peak of quarantine during the covid-19 pandemic an image went viral on social media of the canals in venice as people stayed home without the usual bustling human traffic of tourists the citys waters were left clear and shimmering the bottom clearly visible – a picture that left many people around the world wondering if nature was doing better without us dr michael wetz chair for coastal ecosystem processes at the harte research institute for gulf of mexico studies at texas a&m university-corpus christi and dr jeff turner texas a&m-corpus christi associate professor of marine biology want to find out what happened to texass coastal waters while we were inside the duo recently received a rapid response grant from texas sea grant that will allow them to examine water quality data collected during the quarantine to try to determine whether our waters changed or even improved while most people stayed home from the beach to wait out the pandemic the researchers will take water quality data collected on the texas coast during the period of texas gov greg abbotts emergency stay-at-home order which was issued march 31 and lasted through the month of april they plan to compare data from that period to the same time in years past to determine how a lack of human activity might have impacted water quality the quarantine period and a reduction in things like beachgoers during spring break gives us a rare opportunity to directly examine how humans affect coastal water quality wetz said beyond just the gee-whiz factor (like seeing clear canals in venice) it can help us to identify areas on the coast where the human impact is most pronounced the project begins immediately and will last through january 2021 they hope to have some findings available as early as this summer that can help scientists to prioritize projects like living shorelines oyster reef restoration and infrastructure improvements that could improve water quality for the benefit of our coastal habitats and our human economies which in the beachfront communities that dot the gulf of mexico often depend on the health of the coast wetz said the project was inspired by the images of venice but theres already anecdotal evidence of some local water quality improvement while everyone focused on the amazing water clarity in those photos a sharp reduction in tourists to coastal communities would have led to reduced bacteria coming from wastewater facilities and home septic tanks turner and his doctoral student nicole powers have already noticed a sharp drop in bacteria in their samples taken here in texas which they believe may be due to decreased human activity on the coast the group plans to examine coastal water quality data from the national estuarine research reserve system the general land offices texas beachwatch bacterial sampling program and other ongoing water quality monitoring programs to help determine how coastal areas were impacted by nikki buskey communications manager harte research institute texas a&m-corpus christi republished with permission from the harte research institute view the original article
dr peter knappett conducting water well surveys in bangladesh (photo courtesy of knappett)villagers at a community well in bangladesh (photo courtesy of knappett)
groundwater is a precious resource worldwide especially in communities where surface water is scarce or contaminated clay layers are widely thought to protect these valuable groundwater aquifers from above-ground pollutants and contaminants but new research recently published in nature communications has shown that in bangladesh clay layers that were thought to protect underlying aquifers from downward migration of naturally-occurring high-arsenic water from shallow aquifers are actually making arsenic groundwater contamination worse this study documents the long-term rise in arsenic concentrations in an aquifer lying below a clay layer said study co-author dr peter knappett associate professor in the department of geology and geophysics at texas a&m university above that clay layer is a shallow aquifer with high arsenic concentrations this deeper of the two aquifers is a crucial source of safe drinking water for much of the rural population of bangladesh in explaining the rising arsenic concentrations this research provides the most conclusive evidence to date that organic carbon from clay layers drives the release of arsenic from sediments in low-arsenic oxidized aquifers knappett said the study narrows down the process that is driving the migration of dissolve organic carbon into the low-arsenic aquifer to two options he said: 1) molecular diffusion; and 2) advection of clay pore-waters under the influence of hydraulic gradients created by dhaka pumping 20 kilometers to the west this study adds to growing evidence that how much and where humans pump aquifers can influence the quality of the water that remains dangerous wells well water contaminated by arsenic in bangladesh is a widespread public health crisis there an estimated 39 million people drink water naturally contaminated by this deadly element which can silently attack a persons organs over years or decades leading to cancers cardiovascular disease diabetes developmental and cognitive problems in children and death every year an estimated 43 000 people die from arsenic-related illness in bangladesh to alleviate this problem many communities in bangladesh no longer rely on shallow wells and instead drill deeper more expensive private or community wells which are thought to produce safer water and typically confining clay layers protect groundwater aquifers against downward intrusion of such contaminants lowering the risk of dangerous exposure levels
five of the studys authors including texas a&ms dr peter knappett (third from left) near the village of baylakandi bangladesh in 2013 the sign on the left helped inform people about where safe wells were located (photo courtesy of knappett)dr ivan mihajlov and imtiaz choudhury conducting field work in bangladesh (photo courtesy of mihajlov)
