houck2040/artisci huggingface dataset:
forty years ago joanne and lee billingsley were young graduate students at texas a&m pushing their two children around campus in strollers while also completing difficult courses and conducting research time has flown by and they recently shared some of their inspiration for establishing the joanne '75 and lee billingsley '75 endowed scholarship in the department of geology and geophysics at texas a&m we are so deeply grateful to joanne and lee for their investment in the future of geology and geophysics! said dr debbie thomas dean of the college of geosciences at texas a&m their beautiful endowment not only provides critical support for students but also provides us with a critical resource to recruit and retain more amazing students one scholarship made all the difference growing up dr lee billingsley had never heard of texas a&m until it was time to begin applying to universities i grew up in albuquerque new mexico and as a bit of a lark i applied to texas a&m and made a visit just to see what it was like he said i was the first in my family to go to college and we were learning how it all worked on that first visit lee met dr robert berg the then head of the department of geology and geophysics and after discussing his test scores with him berg offered him a $500 scholarship that one scholarship was very valuable because it allowed me to qualify for in-state tuition; so i took the offer and majored in geology billingsley said freshman year was quite an adjustment for me i was in the corps of cadets and i didnt know anything about that either before coming to texas a&m a member of squadron 2 billingsley adjusted to the rigors of life as a cadet and made life-long friendships he went on to become a member of the prestigious ross volunteers i still have friends to this day who are from the outfit that i was in he said were still friends and we still get together once a year and when we get together its like weve never missed a beat in his geology coursework billingsley was invigorated by the practical applications of the concepts the geology professors were so practical and the work was so interesting he said i didnt know anything about the oil and gas business when i came to texas a&m but a lot of those professors had worked in the industry and they equipped us with so much practical knowledge i would ask ‘why do we need to know this and they always had a practical example building a life together then freshman year in chemistry class i met a girl we were just friends and then after some time getting to know each other we went on a date and that was joanne my wife joanne billingsley then joanne croft had come to texas a&m from san antonio and majored in education instruction and curriculum together they made hundreds of aggie memories from midnight yell and aggie football games to both graduating in 1975 during the second half of my undergraduate tenure i greatly benefited from a work-study program in the department of education joanne said i was able to interact with professors and staff to learn more about my future profession as a teacher
after graduating in 1975 the young couple moved to colorado where joanne began her teaching career and lee earned a masters in geology from colorado school of mines then in 1979 they returned to texas a&m this time with a baby in tow i was pursuing my doctorate and joanne was earning her masters degree and we had one baby when we showed up and we had another while in graduate school he said those were some of the most fun years weve ever had she had classes in the afternoon and i had classes in the morning so she would bring the babies to me in the geology department in the afternoon and we would play in the bottom floor of the building the kids rolled down ramps in rolling office chairs there and then wed go to the texas a&m farm and pretend it was our zoo and then finally eat dinner in the msc cafeteria it was such a special time and we have a lot of fun memories of those years joanne earned her masters degree in school and public health education from texas a&m in 1981 their family grew to three children and she went on to teach school for 16 additional years eventually becoming an award-winning educator in texas and a leader in training teachers lee completed his phd in geology in 1983 and then began working in the oil and gas industry in 1983 he founded an independent exploration and production company sandia oil & gas corp when it was purchased by abraxas petroleum corp in 1998 he began serving as vice president of exploration at abraxas petroleum where he supervised both conventional and unconventional prospect generation and execution he has also been very active in professional organizations and served as president of american association of petroleum geologists (aapg) from 2006 to 2007 legacy and vision in 2007 joanne was named texas regional teacher of the year and she is now a nationally acclaimed author educational consultant presenter and author; her books include aim to grow your brain and making words real i am passionate about supporting educators and sharing creative strategies for building brain-friendly language-rich interactive classrooms she said lee billingsley is now the founder and president of windridge oil & gas lp and together they have been continuous supporters of texas a&m their two sons michael billingsley 03 and matthew billingsley 05 also graduated from texas a&m their oldest child anne probably already felt she had been to a&m as a baby and toddler the billingsleys joked so she graduated from southwestern university looking back i was just a little out-of-state student when i first came to texas a&m and i desperately needed that scholarship he reflected if i hadnt had that im not sure what would have happened we wanted to pay it forward i had an opportunity because of a scholarship from other aggies before me so this gift was a chance to continue that for the next generation so that they will have opportunities as well by leslie lee 09
