Dr Christine Hatch recently contributed to the regular Earth Matters column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette with a piece on finding the perfect conditions to measure groundwater outflow in a frozen wetland, as part of a project to restore a natural wetland at the site of a retired cranberry bog.
A new paper in Earth-Science Reviews by Dr. Michele Cooke and co-authors discusses which rock analog (i.e., physical) materials work best for particular scaled-deformation experiments in structural geology, including benefits and drawbacks of different materials. Read the paper here...
PhD student Laura Fattaruso recently published a piece in temblor on alum Dr. Heather Savage's and Dr. Pratigya Polissar's recent study in Nature Communications on using organic molecules to detect heat produced during large earthquakes. Read the story here...
Dr. Justin Richardson and colleagues recently published a new paper in Environmental Pollution on whether or not one can predict heavy concentration in an earthwork based on the soil concentration of said metals. Read the paper here...
A new episode of PhD student Laura Fattaruso's podcast, Labtalk with Laura, talks with alumni of the STEMSEAS program (Student Experiences Aboard Ships) started by Sharon Cooper and Jon Lewis. She's joined in the studio by Emma Robertson, a UMass undergrad who sailed last summer from Woods Hole, MA to Reykjavik, Iceland.
“Dinosaurs sit at an evolutionary point between birds, which are warm-blooded, and reptiles, which are cold-blooded. Our results suggest that all major groups of dinosaurs had warmer body temperatures than their environment” - post-doctoral fellow Dr. Robin Dawson on her research she performed while a doctoral student at Yale University. Read More...
Professor Julie Brigham-Grette, geosciences, has been honored by Germany’s Alexander von Humboldt Foundation with one of its coveted Humboldt Research Awards, which will support her research collaborations there over the coming six months.
In a new study in The Cryosphere, Dr Michael Rawlins, associate director of the Climate Systems Research Center, and fellow researchers explore the changing character of runoff, river discharge, and other hydrological cycle elements across the North Slope of Alaska, revealing significant increases in the proportion of subsurface runoff and cold season discharge.
Dr. Isaac Larsen is spending the spring semester at the University of Salzburg, Austria as a recipient of the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award. He will teach graduate courses and conduct research on Earth surface changes using cosmogenic nuclide geochemistry techniques to study erosion rates using sand samples from rivers and river terraces in non-glaciated Alpine landscapes, as well as investigating how they respond to climate change.
Alum Dr. Alan Condron and Professor Ray Bradley recently published a paper in Geology which uses accounts of 19th century European explorers to ground-truth arctic sea ice models. Read more here...
It is with deep regret that we mark the passing of Professor Ward Motts (3/31/1924 - 2/22/2020). The memorial service will be on March 29th at South Congregational Church, 2 PM
Ward S. Motts, pioneering hydrogeologist and emeritus professor of geology at UMASS Amherst, died peacefully aged 95 at the Hospice of the Fisher Home in Amherst, MA. A memorial service had been planned for March 29th at South Congregational Church in South Amherst.
A new paper co-authored by Dr. Stephen Burns uses speleothem records to document paleoclimate in Southern Arabia. The research found over 21 pluvial periods with precipitation of more than 300 mm per year to have occurred since ∼1.1 million years ago. Read more...
Dr. Michael Rawlins, climate modeler and associate director of the geoscience department’s Climate Systems Research Center, is lead author of a new analysis of the changing character of runoff, river discharge and other hydrological cycle elements across the North Slope of Alaska.
Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette was interviewed by the Polish blog Glacjoblogia discussing her research of past climate change— looking particularly into the last 2-3 million years of Earth history across the Arctic.
Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette will highlight the Lake El’gygytgyn Drilling program on PBS's Polar Extremes, airing February 5th and 8pm EST. The show also contains several familiar faces to those in our department, including alum Jeremy Shaken: Watch the trailer, and show, at https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/polar-extremes/
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
