houck2040/artisci huggingface dataset:
congratulations to all the undergraduate and graduate students who graduated december 14 2018 at 2pm from the department of geology and geophysics! special congratulations to the following students who received these awards:geology and geophysics outstanding senior awardscatherine elizabeth hobartivanakbar purwamaskacollege of geosciences medallion milestone scholars program goldjulio garciakyle groverjaime laws silvernatali arzolaalexander ferrellgayle guthriemaria hruskajessica jowettadrian rangel bronzecatherine elizabeth hobartjacob tallown undergraduate students graduate studentsview photos from the graduation brunch and graduation here: txag/ca9abre
meet luz romeroluz romero serves as the technical laboratory coordinator for the radiogenic isotope geosciences facility in the department of geology & geophysicsdec 13 2018 luz romero was born and raised in columbia she came to the united states to attend florida international university in miami where she received her bachelors and masters degrees in biology the focus of her degree was in the area of ecology with a masters research project in nutrient cycle in decaying mangrove wood after wide areas of mangrove ecosystems were devastated by hurricane andrew romero worked for about six years in the everglades national park as a field scientist doing work in the mangrove systems (she fed enough mosquitos during the summer time to keep a healthy community of mosquitoes alive) she also worked as a consultant in the florida keys assessing the impact of power boats on seagrass blades since moving to college station she has worked in the wildlife and fisheries department in the geography and oceanography departments and for the flower gardens marine sanctuary she has been working in the geology department for the last 10 years as a lab coordinator in the radiogenic isotope laboratory luz romeros main hobby while living in the keys was snorkeling and kayaking but this changed to running when she moved to college station now that running has caused some damage to her knee she prefers to walk/run swim lift weights and likes to make soaps and lotions
luz romero was born and raised in columbia she came to the united states to attend florida international university in miami where she received her bachelors and masters degrees in biology the focus of her degree was in the area of ecology with a masters research project in nutrient cycle in decaying mangrove wood after wide areas of mangrove ecosystems were devastated by hurricane andrew romero worked for about six years in the everglades national park as a field scientist doing work in the mangrove systems (she fed enough mosquitos during the summer time to keep a healthy community of mosquitoes alive) she also worked as a consultant in the florida keys assessing the impact of power boats on seagrass blades since moving to college station she has worked in the wildlife and fisheries department in the geography and oceanography departments and for the flower gardens marine sanctuary she has been working in the geology department for the last 10 years as a lab coordinator in the radiogenic isotope laboratory luz romeros main hobby while living in the keys was snorkeling and kayaking but this changed to running when she moved to college station now that running has caused some damage to her knee she prefers to walk/run swim lift weights and likes to make soaps and lotions
quinton lawton on a barbados beach taking measurements this took place on a sea-breeze study tamu students conducted as part of a meteorology study abroad on the island in the summer of 2016(photo courtesy of quinton lawton)lawton and fellow texas a&m meteorology students ethan williams (left) and sarah randall (right) operating the dow-8 dow stands for doppler on wheels a mobile radar truck the department of meteorology used to conduct a field experiment on sea-breeze convection for a few weeks in the summer of 2017 (photo courtesy of quinton lawton)
while he always found the sky fascinating it was not until quinton lawton witnessed the impact that hurricane ike left on his hometown of cypress texas that he immediately became interested in weather he clearly remembers the storm and how it affected his neighborhood i stayed up all night because it [hurricane ike] was exciting and scary lawton said the next morning i just remember going outside and seeing the trees down and seeing the impact on homes we were out of electricity for two weeks and i really saw how weather impacted people people spend their lives studying and predicting this hurricane ike was a trigger in my mind and the push i needed to realize that this was something i wanted to do from that point on lawton dedicated his life to becoming a meteorologist in hopes of better-predicting storms to help communities better prepare now well on his way to making those dreams happen lawton is a senior meteorology major in the department of atmospheric sciences in texas a&m universitys college of geosciences the journey to aggieland having been intrigued by meteorology for most of his life it was only natural that lawton was drawn to a school with an extraordinary meteorology program after attending the geox program an immersive opportunity for high school students lawton knew texas a&m was where he wanted to be my junior year of high school i applied to one of the programs put on by the college of geosciences the geox summer program where prospective students are given a chance to learn about the geosciences he said you are here for a week and you get to live on campus and go to lectures and do all of these fun activities when lawton arrived at geox he was set on studying meteorology but undecided about which university to attend hands-on experiences during geox showed him the opportunities available in texas a&m geosciences we launched weather balloons and we were taking observations he said that really started to sell me on texas a&m other universities did not show me that when i went on tours they had all of this cool stuff but they never told me that undergraduates were allowed to use it when he returned for his senior visit he was impressed by the research experiences that undergraduates in meteorology got to have they were very involved in research and very involved in hands on activities like launching balloons running the radar and a lot of other stuff
