While most of our course offerings are remote this semester, we are offering several courses through U-Mass University Without Walls. These are asynchronous courses that are taught independently from your regular semester courseload, and can taken by anyone, whether enrolled at UMass or not. They are all listed in SPIRE.
Dr. David Boutt, along with colleagues at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, has been commissioned as part of a cooperative study to investigate how lithium extraction impacts the hydrologic environment in Latin America, especially with regards to lithium brine-fresh water aquifer systems. The goal of the study is to provide companies with better guidance on sustainable lithium extraction.
The Geosciences Department is pleased to announce the November 29, 2020 publication of The Chinese City (Routledge, 2021), by Professor Piper Gaubatz (Geography Program) and Professor Weiping Wu (Director, Columbia University Graduate Program in Urban Planning). This is a completely revised second edition of their 2012 book. The book engages with major recent changes in Chinese cities and urban life.
PhD student Shaina Sedai is lead author on a recent paper published in Science Advances discussing simulations of dramatic climate impacts from higher Antarctic melt. With her co-authors, including alum Dr. Alan Condron (WHOI), and Dr.
U-Mass Geosciences has a strong showing at the (virtual) annual Fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union this year, with 43 department members as authors on 39 talks and posters from December 7th - 16th, 2020. If you're attending #AGU2020 this year don't miss out! Here is a schedule of who is presenting and when:
Click here to browse the presentations by author.
Congratulations to students from the UMass Geography Club for winning the 2020 World Geography Bowl at the American Association of Geographers New England-St Lawrence Valley Division Meeting, November 13, 2020.
This was the fifth recent win for the UMass team, which also won with the top score in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, and placed 3rd in 2018 and 2019. Several team members will represent the New England region in the national competition in Spring 2021.
Dr's Julie Brigham-Grette and Steve Petsch published a piece in The Conversation about the warming Arctic, their paleoclimate research on past warm climates, and the implications for our future. Read more...
The International Association for Geoscience Diversity recently named Dr Michele Cooke, geosciences, as the recipient of its 2020 International Association for Geoscience Diversity Inclusive Geoscience Education and Research Award for her work as a “foundational leader in accessible and inclusive geoscience teaching in both the classroom and field for over 20 years, all while maintaining a successful research career in geomechanics and structural geology.
A little over a year ago our beloved faculty member, Dr Sheila Seaman, lost her long and valiant battle with cancer— To honor her dedication to education, research, and the betterment of students, we are launching the Sheila Seaman Student Research Fund. This endowed fund, administered by the UMass Foundation, will, in future years, provide monetary support for Geosciences student research. Although preference will go to students in the fields of mineralogy and petrology, other students will be able to benefit from
Dr Rob DeConto is part of a U-Mass team that has received grants from the NSF EELEVATE program to explore and develop pathways so that the transition to sustainable energy also promotes the socioeconomic equity of communities.
In a new paper this week in the Journal of Geography in Higher Education, geographer Dr Forrest Bowlick and colleagues at Texas A&M offer first-hand accounts of what is required for GIS instructors and IT administrators to set up virtual computing specifically for providing state-of-the-art geographic information systems (GIS) instruction. Read more
Dr Christine Hatch reflects on COVID-19, and the resulting quarantine's, effects on the natural environment for the Daily Hampshire Gazette's Earth Matters column: Read it here...
The Geological Society of America’s (GSA) Continental Scientific Drilling Division (CSD) has named Dr Julie Brigham-Grette as one of its two Distinguished Lecturers for 2020, which means she will be available to give online seminars on her Arctic drilling research to geologists anywhere in the world by request this fall and into spring 2021.
A team of climate scientists and geologists including Dr Robert DeConto recently received a five-year, $7 million grant from the National Science Foundation to drill through the Greenland Ice Sheet and into the bedrock below, where they will be able to evaluate how long it has been since the last ice sheet retreated from the continent. Read more...
USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has awarded a two-year, $300,000 grant to Dr. Brian Yellen to develop tools to estimate the mass of carbon stored in salt marshes.
Dr. Justin Richardson was recently interviewed by the Boston Globe about eating soil for a feature in their Real Estate section on soils classification. Read more...
Dr. Mike Jercinovic accepted the Microanalysis Society’s (MAS) Fellow Award at its annual meeting in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 5. The honor recognizes “eminent scientists, engineers and technologists in the field of microanalysis of materials and related phenomena who have distinguished themselves through outstanding research and service to the microanalysis community,” MAS states.
Professor Raymond Bradley has been elected an international fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. The recognition is for his research that is helping understand the nature and causes of climate change. Read more... Watch video on WWLP News
Professor Sheila Seaman passed away at home in Leverett on Saturday, July 27 after a long heroic battle with cancer. A beloved teacher and researcher in the department, she was a volcanologist who studied active and extinct volcanoes in Iceland, Maine, Arizona, New Mexico, and Canada. She was an avid runner, gardener, protector of land, plants, and animals, and a serious Bruce Springsteen fan. Read more...
We are pleased to announce the donation of the MOVE software package to the Department of Geosciences by the Scotland-based Petroleum Experts Limited. This industry-standard software package is valued at $2,542,604.95 USD and provides tools for 3D analysis and geophysical and structural modeling of deformation of the Earth's crust.
This week several faculty and students are presenting at the American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting in Washington DC. If you're there, check out these great talks by Kevin Bean, Dr. Forrest Bowlick, Xin Li, Dr. Eve Vogel, and Dr. Piper Gaubatz:
A 1:24,000-scale geologic map and database of surficial materials has been released by the USGS for Massachusetts. This has been a major effort by State Geologist Steve Mabee and the Massachusetts Geological Survey, in collaboration with the USGS, since 2002. The database and map represents the culmination of nearly 80 years of state-federal cooperation and research.
Assistant Professor Dr. Isaac Larsen has received a Fulbright Scholarship for Spring 2020! Dr.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette recently interviewed PhD student Shaina Rogstad and assistant Professor Dr. Ambarish Karmalkar on the IPCC's recent report on the impacts of global warming and how it will affect Western Massachusetts. Read more...
Department head and professor Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette was interviewed by Live Science on her role in the construction of the Yukon Geological Survey's new map of Beringia, ca. 18,000 years ago. Read more...
Department of Geosciences
627 North Pleasant Street
233 Morrill Science Center
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003-9297
Phone: (413) 545-2286
Fax: (413) 545-1200
