EarthWorks, May 2, 2008
Submit items to Lauren Bivona or Norm Meader at enews@email.arizona.edu preferably by 5:00 pm Wednesday of each week. Please include "EarthWorks" in the subject line.
On-line version available at http://www.geo.arizona.edu/events/enewsletter/EarthWorks-05-02-08.html (for Pine and webmail users).
In This Issue:
Departmental News
• From the Head
• Heather Alvarez Receives 2008 Staff Recognition Award of Excellence for Geosciences
• Congratulations
Geosciences Publications
• Publication in Ground Water by Ailiang Gu et al.
• Publication in Biological Conservation by Kirsten Rowell, Karl Flessa, and David Dettman
• Publication in Ciencias Marinas by Kirsten Rowell, Karl Flessa, and David Dettman
University News
• Open House to Discuss the Planned Earth System Experiment at UA Biosphere 2, Monday, May 19
• Provost's Bulletin: Annual Reports from Business Affairs and External Relations
Funding/Job/Intern Opportunities
• Paid Summer Internships with the Wyoming Dinosaur Center
Professional Organizations/Activities
• Online Workshop on Earth Science Literacy, May 12-24, 2008
Upcoming Talks (UA)
• Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Seminar on Climate and Biological Diversity (Monday, May 5)
• Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research Seminar by Erica Bigio on Wood Anatomical Analysis (Wednesday, May 7)
• College of Law Talk by Connie Woodhouse on Reconstructing Colorado River Streamflow (Friday, May 9)
• Nobel Laureate E. J. Corey to Give Dr. Emily Davis and Dr. Homer C. Weed Lecture in Chemistry (Saturday, May 10)
Upcoming Talks (Elsewhere)
• Biosphere 2 Institute Science Saturday talk by Linda Leigh, Biospherian on Mission 1 (Saturday, May 3)
• Science Cafe with Patrick and Rigel Woida on the Mars Phoenix Mission (Monday, May 5)
DEPARTMENTAL NEWS
From the Head
A big end-of-the-semester thanks to Tim Jull and Randy Richardson for organizing this year’s colloquium series! It was a great mix of topics, of ideas and of people.
Karl W. Flessa
Professor and Head [top]
Heather Alvarez Receives 2008 Staff Recognition Award of Excellence for Geosciences
Each spring the departments that comprise the College of Science choose a member of their staff to receive the COS Staff Excellence Award. This year's winner from Geosciences is Heather Alvarez, who was honored at the annual College of Science Annual Staff Luncheon on April 14. Congratulations Heather!
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Congratulations
• To Bob Downs, promotion to Professor, effective August, 2008
• To Paul Kapp, promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure, effective August, 2008
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GEOSCIENCES PUBLICATIONS
Publication in Ground Water by Ailiang Gu et al.
Gu, A., F. Gray, C. J. Eastoe, L. M. Norman, O. Duarte, and A. Long, 2008. Tracing ground water input to base flow using sulfate (S, O) isotopes, Ground Water, 46(3), 502-209, doi:10.111/j. 1745-6584.2008.00437.x. (May-June issue of Ground Water).
Full text available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1745-6584.2008.00437.x
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Publication in Biological Conservation by Kirsten Rowell, Karl Flessa and David Dettman
Rowell, K., Flessa, K.W., Dettman, D.L., Román, M.J., Gerber, L. R. and Findley, L.T., 2008. Diverting the Colorado River leads to a dramatic life history change in a marine fish. Biological Conservation v. 141: 1138-1148.
Full text available at this link (full link too long to include here)
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Publication in Ciencias Marinas by Kirsten Rowell, Karl Flessa, and David Dettman
Rowell, K., True, C., Flessa, K.W. and Dettman, D.L., 2008. Fish without water: Validation and application of δ18O in Totoaba macdonaldi otoliths. Ciencias Marinas. v. 34: 55-68.
Abstract available at http://www.cienciasmarinas.com/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/1256. You may register free at this website (registration direct link) to download a pdf of the full article without charge.