but at their research site near the village of baylakandi east of bangladesh's capital dhaka knappett and this research team found concerning results their analysis showed that an aquifers proximity to a confining clay layer that expels organic carbon as an indirect response to groundwater pumping drove the rising arsenic concentrations in the previously safe aquifer the team used a number of methods to determine the processes driving the observed increasing arsenic concentrations over time dozens of monitoring wells were installed and equipped with pressure transducers to monitor hydraulic heads over several years knappett said and sediments and pore-waters recovered from the drilling of these wells underwent extensive chemical measurements to determine the source of the organic carbon driving the release of arsenic underlying the clay layer the team members have worked in the area studying processes driving arsenic release for almost two decades households depending on depressurized contaminated aquifers for local households on the outskirts of dhaka that have been privately re-installing wells to access relatively shallow aquifers beneath the impermeable clay layer the teams findings were especially worrisome knappett said over-pumping to meet dhakas municipal water needs has resulted in water levels under dhaka itself being almost one hundred meters below what they would naturally be resulting in a cone of depression in the aquifer below the city and exacerbating communities water insecurity with groundwater pumping from sedimentary aquifers expected to continue throughout the world he said more attention should be paid to potential contamination of groundwater with arsenic by compacting clay layers the lead author of the research was dr ivan mihajlov department of earth and environmental sciences at columbia university co-authors were dr m rajib h mozumder dr benjamin bostick dr martin stute dr brian mailloux dr peter schlosser and dr alexander van geen of the lamont-doherty earth observatory at columbia university; dr knappett of the department of geology and geophysics at texas a&m university; and imtiaz choudhury and dr kazi matin ahmed of the department of geology at dhaka university this research was funded by in-part by the national institute of environmental health sciences and the national science foundation by leslie lee 09
geography student and mascot corporal joins reveille ix on disney+ showtexas a&m mascot reveille accompanied by colton ray 22 will be featured in the third episode of the show 'it's a dog's life' on disney's streaming channelmay 28 2020its a dogs life host bill farmer learns how to saw ‘em off at the texas a&m-auburn game at kyle field on sept 21 2019 (photo courtesy of texas a&m division of marketing & communications)texas a&m universitys mascot reveille ix will be the subject of an upcoming episode of the new disney+ show its a dogs life the episode featuring the universitys long-haired collie mascot will be available on the streaming channel beginning friday may 29corps of cadets mascot corporal colton ray 22 has served as reveilles handler for the 2019-2020 school year and is a geographic information science and technology major in the department of geography originally from greenbrier ark ray spent several days escorting its a dogs life host bill farmer around campus with reveille as she met excited fans everywhere she wentthe shows host and film crew spent time on campus last fall working closely with university staff and students filming reveille as she conducted many of her mascot duties including corps march-in and her appearance at the home football game against auburn on sept 21in its a dogs life farmer travels around the country meeting dogs with jobs including search and rescue guide dogs and sheep dogs reveille is the only university mascot to be featured in the shows inaugural seasonall of the students were so kind and generous everyone was kind – just the best – it was a totally exciting adventure farmer saidduring his stay farmer attended a military science class with reveille visited rays dorm and met aggies and campus visitors in the memorial student center he even attended the mascots six-hour long appointment with a groomer in bryan the universitys neighboring townrays job as reveilles handler will conclude at the end of the summer and a new mascot corporal will be chosen he said whoever gets the job and the rest of company e-2 the corp of cadets mascot company should be prepared for and enjoy opportunities like the disney show when they come alonggetting to represent the university with miss rev is a huge honor and responsibility and you never know what cards are going to be dealt to you he said when you get opportunities to be a part of a production like this just enjoy it and have fun with itcontinue reading on texas a&m todayby lesley henton texas a&m university division of marketing & communications
its a dogs life host bill farmer learns how to saw ‘em off at the texas a&m-auburn game at kyle field on sept 21 2019 (photo courtesy of texas a&m division of marketing & communications)
texas a&m universitys mascot reveille ix will be the subject of an upcoming episode of the new disney+ show its a dogs life the episode featuring the universitys long-haired collie mascot will be available on the streaming channel beginning friday may 29corps of cadets mascot corporal colton ray 22 has served as reveilles handler for the 2019-2020 school year and is a geographic information science and technology major in the department of geography originally from greenbrier ark ray spent several days escorting its a dogs life host bill farmer around campus with reveille as she met excited fans everywhere she wentthe shows host and film crew spent time on campus last fall working closely with university staff and students filming reveille as she conducted many of her mascot duties including corps march-in and her appearance at the home football game against auburn on sept 21in its a dogs life farmer travels around the country meeting dogs with jobs including search and rescue guide dogs and sheep dogs reveille is the only university mascot to be featured in the shows inaugural seasonall of the students were so kind and generous everyone was kind – just the best – it was a totally exciting adventure farmer saidduring his stay farmer attended a military science class with reveille visited rays dorm and met aggies and campus visitors in the memorial student center he even attended the mascots six-hour long appointment with a groomer in bryan the universitys neighboring townrays job as reveilles handler will conclude at the end of the summer and a new mascot corporal will be chosen he said whoever gets the job and the rest of company e-2 the corp of cadets mascot company should be prepared for and enjoy opportunities like the disney show when they come alonggetting to represent the university with miss rev is a huge honor and responsibility and you never know what cards are going to be dealt to you he said when you get opportunities to be a part of a production like this just enjoy it and have fun with itcontinue reading on texas a&m todayby lesley henton texas a&m university division of marketing & communications