lawton with dr bin liu and dr sergio garcia after giving a presentation on the hwrf hurricane model (photo courtesy of quinton lawton)the dow-8 truck in use (photo courtesy of quinton lawton)
dr lisa campbell and dr antonietta quigg named regents professorsthe texas a&m university system has named oceanography faculty members dr lisa campbell and dr antonietta quigg as regents professorsnov 28 2018dr lisa campbell (left) and dr antonietta quigg (right)the texas a&m university system board of regents has designated 15 faculty members as regents professors and the new awardees include dr lisa campbell and dr antonietta quigg faculty members in the texas a&m department of oceanography these outstanding individuals are doing incredible work on behalf of the a&m system and the entire state of texas said a&m system chancellor john sharp they exemplify the values and commitment to excellence that defines the a&m system and i am grateful for their dedication the texas a&m regents professor award recognizes outstanding faculty members who provide exemplary service on behalf of the texas a&m system and the entire state of texas i thank the regents for this award; it is a great honor said dr lisa campbell texas a&m oceanography professor and the william r bryant chair in oceanography i would also like to acknowledge all my students and colleagues who have contributed to the success of my research program dr antonietta quigg serves in a joint appointment as a professor in texas a&m oceanography and as texas a&m-galvestons senior associate vice president for research and graduate studies i am very pleased to be selected as a regents professor at texas a&m quigg said it is a great honor to be recognized for this prestigious award i look forward to continuing to serve this wonderful institution and work alongside its faculty staff and students texas a&m oceanography former student dr thomas mcdonald professor at the texas a&m school of public health was also named a regents professor for more information read the article on texas a&m today by bumsoo kim
the texas a&m university system board of regents has designated 15 faculty members as regents professors and the new awardees include dr lisa campbell and dr antonietta quigg faculty members in the texas a&m department of oceanography these outstanding individuals are doing incredible work on behalf of the a&m system and the entire state of texas said a&m system chancellor john sharp they exemplify the values and commitment to excellence that defines the a&m system and i am grateful for their dedication the texas a&m regents professor award recognizes outstanding faculty members who provide exemplary service on behalf of the texas a&m system and the entire state of texas i thank the regents for this award; it is a great honor said dr lisa campbell texas a&m oceanography professor and the william r bryant chair in oceanography i would also like to acknowledge all my students and colleagues who have contributed to the success of my research program dr antonietta quigg serves in a joint appointment as a professor in texas a&m oceanography and as texas a&m-galvestons senior associate vice president for research and graduate studies i am very pleased to be selected as a regents professor at texas a&m quigg said it is a great honor to be recognized for this prestigious award i look forward to continuing to serve this wonderful institution and work alongside its faculty staff and students texas a&m oceanography former student dr thomas mcdonald professor at the texas a&m school of public health was also named a regents professor for more information read the article on texas a&m today by bumsoo kim
shu ying wee a graduate student working with dr jason sylvan assistant professor in the department of oceanography at texas a&m university participated in a month-long research cruise aboard the r/v atlantis to sample the lost city hydrothermal field (lchf) with rov (remote operated vehicle) jason from woods hole oceanography institute (whoi) from september 08 – october 01 2018 this research project was a large interdisciplinary effort and the first time the site had been sampled by a us-led team in over a decade the chief scientist of the cruise was dr susan lang a geochemist from the university of south carolina and the co-chief scientist was dr william brazelton a microbiologist from the university of utah
the scientific crew onboard r/v atlantis (wee pictured second from the left) for the research cruise to the lchf at42-01 the rov (remotely operated vehicle) jason primarily used for retrieving fluid and chimney samples is pictured in the background (image credit: scientific party of at42-01 cruise onboard the r/v atlantis chief scientist: susan lang copyright woods hole oceanographic institute photographed by ronnie whims and mitch elend)
the lchf is a field of hydrothermal vents located off-axis from the mid-atlantic ridge that was first discovered in 2000 hydrothermal vents are similar in structure to a chimney and are commonly found near tectonically active environments such as mid-ocean ridges and submarine volcanoes where ambient fluid or seawater becomes geothermally heated in the subseafloor and then rises back up through cracks in the seafloor as acidic (ph <7) hydrothermal fluid that ranges in temperature from 60 °c (140˚f) up to high as >450 °c (>840˚f)
screen capture of a video log recorded with rov jason onboard the r/v atlantis of the tall chimney named nature tower from marker h at lchf (image credit: scientific party of at42-01 cruise onboard the r/v atlantis chief scientist: susan lang copyright woods hole oceanographic institute)
