Hello Friends, The week that the American Geophysical Union announces its annual prizes is always fun. Who is there? Any of my friends or colleagues? Who are the early career stars we should invite to the colloquium? And so on…. The Observatory is proud to have many honorees this year! DEES Professor Ryan Abernathey is the recipient of the Charles S.
Hello Friends, I have to start by sharing the excitement I have felt over the last three days, seeing so many of our colleagues back on campus. Many of you I have not seen for almost 18 months. And so many new faces as well—welcome everyone!
Hello Friends, The end of the summer is nigh. And weirdly, I feel that little knot in my stomach that came with going-back-to-school as a child. We’ve shared (remotely) such a profoundly bizarre last 18 months, filled with stress, anxiety, loss, a complete disruption of routine but, hopefully, some small moments of grace within it all. But now we must all return to work/school. I imagine there is a lot of anxiety out there right now and I hope we can all be a little gentle with each other as we try to navigate back to yet another new normal
Hello Friends, As the dog days of summer continue, the heat continues to build. I hope everyone can find someplace cool to relax this weekend. The campus is quietly ticking along with its skeleton crew of scientists and students. Last Friday, on August 6th, the Lamont Summer Interns completed their internship program with thirt
Hello Friends, Our months of uncertainty continue. Our gains in community safety are slowly being undermined by the delta variant. Asymptomatic positive testing numbers are creeping up at CU after many months of declining numbers. Monday will bring the deadline for vaccine compliance—the Lamont campus currently leads relative to the other four CU campuses, though we are still only at about 80% compliance. People who have not yet uploaded proof that they are vaccinated, or in the process, will soon be contacted. The university has made
Hello Friends, The Director’s Weekly Report will be fortnightly until September.
Hello Friends, This will be a short and sweet summer missive. First, it was so fun and inspiring to hear John Cook’s first Summer Stars lecture yesterday and learn about how one can inoculate oneself against fake news. So cool to see the dozens of places across the nation, and indeed world, where his cartoons and gamification of cognitive science are being used in classrooms to combat mis-information about climate change. If you missed the lecture, the recording will be available shortly.
Hello Friends, After my big shout-out last week, I am sheepishly asking you to save a new date, September 22nd, for the all-Lamont BBQ. I would also like to remind everyone that our first Summer Stars Lecture will be on July 15 next week. It will feature John Cook, Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Climate Change Communication Research Hub at Monash University. I have known of John’s work in climate c
Hello Friends, Wow, has the last year flown by! After nearly fifty newsletters, untold Zoom meetings, and more than a few gray hairs, my greatest desire is to see us all back on campus in September. As fun as it has been watching baby woodchucks cavorting outside my office window all day, all week, I would trade that for the hustle and bustle of colleagues in a New York minute. So many changes and even more to announce this week. We officially welcomed Dave Goldberg into his new role as Deputy Director and I am greatly appreciative of t
Hello Friends, Hope you all had a lovely three-day weekend for Juneteenth last week. Lots of announcements have been piling up! On Tuesday, Lucy Tweed successfully defended her PhD on “Coupling the Thermodynamics, Kinetics and Geodynamics of Multiphase Reactive Transport in Earth’s Interior”.
Hello Friends, A big shout-out to Lamont Research Professors Billy D’Andrea and Marco Tedesco who were elected to the University Senate this week! The third seat was filled by Daniel Wolf Savin, a Senior Research Scientist in the Astrophysics Laboratory. To have this level of representation and voice on the senate is a huge benefit to the Lamont campus, to the EI, and to the emerging Climate School. Billy and Marco write “Thanks to everyone who turned out to vote us both into the University Senate.
Hello Friends, I’ll start with a walk down memory lane. Retired Lamont scientist and historian John Armbruster reminded me last week that last Friday was the 70th anniversary of the official dedication of Lamont Geological Observatory. Work was already well underway in Lamont Hall and Maurice Ewing was the Founding Director. I have been reading Naomi Oreskes’ fascinating book “Science on a Mission” about the early days of the three major oceanographic institutions, Lamont, Scripts, and Woods Hole. Cold war submarine warfare needs for better naviga
Hello Friends, Lots of exciting research news piled up while I was away, so I will dive right in. We can collectively celebrate two of our students finishing up their theses this week. Daniel Bishop successfully defended his PhD on "Attributing the Causes of a Century of Hydroclimatic Change in the United States”.
Maureen Raymo is on vacation this week. Please enjoy the links to articles and posts below.
Nicole deRoberts
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LAMONT IN THE MEDIA:
FEATURED NEWS
2020 Was a Record-Breaking Hurricane Season. NOAA Will Announce What to Expect in 2021.
ABC News
May 20, 2021
Hello Friends, I’d like to use the next month or two to update the campus on activities being guided by the Lamont Strategic Plan. Lifting heavily from the text of the plan, I’ll start with the core values that were set out as our guiding principles. They are:
Hello Friends, Spring is in full swing. April showers have brought May flowers, as well as gardening news from the campus. The Lamont Community Garden, located opposite the New Core Laboratory, lay fallow last summer but is gearing up for a new season. The Campus Life Committee has supported this community effort for years and reminds everyone that all gardening skill levels are welcome. Pick some peas off dewy morning vines or harvest some tomatoes in the heat of the summer sun—enjoy a break from the office or lab and meet new colleagues.
Hello Friends, It has been two very special weeks in a row, first with Earth Week and now with Commencement Week. Several awards were given at this week's undergraduate Class Day, including the following DEES departmental honors: to Anna Ledeczi, in recognition of her outstanding undergraduate accomplishments as well as participation and leadership in DEES; to Roger Creel, the Best TA Award; and to our professorial colleague Meredith Nettles, the Best Professor Award! DEES department chair Jerry McManus tells me a few more awards are in the offing, including the Walter Pit
Hello Friends, By now, maybe you’ve heard this week’s big news—the spring turtle migration has begun! Keep your eyes peeled driving in to Lamont…that small leaf-sized spot in the road could be a baby snapper.
Hello Friends, A big cheer for the last week of classes! It was another bittersweet semester as the pandemic prevented us from interacting with our students in our usual ways. Indeed, my class was entirely on Zoom and it was obvious to me that I did not get to know my students as well as during the “before times”. Hopefully there will be opportunities to sit in the cafeteria and share a meal as our workplace returns to normal over the coming months. Along these lines, I have been happy to hear that people are enjoying the new picnic tab
Hello Friends, Welcome to Earth Month! The cherry blossoms are blooming, the geese are gandering, the forsythia is flowering. It has been a busy week, especially as we ramp up to Earth Day on Thursday April 22nd. Thank you to everyone who has been heeding the call to help with videos, photos, and more.