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UNIVERSITY NEWS
Open House to Discuss the Planned Earth System Experiment at UA Biosphere 2
To: UA ESEP Community
From: B2 Science Advisory Committee (Travi Huxman, Peter Troch, Dave Breshears, Jon Chorover, Scott Salesa, Jon
Pelletier, Xubin Zeng.
Date: April 29, 2008
The UA Biosphere 2 Earthscience Steering Committee seeks input from you and your faculty on the institutional experiment being developed at the UA Biosphere 2 by participating in an open house meeting on Monday, May 19th at 10:00 am at the Biosphere 2 facility.
You may have heard that the controlled environment facilities of the Biosphere 2 are being redesigned as a model for near-surface or ‘critical zone’ processes. Our goal is to create a long-term (10 year) experimental platform on which to study integrated biological, ecological, hydrological and geomorphological processes. We hope to connect this facility and experiment to our existing strong research programs at UA focused on water, climate change, and earth system processes. This is a critical time for feedback from the campus research community to expand the breadth of this program opportunity. We are seeking input from faculty whose research programs touch on themes associated with water in the environment and life-environment interactions. Transportation to the facility and lunch will be provided so please RSVP to Candace Crossey (626-4092 or crossey@email.arizona.edu) by May 12, 2008. We will provide a tour of the experimental facility, presentations on the science and education / outreach plan and an opportunity for discussion about integration with programs on campus.
Plans for the experimental design were focused through several multidisciplinary workshops sponsored by B2 in collaboration with an NSF-funded hydrologic synthesis project administered at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The gross structure of the B2 experiment will be to track the evolution of three-model, vegetated zero-order catchments situated between well-constrained (but dynamic) atmospheric and lithologic boundary conditions. An overarching hypothesis driving the experiment is that the structure of the catchment fluid flow system will evolve significantly over even this short (< 10 Year) timescale because of a complex but measurable set of couplings among climate, rock weathering, and biotic colonization. There are, however, a multitude of embedded research questions that we seek to maximize. An improved understanding of such critical zone processes is seen as essential to developing the science foundation for decision support in a time of global change.
For more information please see the Biosphere 2 web site – http://www.b2science.org
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Provost's Bulletin, April 30, 2008
The April 30, 2008, edition of the Provost's Bulletin contains the annual reports for Business Affairs and External Relations. The reports are available at http://provost.arizona.edu/pdfs/04-30-2008.pdf.
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FUNDING/JOB/INTERN OPPORTUNITIES
Paid Summer Internships with the Wyoming Dinosaur Center
The Wyoming Dinosaur Center is offering paid internships for the summer. Duties include museum and field work, outreach, data collection, fossil preparation, and overseeing museum visitors in the field. Training and housing are provided, and research opportunities may be available.
Interested parties should contact Scott Hartman by email (scott@wyodino.org) or call (307) 864-2997 ext. 230.
Wyoming Dinosaur Center
110 Carter Ranch Road Thermopolis, Wyoming. 82443
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PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS/ACTIVITIES
Online Workshop on Earth Science Literacy, May 12-24, 2008
Applications are now being accepted for participation in a 2-week online workshop that will create a framework of the Big Ideas and supporting concepts that will define what all Americans should know about the geosciences. A broad interagency effort to address this need has been launched, with this NSF-funded workshop being organized to develop a document, with primary input from the research community, that outlines the essential knowledge necessary to ensure a geoscience literate society. This effort follows similar ones that resulted in the Ocean, Atmospheric Science and Climate Change Literacy documents.
Through this geoscience workshop, the organizing committee hopes to achieve community consensus among all of the disciplines served by the EAR division of NSF in the creation of an Earth science document to complement the ocean, atmosphere and climate efforts. The ultimate goal is to create an overall Earth Systems literacy document to inform national and local policy making and education. SEPM's membership -- sedimentologists, paleontologists, and stratigraphers -- represent an important part of the research community and SEPM members are encouraged to apply to participate in the workshop.