wendy jepson named american association of geographers fellow chancellors edges fellowjepson is an internationally recognized water security researcherjan 28 2022dr wendy jepson university professor in the department of geography at texas a&m university was recently named a fellow of the american association of geographers (aag) the aag fellows program recognizes geographers who have made significant contributions to advancing geography and jepson and eleven other honorees were recognized as the 2022 class of aag fellows jepson is an internationally recognized leader in water security issues and has conducted and presented water security research in numerous countries a fulbright scholar (brazil 2016-2017) she is a recipient of several national science foundation grants that focus on water security jepson has long been at the forefront of finding solutions to water security issues but she is also committed to addressing the pressing problems that geography faces as a discipline the aag announcement read the aag is therefore pleased to recognize dr wendy jepson as an aag fellow she was also honored as a texas a&m chancellors edges fellow earlier this academic year the chancellors enhancing development and generating excellence in scholarship (edges) fellowships honor mid-career faculty members making significant marks in their disciplines thirteen distinguished texas a&m faculty members received the honor in 2021 jepson has led several international research projects to examine water governance water security and environmental justice for the benefit of advancing community and human wellbeing her individual research focuses on latin america principally brazil and mexico with emerging research interests in africa including ethiopia and west africa as one of the founders of the household water insecurity experiences – research coordination network (hwise-rcn) jepson has helped the network develop a cross-cultural indicator for household water security the hwise indicator challenges the water industry to not only consider its infrastructure but also the experiences of the people using that infrastructure thus providing a strong incentive for change she also serves as the associate director of research (social science) at the texas water resources institute at the texas a&m agrilife center in dallas she joined the institutes leadership team in 2020 and as associate director works to develop and move forward initiatives that address pressing water security and resource issues facing texans as well as developing research to pursue those efforts jepson has served as aag national councilor been awarded the aag enhancing diversity award and has contributed to the enhancing diversity committee the committee on the status of women in geography and the aag climate action task force by leslie lee
dr wendy jepson university professor in the department of geography at texas a&m university was recently named a fellow of the american association of geographers (aag) the aag fellows program recognizes geographers who have made significant contributions to advancing geography and jepson and eleven other honorees were recognized as the 2022 class of aag fellows jepson is an internationally recognized leader in water security issues and has conducted and presented water security research in numerous countries a fulbright scholar (brazil 2016-2017) she is a recipient of several national science foundation grants that focus on water security jepson has long been at the forefront of finding solutions to water security issues but she is also committed to addressing the pressing problems that geography faces as a discipline the aag announcement read the aag is therefore pleased to recognize dr wendy jepson as an aag fellow she was also honored as a texas a&m chancellors edges fellow earlier this academic year the chancellors enhancing development and generating excellence in scholarship (edges) fellowships honor mid-career faculty members making significant marks in their disciplines thirteen distinguished texas a&m faculty members received the honor in 2021 jepson has led several international research projects to examine water governance water security and environmental justice for the benefit of advancing community and human wellbeing her individual research focuses on latin america principally brazil and mexico with emerging research interests in africa including ethiopia and west africa as one of the founders of the household water insecurity experiences – research coordination network (hwise-rcn) jepson has helped the network develop a cross-cultural indicator for household water security the hwise indicator challenges the water industry to not only consider its infrastructure but also the experiences of the people using that infrastructure thus providing a strong incentive for change she also serves as the associate director of research (social science) at the texas water resources institute at the texas a&m agrilife center in dallas she joined the institutes leadership team in 2020 and as associate director works to develop and move forward initiatives that address pressing water security and resource issues facing texans as well as developing research to pursue those efforts jepson has served as aag national councilor been awarded the aag enhancing diversity award and has contributed to the enhancing diversity committee the committee on the status of women in geography and the aag climate action task force by leslie lee