two texas sea grant-nominated fellows selected for noaa coastal management fellowshipsfellows selected for this competitive program work with noaa partner organizations on coastal resource management and policy may 27 2020meghan martinez (photo credit: meghan martinez)brian desanti (photo credit: brian desanti)meghan martinez and brian desanti from texas were selected for the noaa office of coastal managements coastal management and digital coast fellowship program following nomination by texas sea grant this two-year postgraduate program provides on-the-job education and training opportunities in coastal resource management policy and coastal issues texas sea grant recruits and nominates students from various universities across the state of texas our nominees from texas join a highly competitive pool of prospective fellows drawn from the best and the brightest students from across the us said dr pamela t plotkin director of texas sea grant we are honored when just one of our nominees is selected to the final round of the competition there are few words to describe what it feels like to have two nominees make it to the final round this year and then to be selected to receive this prestigious fellowship fellows are matched with noaa partner organizations around the country to work on projects relevant to coastal resource management and policy martinez who recently graduated with a masters in marine biology from texas a&m university – corpus christi has been paired with the california state coastal conservancy through her work she will be supporting a community-based wetland restoration program with the goal of increasing coastal wetland resilience she will help implement track and evaluate a visionary regional plan im really honored to be chosen for this particular fellowship and this project i think its going to be a great opportunity to work with people who are really passionate and ready to make a difference in their own communities martinez said im just really thrilled and grateful to be part of this experience and to have the support throughout my career to help me get to this point desanti a recent graduate from texas tech university with a phd in mass communications will be working with the texas coastal management program through stakeholder engagement data analysis communication and strategic program review he will focus on implementing water quality management measures throughout the texas coast i was very surprised when i was selected after the shock wore off i was excited for this opportunity desanti said what im hoping to get out of this experience is using what ive learned and making a difference in the communities i will be working in both martinez and desanti will begin their fellowships in august 2020 i am very excited for meghan and brian and look forward to following them as they contribute to managing our coastal resources plotkin said by sara carney '13 texas sea grant communications manager
meghan martinez (photo credit: meghan martinez)brian desanti (photo credit: brian desanti)
meghan martinez and brian desanti from texas were selected for the noaa office of coastal managements coastal management and digital coast fellowship program following nomination by texas sea grant this two-year postgraduate program provides on-the-job education and training opportunities in coastal resource management policy and coastal issues texas sea grant recruits and nominates students from various universities across the state of texas our nominees from texas join a highly competitive pool of prospective fellows drawn from the best and the brightest students from across the us said dr pamela t plotkin director of texas sea grant we are honored when just one of our nominees is selected to the final round of the competition there are few words to describe what it feels like to have two nominees make it to the final round this year and then to be selected to receive this prestigious fellowship fellows are matched with noaa partner organizations around the country to work on projects relevant to coastal resource management and policy martinez who recently graduated with a masters in marine biology from texas a&m university – corpus christi has been paired with the california state coastal conservancy through her work she will be supporting a community-based wetland restoration program with the goal of increasing coastal wetland resilience she will help implement track and evaluate a visionary regional plan im really honored to be chosen for this particular fellowship and this project i think its going to be a great opportunity to work with people who are really passionate and ready to make a difference in their own communities martinez said im just really thrilled and grateful to be part of this experience and to have the support throughout my career to help me get to this point desanti a recent graduate from texas tech university with a phd in mass communications will be working with the texas coastal management program through stakeholder engagement data analysis communication and strategic program review he will focus on implementing water quality management measures throughout the texas coast i was very surprised when i was selected after the shock wore off i was excited for this opportunity desanti said what im hoping to get out of this experience is using what ive learned and making a difference in the communities i will be working in both martinez and desanti will begin their fellowships in august 2020 i am very excited for meghan and brian and look forward to following them as they contribute to managing our coastal resources plotkin said by sara carney '13 texas sea grant communications manager
etten-bohm and nowotarski prepare to the releasing the sounding balloon that morning photo courtesy montana etten-bohm
on april 22 the first day of a multi-day severe weather outbreak in the southern united states the department of atmospheric sciences at texas a&m acted quickly to provide regional timely field data to official forecasters we were the national weather services eyes for a tornadic supercell thunderstorm said dr don conlee instructional professor of atmospheric sciences conlee graduate student montana etten-bohm and dr christopher nowotarski assistant professor coordinated with the national weather service (nws) houston-galveston and fort worth offices to provide upper-air and radar observations to help enhance nws forecasts of the event on april 22 our balloon sounding provided a substantial increase to the situational awareness and potential of the day as our soundings often do conlee said observational balloons are normally sent out every 12 hours at 7 am and 7 pm local time but texas a&m and much of central and southeast texas are caught in an observation gap that includes the austin san antonio and houston metropolitan areas etten-bohm nowotarski and conlee launched an observational sounding on campus in the late morning that day the data it retrieved suggested that supercell thunderstorms rotating thunderstorms highly coincident with severe weather and significant hail were all expected in the region
spc categorical warning levels for april 22 2020data from the morning sounding indicating that conditions were favorable for severe thunderstorm developmentradar imagery from the atmo radar at 10:24 pm that evening showing the supercell thunderstorm that produced the tornado near trinity