The online geoscience workshop will occur during May 12-24, 2008. Though the workshop takes place over a two-week period, participation will require a commitment of only about one hour per day, from anywhere around the world, through an asynchronous online environment. Direct participation is limited; but the entire community is invited to observe the online process. For additional information and an application to participate, go to http://www.earthscienceliteracy.org/workshop.html
David A. Budd
University of Colorado
for the Earth Science Literacy Organizing Committee
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UPCOMING TALKS (UA)
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Seminar (Monday)
Who: Paul Fine, University of California, Berkeley
Title: Time, Area, Climate and Large-Scale Geographic Patterns of Biological Diversity
When: Monday, May 5, 4:00 pm
Where: Biosciences West, Room 301
More Info: http://www.eebweb.arizona.edu/news/Monday%20Seminar%20details.asp?p=05/05/2008&s=Paul%20Fine
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research Seminar (Wednesday)
Who: Erica Bigio, Graduate Associate, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona
Title: Wood Anatomical Analysis of Fire-scarred Chestnut in Southern Switzerland
When: Wednesday, May 7, 12:00 noon
Where: Tree-Ring West, Room 20 (Math Annex/Old Purchasing and Stores)
Semester Schedule: http://www.ltrr.arizona.edu/events.html
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College of Law Environmental Breakfast Club Seminar (Friday)
Who: Connie Woodhouse, Department of Geography and Regional Development, University of Arizona
Title: Colorado River Streamflow Reconstructed from Tree Rings: 1200 Years of Hydrological Variability
When: Friday, May 9, 8:30-9:45 am
Where: Swede Johnson, Room 205
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Dr. Emily Davis and Dr. Homer C. Weed Lecture in Chemistry (Saturday)
Who: E. J. Corey, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and Priestly Medal Winner, Harvard University
Title: Cationic Catalysts in the Synthesis of Complicated Molecules
When: Saturday, May 10, 10:00 am
Where: Memorial Student Union, Kiva Room
Nobel Laureate and Priestly Medal Winner E. J. Corey, winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, will give the inaugural lecture in The University of Arizona's Dr. Emily Davis and Dr. Homer C. Weed Lectures in Chemistry. His talk is free and open to the public.
Dr. Corey will be focusing on a new family of chiral catalysts which provide a deeper understanding of Lewis acid catalyzed reactions, give great predictive power, and offer an effective methodology for the realization of complex asymmetric synthesis of important target molecules. He recieved the Nobel Prize for his work on the development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis. Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. Refreshments will be served.
More Info: http://uanews.org/node/19593
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UPCOMING TALKS (ELSEWHERE)
Biosphere 2 Institute Science Saturday, May 3
Who: Linda Leigh, Biospherian on Mission 1
What: Life Inside the Biosphere 2
When: Saturday, May 3, 1:00 pm
Where: Biosphere 2 Theater
Admission to the talk is included with the cost of admission to Biosphere 2, and a 50% discount is offered to you and your direct family upon presentation of your CatCard. You may also consider our membership program, which offers unlimited annual visits to Biosphere 2 as well as additional benefits.
More Info: http://www.b2science.org/b2institutesatsci.html
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Who: Patrick and Rigel Woida, Phoenix Mars Mission
What: Countdown to Mars! Your Guide to the Mars Phoenix Mission
When: Monday, May 5, 5:30 p.m.
Where: Enoteca Pizzeria Wine Bar, 58 W. Congress Street, Downtown
The Science Café is a casual forum for people to meet and discuss a particular science topic with UA scientists in the relaxed atmosphere of a local restaurant. Topics of discussion vary each month, but each is current, relevant and, at times, slightly edgy and humorous - or controversial.
Have you been wondering what's happening with the Phoenix Mars Mission? Do you know what science will be conducted on the Martian surface? Do you want a personal guide from the experts on what to expect when the Phoenix Mars Lander lands on Mars on May 25, 2008? Successfully launched in August 2007, the Phoenix Mars mission is designed to study the history of water and habitability potential in the Martian arctic's ice-rich soil. Information gathered by the Phoenix Mars mission may
help scientists determine whether Mars was, or is, capable of supporting life as we know it. Most scientists agree that the presence of liquid water is the primary requirement for life.
More Info: http://www.gotuasciencecenter.org/got-science/got-science-cafe/
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