Director's Weekly Reports

    This week was made much more difficult by the announcement Tuesday that the National Science Foundation will divest from its ownership of the R/V Marcus Langseth after the end of existing and anticipated commitments to projects requiring the vessel’s special capabilities (https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf18061).

    The surest sign of the change of seasons this week was the opening of the Major League Baseball season yesterday. Neither the Mets nor the Yankees disappointed local fans.

    Last Friday afternoon, Alexandra Bausch successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on the “Interactive effects of ocean acidification and other environmental drivers on planktonic microorganisms in marine ecosystems.” Her thesis committee included Bob Anderson, Hugh Ducklow, Kevin Griffin, Andy Juhl, and Chris Hayes from the University of Southern Mississippi.  Congratulations, Dr. Bausch!

    This week marked Spring Break from classes at Columbia, and the arrival Monday night of the third nor’easter in 11 days, albeit a storm that did not match the first two in either top wind speeds or snow accumulation levels. The week even included Pi Day (http://www.piday.org/), complete with a dedicated rap number (http://www.piday.org/2009/pi-rap-by-amy-mcconnel/).

    The Earth itself was once again in the news this week, beginning with unusually warm temperatures in the high Arctic on Saturday, an event that prompted a story on Vox Media (https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/2/27/17053284/arctic-heat-wave-north-pole-climate) quoting Marco Tedesco.

    This week began on Sunday with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (http://www.un.org/en/events/women-and-girls-in-science-day/), a day “to promote the full and equal participation of women and girls in education, training, employment and decision-making processes in the sciences,” according to a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2015.

    This week brought the good news from the Geological Society of London that Terry Plank is to receive the 2018 Wollaston Medal, the society’s highest honor first awarded in 1831 (https://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=183233&CultureCode=en). Previous recipients of the Wollaston Medal over its long history include Charles Darwin, Charles Lyell, and G. K. Gilbert. Past Wollaston medalists from Lamont include Maurice Ewing (1969), Wally Broecker (1990), and Maureen Raymo (2014).

    This week ends with uncertainty over whether the federal government will still be in operation tomorrow. The House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution last night – the fourth of this fiscal year (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/us/politics/government-shutdown-house-vote.html) – and the Senate must pass the bill by midnight tonight to avoid a shutdown.

    Fortunately, scientific progress at Lamont continued as though our government is in thoughtful hands.

    Already truncated to three workdays by university holidays, this week was shortened further by weather, when a severe winter storm (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/us/winter-snow-bomb-cyclone.html) closed the campus yesterday. That we could open the campus at the usual time this morning is the result of daylong efforts yesterday by Andy Reed and a dozen of his colleagues from Facilities who plowed and shoveled out our roads, pathways, and parking lots.

    Winter is no longer coming; it’s here. The winter solstice was marked at 11:28 EST yesterday, and we have begun three months of seasonally appropriate weather. At least the duration of daylight will now increase daily until June.

    I am pleased to report that Tim Crone has been promoted to Lamont Associate Research Professor, Senior Staff, effective next month. The Marine Geology and Geophysics Division held an informal party yesterday afternoon to celebrate the milestone. Please join me in congratulating Tim on his new rank!