Dr. Michael Rawlins, associate director of the Climate Systems Research Center, received grants from NASA and the U.S. DOE to study climate driven changes in arctic ecosystems. The grants will allow Rawlins and his team to expand on his multi-institutional effort to understand biological processes and land-ocean interactions controlling the structure and function of the Beaufort Lagoons complex in northern Alaska.
Dr. Robert DeConto has received a four-year grant from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Prediction of and Resilience Against Extreme Events (PREEVENTS) program.The goal of the grant is to better characterize the uncertainty in sea-level rise predictions and coastal flooding risk that stems from complex ice-sheet physics and interactions among the ice sheets, ocean, atmosphere and underlying solid land.
Associate Professor David Boutt received an award from the state of Massachusetts to continue monitoring isotopes in groundwater across the state. These data can be used to examine the impacts of drought vs. wet weather on groundwater.
Dr. Michele Cooke and recent graduates Alex Hatem and Kevin Toeneboehn recently published a paper in the Journal of Structural Geology on the formation and growth of strike slip faults and their relation to earthquakes. More information can be found here.
The paper can be found here.
The American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) Earth and Planetary Surface Processes Focus Group announced this week that it has chosen Isaac Larsen, assistant professor of geosciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, to receive the coveted Luna B. Leopold Young Scientist Award for 2017. It recognizes a young scientist “for making a significant and outstanding contribution that advances the field of earth and planetary surface processes.”
Dr. Qian Yu is the author of what has become one of the top ten most-cited papers in remote sensing over the past decade!
More information on Google Scholar's "Classic Papers" can be found here.
A new article in Water Resources Research, co-authored by adjunct professor Brian Yellen, examines long-term dynamics in sediment yield by using time-varying sediment-discharge rating curves.
The article can be found here.
The work of many of our department researchers, as part of RiverSmart Communities was recently highlighted on 2 local television programs: WGBY and Greenfield Community Television.
Professor J. Michael Rhodes has been elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. The awards ceremony will be in New Orleans on Oct. 22, 2017 at the Society's Annual Meeting.
The Geosciences Alumni Reunion Weekend will be happening on October 6th, 7th, and 8th this year.
For more information, see the event page here.
Professor and department head Julie Brigham-Grette has recently been named a fellow of the American Geophysical Union.
Congrats Julie!
John Gartner, a post-doc in the department who works with Christine Hatch, recently had his research featured on the UMass website. He studies the impacts of large floods on rivers, and he recently received a $50,000 from NSF to study the Chickley River. He is interested in examining how large floods have affected human modifications to the river channel.
Congrats John!
Mike Jercinovic was honored with the Microanalysis Society's Presidential Science Award, which recognizes "outstanding technical contributions to the field of microanalysis over a sustained period of time." This award recognizes his pioneering work in the field of geochronology with electron microprobe. For more details, see the UMass press release.
Congrats Mike!
Research on beach erosion carried out by several members of the department has been featured in UMass magazine. Not every job lets you work at the beach.
Congratulations to alum Ashley Griffith who won GSA Structural Geology and Tectonics division 2016 Outstanding Publication Award for his paper:
Rowe, C.D., and Griffith, W.A., 2015, Do faults preserve a record of seismic slip: A second opinion: Journal of Structural Geology, v. 78, p. 1–26.
Congratulations to the new class of GSA fellows:
Carol de Wet (Franklin & Marshall College; nominated by Gail Ashley)
Anna Martini (Amherst College; nominated by Tekla Harms)
Suzanne McEnroe (Norwegian University of Science & Technology; nominated by Laurie Brown)
Breaking news - Geosciences joins the new School of Earth & Sustainability (SES) in partnership with Department of Environmental Conservation (ECo), and the Stockbridge School of Agriculture (SSA)! SES is dedicated to solving the complex, global environmental challenges of the 21st century.
AMHERST, Mass. – In her role as chair of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences’ Polar Research Board, geosciences professor Julie Brigham-Grette of the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Aug. 31 gave one of the few invited scientific talks at the international Summit Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience (GLACIER), organized by Secretary of State John Kerry. President Barack Obama addressed the GLACIER summit at the end of the day.
Pick up these great looking caps and T-shirts in the Geosciences Department Office!
T-shirts are $20 ($10 is a tax deductable donation to the gallery), and Geosciences baseball caps are $5.
Purchases can be made in person by cash or check. You can also mail us a check with your size and return address by writing to:
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