tonga eruption is one for the record booksdepartment of geology and geophysics professor dr andreas kronenberg explains why the recent tonga eruption was one of the strongest ever recordedjan 26 2022in this handout photo provided by the new zealand defense force an aerial view from a p-3k2 orion surveillance flight of homes covered in ash on jan 17 2022 nomuka tonga tonga was struck by a tsunami caused by an undersea volcano erupting in the pacific ocean on jan 15 (new zealand defense force via getty images)the recent violent volcanic eruption on the pacific island nation of tonga is believed to be one of the strongest ever recorded and future eruptions could be possible according to a texas a&m university geophysicist dr andreas kronenberg professor and holder of the michael t halbouty chair in geology at texas a&m said the eruption on tonga likely ranks among the strongest in at least 30 years the polynesian country has about 170 islands and is 500 miles east of fiji the eruption caused a huge ash cloud to form on many of the islands killed at least three people and could be heard in new zealand and seen from space in general the volcanoes around the pacific rim are much more powerful and explosive than hawaiian-type volcanoes mostly because of the volatile content and magma compositions in them kronenberg said this is why we are concerned about the volcanoes in the oregon washington and alaska regions kronenberg said however the tonga subduction zone is a large one and the entire southwest pacific has what we call ‘stratovolcanoes these are extremely powerful volcanoes and are also the kinds that include mt vesuvius that covered pompei in italy and mt st helens which exploded a few decades ago mt st helens which exploded in 1980 is considered the most powerful volcanic eruption in us history and killed 57 people the largest eruption ever is believed to be the eruption of krakatoa which exploded near indonesia in 1883 and killed more than 36 000 people some have compared the tonga eruption as similar to krakatoa and nasa has said the tonga explosion was at least 500 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on hiroshima in 1945 krakatoa was truly epic and tonga was obviously devastating kronenberg said and it appears that water entering into the volcano internally added to its explosiveness the result can be tsunamis because they can be triggered by any disturbance of the seafloor that quickly moves large volumes of seawater such as faults that suddenly change the shape of the seafloor could the tonga explosion mean future eruptions in the area are possible it is possible such an eruption could trigger nearby activity kronenberg said but it is not necessarily guaranteed this is a controversial topic when discussing earthquakes and subsequent eruptions especially in areas over 10 to 15 miles from the original eruption by keith randall texas a&m marketing and communications
in this handout photo provided by the new zealand defense force an aerial view from a p-3k2 orion surveillance flight of homes covered in ash on jan 17 2022 nomuka tonga tonga was struck by a tsunami caused by an undersea volcano erupting in the pacific ocean on jan 15 (new zealand defense force via getty images)
the recent violent volcanic eruption on the pacific island nation of tonga is believed to be one of the strongest ever recorded and future eruptions could be possible according to a texas a&m university geophysicist dr andreas kronenberg professor and holder of the michael t halbouty chair in geology at texas a&m said the eruption on tonga likely ranks among the strongest in at least 30 years the polynesian country has about 170 islands and is 500 miles east of fiji the eruption caused a huge ash cloud to form on many of the islands killed at least three people and could be heard in new zealand and seen from space in general the volcanoes around the pacific rim are much more powerful and explosive than hawaiian-type volcanoes mostly because of the volatile content and magma compositions in them kronenberg said this is why we are concerned about the volcanoes in the oregon washington and alaska regions kronenberg said however the tonga subduction zone is a large one and the entire southwest pacific has what we call ‘stratovolcanoes these are extremely powerful volcanoes and are also the kinds that include mt vesuvius that covered pompei in italy and mt st helens which exploded a few decades ago mt st helens which exploded in 1980 is considered the most powerful volcanic eruption in us history and killed 57 people the largest eruption ever is believed to be the eruption of krakatoa which exploded near indonesia in 1883 and killed more than 36 000 people some have compared the tonga eruption as similar to krakatoa and nasa has said the tonga explosion was at least 500 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on hiroshima in 1945 krakatoa was truly epic and tonga was obviously devastating kronenberg said and it appears that water entering into the volcano internally added to its explosiveness the result can be tsunamis because they can be triggered by any disturbance of the seafloor that quickly moves large volumes of seawater such as faults that suddenly change the shape of the seafloor could the tonga explosion mean future eruptions in the area are possible it is possible such an eruption could trigger nearby activity kronenberg said but it is not necessarily guaranteed this is a controversial topic when discussing earthquakes and subsequent eruptions especially in areas over 10 to 15 miles from the original eruption by keith randall texas a&m marketing and communications