compared to other hydrothermal vent systems however the lchf is relatively low-temperature (up to 90 °c) and highly alkaline (ph of 9 to 11) this unusual composition is because lost city results from the geochemical reaction process called ‘serpentinization as opposed to the typical subseafloor heating of hydrothermal fluids that generates black smokers also unique to lost city the chimneys there are composed of the white rock carbonate as opposed to sulfides produced at other vent fields serpentinization occurs when mantle rocks come up to the surface seafloor and react with seawater which produces methane and hydrogen that can fuel microbial life this is what makes lost city so unique said wee with the rov jason from whoi the primary goal of the cruise was to collect fluids from diffuse vents using the hydrothermal organic geochemistry (hog) sampler in addition to collecting chimney samples
screen capture of a video log recorded with rov jason onboard the r/v atlantis from a marker at lchf called beehive the actively diffusing portion of the chimney emits warmer fluid (~80-90°c) and is visible by when it comes into contact with the colder ambient fluid (image credit: scientific party of at42-01 cruise onboard the r/v atlantis chief scientist: susan lang copyright woods hole oceanographic institute)
during the cruise ying also collected chimney samples from actively diffusing sites that were sampled by rov jason placed in an incubator and then placed back on the seafloor at a non-diffuse site where the conditions are not affected by actively venting hydrothermal fluid the goal of the incubation experiment was to study how microbes react during the transition from active venting to inactive wee said you can think of it as a forest fire before the fire there are certain microbes that are living in the forest when the forest burns down these microbes cannot survive; however there are other microbes will take over and survive after the fire
screen capture of a video log recorded with rov jason onboard the r/v atlantis depicting (left) the active chimney samples obtained with rov jason being placed into the incubation crate and (right) the non-diffuse site at which the incubation was placed (image credit: scientific party of at42-01 cruise onboard the r/v atlantis chief scientist: susan lang copyright woods hole oceanographic institute)
the goal was to incubate the environmental samples for at least 4 to 7 days and analyze the samples using metagenomics cell abundance quantification and transcriptomics to learn which microbes are present and what microbiological processes are occurring after the transition a control sample of the active chimney was used for comparison studies with the incubation experiment samples at the beginning i was worried if could stay on a month-long cruise and wondering if i will get sea sick however in addition to having the privilege to view the beauty of lost city firsthand it was a great opportunity for me to meet other researchers in similar fields and also make lasting friendships wee said in march 2019 sylvan will be the chief scientist leading another hydrothermal vent study at the east pacific rise to conduct larger scale incubation experiments studying deep-sea microbiology on transitioning vent sulfides this expedition is planning to conduct not only a one-week long incubation but also a one-year incubation experiment to see the microbial community transition in a longer timescale during the cruise hov (human occupied vehicle) alvin from whoi will be used to collect hydrothermal vent samples postdoctoral research associate amanda achberger and graduate student charles homes ii both from dr sylvans lab are expected to participate on the 2019 cruise to find out more information about the lost city hydrothermal field visit the lost city expedition blog by bumsoo kim
the rapid expansion of cities has accelerated in recent decades so much so that a city the size of london could be created every seven weeks by 2050 if current trends continue according to a study co-led by a texas a&m university professor burak güneralp assistant professor of geography and colleagues have had their work published as a report by the nature conservancy the report will be presented to the national delegates at the 14th conference of the parties to the united nations convention on biological diversity in egypt later this month the findings in the report largely rely on the urban expansion forecasts güneralp developed earlier (studies in erl pnas) the study shows that urban growth presents extreme challenges to biodiversity and ecosystem services due to the ongoing loss and fragmentation of habitats from the expansion of cities the message is clear: we have to take action and we must do it quickly güneralp says of the teams findings the challenges presented by urban expansion for conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services we all depend on are only going to get more intense as the world continues to urbanize the reports findings show that by 2050 there will be 24 billion more people in cities it means: humanity will urbanize an area of over 460 000 additional square miles larger than the entire country of colombia; over 70 000 square miles of natural habitat could be destroyed by 2030 natural habitats likely to be lost to urban growth store an estimated 43 billion tons of carbon dioxide this would be the equivalent of the annual carbon dioxide emissions from 931 million cars on the road coastal areas could be especially affected by urban expansion and by 2030 urban areas are projected to more than double increasing the number of those urban dwellers who depend on protection from natural ecosystems to more than 330 million people countries expected to lose the most natural habitat due to urban growth include the united states brazil nigeria and china the study finds solutions to the problems could include more effective integration of local governments in national planning efforts; encouraging and empowering cities to incorporate protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services in their planning efforts; leveraging the work of international institutions such as the green climate fund and the global environmental facility; and coordinating the work of the united nations convention of biological diversity to find ways to combat these future problems cities have been called one of mankinds greatest inventions güneralp said but we should not be blindsided by the potentially detrimental impacts of the ongoing rapid urban expansion not even in the us or in texas in fact this unprecedented urban growth presents us with a fleeting opportunity to act so that it takes place in a way that safeguards biodiversity and ecosystem services that are so critical for human wellbeing by keith randall texas a&m university division of marketing & communications
