Seminar Schedule for 2023-24
September 27, 2023 – Dr. Marisa Palucis, Dartmouth College
3:00pm in Wachenheim Room 116
“Mars on Earth: Using terrestrial landscapes to quantify the role of climate change on sediment transport rates and processes”
Many landforms found on Earth and Mars are the result of flowing surface water. Understanding how water volumes and climatic conditions are recorded in the form (and sediments) of these features may provide key insights into habitability and climate change on Mars. However, terrestrial studies aimed at quantifying the hydrologic conditions needed to form these geomorphic features rarely assess the total amount of water that passes through a landscape, which can be problematic when inferring past climate. I will present results from several ongoing field-based analog studies. The first is at Meteor Crater (AZ, USA), where work is being conducted to understand sediment transport processes on steep slopes and the amount of water that formed the network of gullies along its inner walls. The second involves the
characterization of sediment transport processes and fluxes across periglacial alluvial fans in the Aklavik Range in the Richard-son Mountains (NWT, CA). Both sites have undergone significant climate change, providing ideal testing grounds for how sediment supply, water availability, and the frequency, duration, and magnitude of sediment transport events change under changing climate.
September 29, 2023 @ 2pm – Thesis Previews with our Class of 2024 thesis students: Martina Berrutti Bartesaghi, Gwyn Chilcoat, Amalia Culpepper-Wehr, Annabel Flatland, Sylvain Foisy, Berenize Garcia Nueva, Kennedy Lange, Peter Miles, and Elaine Yu.
In Bronfman Auditorium
October 3, 2023 – Dr. Yolanda Lin, University of New Mexico
3:00pm in Wachenheim Room 116
“Catalyzing active hope for disaster resilience”
How can hope change the way communities approach disaster risk and resilience? In this talk, I will discuss new approaches to catalyze active hope in the field of disaster science through counterfactual thinking, co-created scenario development, and SciArt. By applying a lens of hope to traditional disaster risk assessment and reduction methods, this work can support more equitable decision making and help prepare communities for uncertain futures in the face of natural hazards and disaster risks.
November 7, 2023 – Dr. Terry Plank, Columbia University
3:00pm in Wachenheim Room 116
November 10, 2023 – Lauren Interess Adventure Fellowship Presentations with fellowship recipients Kennedy Lange ’24 and SJ Brusini ’23.
11:00am in Wachenheim Room 102
Kennedy Lange
“An Exploration of Southern Japan Volcanism and its Impact on Culture”
My interest in volcanology stemmed from my summer internship project in Oslo, Norway where I studied volcanic ash deposition in lacustrine sediment cores. This was a collaborative project that combined modeled volcanic eruption data with high-resolution sediment core samples and archaeological evidence to study volcanism-driven climate change during the Norwegian Viking Age. After months of sifting through sediments in search of cryptotephra particles, my passion for volcanism was ignited, and I sought to learn about climatic forcing from volcanic eruptions, plume heights, explosivity indexes, and about different volcano types from my collaborators.
SJ Brusini
“Using geomorphology to understand how erosion has altered the setting of Bronze Age cliff top forts on Inis Mór, Aran Islands, Ireland”
The Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland, are a beautiful place geologically, culturally, and archaeologically. Inis Mór, the largest island, is home to some of the most striking archaeological sites in Europe – namely the Bronze Age stone forts Dún Aonghasa and Dún Duchathair. It also hosts dramatic limestone cliffs, a karst landscape, and unique terrestrial and marine ecology. Each of these pieces that make the Aran Islands such a gorgeous landscape has the potential to be studied from a classroom independently but studying this place remotely cannot provide a real understanding of how those pieces function together to create Inis Mór in its entirety.
Past Events
September 8, 2023 – Professor Matt Carter, Williams College
1:00pm in Wachenheim Room 102
“Strategies for Designing and Delivering a Scientific Presentation”
A hands-on workshop for GEOS thesis students or anyone that will be presenting at conference(s). A copy of Prof. Carter’s book “Designing Science Presentations: A Visual Guide to Figures, Papers, Slides, Posters, and More” is available in the GEOS student lounge.
Archive
2022-23
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