Setback helped sharpen student’s focus on what matters most
Juliana Conley ’21 is using her experiences from a series of life detours to guide her academic goal: modeling wildfires and other environmental phenomena associated with climate change, via an interdisciplinary degree in geomechanics.
Ocean waters prevent release of ancient methane
Environmental scientist Katy Sparrow ’17 (PhD) set out to discover whether ancient-sourced methane, released due to warming ocean waters, survives to be emitted to the atmosphere.
Time’s ticking as ‘Doomsday Clock’ scientists meet
As the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists meets to evaluate scenarios for man-made catastrophe, Rochester scientists worry current risk levels are “way too high.”
Dustin Trail wins award for studies of early Earth
The assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences has been selected as the recipient of the 2017 Mineralogical Society of America Award, a major honor in the field.
Icy air reveals human-made methane levels higher than previously believed
Professor Vasilii Petrenko and his team are studying the air trapped in ice cores that date back nearly 12,000 years, long before mankind’s use of fossil fuels, to separate man-made from naturally occurring methane sources.
Creating communal spaces through public art
As part of the Take Five Scholars Program, Madison Carter ’18 is researching how public art—such as murals, sculptures, even performance art—influences social interactions in the city of Rochester.
This summer, the English literature and environmental studies major is interning with Richard Margolis, a well-known area photographer who documents art, architecture, and landmarks, and then compiles them into searchable databases. Carter is contributing to the descriptions of each piece of public art, researching the stories associated with their creation, and contacting the artists themselves for their input. She is also identifying additional works of public art to include in the database. (University photo / J. Adam Fenster)
Largest research vessel on the Great Lakes brings Rochester science to Chicago’s Navy Pier
Researchers led by earth and environmental sciences professor John Kessler met with schoolchildren and local media aboard the Blue Heron to discuss the team’s work on methane levels in the Great Lakes.
Ancient ozone levels provide a glimpse into future effects of climate change
A computer model developed at Rochester, and used to compare model data to analysis on 100,000-year-old Greenland ice cores, has shown a surprising result.
Using data science to understand global climate systems
Climate scientists and computer scientists are working together to understand what drives the global climate system—from deep in the ocean to high in the sky.
Tibet sediments reveal climate patterns from millions of years ago
The Tibetan Plateau in China experiences some of the most extreme weather patterns on Earth, making it an ideal location for Rochester climate scientists to student the complex web of global climate patterns.