frequent exposure to disasters leads to lower scores for mental healthjan 25 2022image furnished by nasapeople who experience a series of disasters are likely to suffer a significant drop in their mental-health scores a newly published study from the texas a&m university school of public health shows the more frequent the experience the lower the scores according to the study we discovered the reverse of the adage ‘what does not kill you makes you stronger said the studys lead author garett sansom research assistant professor in the department of environmental and occupational health at the school of public health sansom and a team of texas a&m researchers studied individuals from the houston area which is susceptible to hurricanes and flooding as well as industrial emergencies the results of the study were published recently in the journal natural hazards from 2000 to 2020 the state of texasone of the most prone to natural disastersexperienced 33 federal emergency management agency (fema) declared major disasters the team used a 12-item short form health survey to gather information the survey assessed cumulative impacts from exposure to evaluate changes over time producing a composite score for both mental (mcs) and physical (pcs) health the majority of the respondents reported that they experienced many hazardous events over the past five years hurricanes and flooding (9635 percent) were the events experienced the most followed by industrial fires (9608) chemical spills (8684) and tornados (7982) the team found that when individuals experienced two or more events over the past five years their mcs averages fell below the expected national levels sansoms co-authors include courtney thompson and lindsay sansom both from the department of geography; leanne fawkes graduate research assistant in environmental and occupational health; and elizabeth boerlin doctoral student in occupational safety and health more at the school of public health
people who experience a series of disasters are likely to suffer a significant drop in their mental-health scores a newly published study from the texas a&m university school of public health shows the more frequent the experience the lower the scores according to the study we discovered the reverse of the adage ‘what does not kill you makes you stronger said the studys lead author garett sansom research assistant professor in the department of environmental and occupational health at the school of public health sansom and a team of texas a&m researchers studied individuals from the houston area which is susceptible to hurricanes and flooding as well as industrial emergencies the results of the study were published recently in the journal natural hazards from 2000 to 2020 the state of texasone of the most prone to natural disastersexperienced 33 federal emergency management agency (fema) declared major disasters the team used a 12-item short form health survey to gather information the survey assessed cumulative impacts from exposure to evaluate changes over time producing a composite score for both mental (mcs) and physical (pcs) health the majority of the respondents reported that they experienced many hazardous events over the past five years hurricanes and flooding (9635 percent) were the events experienced the most followed by industrial fires (9608) chemical spills (8684) and tornados (7982) the team found that when individuals experienced two or more events over the past five years their mcs averages fell below the expected national levels sansoms co-authors include courtney thompson and lindsay sansom both from the department of geography; leanne fawkes graduate research assistant in environmental and occupational health; and elizabeth boerlin doctoral student in occupational safety and health more at the school of public health
texas a&m expert: intense texas tornadoes are rare in winterstorm specialist dr christopher nowotarski says tornadoes can occur in winter months in texas but they are rarely intense jan 19 2022photo credit: gettythe houston area recently was hit by several tornadoes and its proof that a tornado can happen year-round in texas said a texas a&m university storm expert dr christopher nowotarski associate professor of atmospheric sciences said that six tornadoes hit houston on jan 8-9 though such storms are relatively uncommon for southeast texas this time of year between 1951 and 2019 the records show that 222 tornadoes occurred in december in texas 196 occurred in january and 211 in february out of a total of 8 971 texas tornadoes in that time period he said january is the rarest month for tornadoes in texas with just 22% of all tornadoes in texas occurring in january may is the most frequent month with almost 31% of all tornadoes occurring during that month dr nowotarski added that in the houston region the tornado threat is more evenly distributed throughout the year with a greater portion of tornadoes occurring in winter compared to other parts of the state the good news about tornadoes this time of year is that they tend to be weaker than in spring months he said of the six recent houston-area tornadoes dr nowotarski said that three of them were classified as ef-1 and the other three at ef-0 meaning they had winds of no more than 110 miles per hour significant tornadoes – those of ef 2 or higher – can and do happen any time of the year in texas but violent tornadoes of ef-4 and higher though rare any time of year tend to occur less frequently during the winter months in texas he said all of the tornadoes in the houston area were relatively weak and had a short track length and this is consistent with whats typical for january tornadoes in texas by keith randall texas a&m university division of marketing & communications