texas sea grant co-sponsored the first texas plastic pollution symposiumnov 5 2018texas sea grant was honored to attend and co-sponsor the first ever texas plastic pollution symposium on october 30th session topics included: impacts to fish and wildlife chemistry policy & urban communities monitoring plastic pollution and solutions one disturbing theme that was evident across all sessions is that microplastics are a huge environmental and biological problem animals mistake plastic for food and ingest it inhibiting their ability to efficiently gain nutrients moreover the plastic and its chemistry is toxic which harms animals health often leading to mortality furthermore the most prevalent type of microplastic appears to be plastic fibers these fibers are ubiquitous and end up in the drainage systems and waterways from washing polyester clothing for example this is important to consider when it comes to human health how much plastic are humans eating and drinking just through their diet what does this mean for human health one overall consensus of this symposium was these questions need to be researched further two of texas sea grants funded graduate students lee pinnell and polly hajovsky both from texas a&m corpus christi presented their research pinnell discussed the life of a nurdle how traditional petroleum-based plastic is not easily broken down by bacteria compared to bio-plastic hajovsky presented occurrence of microplastic in the diet of juvenile fish and discovered that 84% of juvenile fish had eaten suspected-microplastics in corpus christi bay and the upper laguna madre additionally texas sea grants graduate assistant researcher christine figgener introduced the documentary straws where she comments on her sea turtle research in costa rice in the film figgener witnessed first-hand how plastic impacts sea turtles the footage shows the now infamous clip of a straw that was lodged within a sea turtles nasal cavity being pulled out at the symposium texas sea grant director dr pamela plotkin served as the "monitoring plastic pollution" session chair moderator other texas sea grant staff in attendance included kimber de salvo chris hale morgen ayers laura picariello and ashley bennis texas sea grants extends a special thank you to university of texas marine science institute mission-aransas reserve texas parks and wildlife and coastal bend chapter – surfrider foundation for co-hosting this symposium thank you to all of the speakers and presenters (including: researchers scientists policy makers lawyers industry and advocates) who brought so much depth and variety to the symposium by kimber desalvo
texas sea grant was honored to attend and co-sponsor the first ever texas plastic pollution symposium on october 30th session topics included: impacts to fish and wildlife chemistry policy & urban communities monitoring plastic pollution and solutions one disturbing theme that was evident across all sessions is that microplastics are a huge environmental and biological problem animals mistake plastic for food and ingest it inhibiting their ability to efficiently gain nutrients moreover the plastic and its chemistry is toxic which harms animals health often leading to mortality furthermore the most prevalent type of microplastic appears to be plastic fibers these fibers are ubiquitous and end up in the drainage systems and waterways from washing polyester clothing for example this is important to consider when it comes to human health how much plastic are humans eating and drinking just through their diet what does this mean for human health one overall consensus of this symposium was these questions need to be researched further two of texas sea grants funded graduate students lee pinnell and polly hajovsky both from texas a&m corpus christi presented their research pinnell discussed the life of a nurdle how traditional petroleum-based plastic is not easily broken down by bacteria compared to bio-plastic hajovsky presented occurrence of microplastic in the diet of juvenile fish and discovered that 84% of juvenile fish had eaten suspected-microplastics in corpus christi bay and the upper laguna madre additionally texas sea grants graduate assistant researcher christine figgener introduced the documentary straws where she comments on her sea turtle research in costa rice in the film figgener witnessed first-hand how plastic impacts sea turtles the footage shows the now infamous clip of a straw that was lodged within a sea turtles nasal cavity being pulled out at the symposium texas sea grant director dr pamela plotkin served as the "monitoring plastic pollution" session chair moderator other texas sea grant staff in attendance included kimber de salvo chris hale morgen ayers laura picariello and ashley bennis texas sea grants extends a special thank you to university of texas marine science institute mission-aransas reserve texas parks and wildlife and coastal bend chapter – surfrider foundation for co-hosting this symposium thank you to all of the speakers and presenters (including: researchers scientists policy makers lawyers industry and advocates) who brought so much depth and variety to the symposium by kimber desalvo