The week has been shortened by the Independence Day holiday, but much has happened nonetheless.
Maureen Raymo learned this week that she will be awarded an honorary doctorate from Lancaster University in Great Britain. Congratulations, Mo!
This week marked the arrival of new Lamont Assistant Research Professor Reinhard Kozdon. Reinhard, a geochemist and paleoclimatologist who holds degrees in geology and paleontology from Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, joins our Biology and Paleo Environment Division. Prior to accepting an Assistant Research Professor position at Rutgers University last year, Reinhard worked for seven years as a Research Associate and Assistant Scientist in the ion microprobe laboratory of John Valley at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. An expert in the oxygen and carbon isotopic analysis, at the 5–10 micrometer scale, of foraminifera shells from deep-sea sediments, Reinhard has shown how unaltered portions of the shells can be distinguished from diagenetic overgrowths. He’s used that insight to clarify the record of sea-surface temperature in the tropical Pacific during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum.
Peter deMenocal and Sonya Dyhrman spent the week in Aspen, Colorado, at the 2015 Aspen Ideas Festival, a “public gathering place for leaders from around the globe and across many disciplines to engage in deep and inquisitive discussion of the ideas and issues that shape our lives and challenge our times” (http://www.aspenideas.org/). Their participation was arranged through the efforts of Lamont Advisory Board member Susan Holgate, who also attended. Sonya participated in a panel discussion on ocean acidification, and Peter spoke on “Might our past predict our future? What climate says about human evolution” (http://www.aspenideas.org/session/might-our-past-predict-our-future-what-climate-says-about-human-evolution).
The R/V Langseth continued its work off New Jersey this week on its current expedition, led by Greg Mountain of Rutgers University, to conduct three-dimensional multi-channel seismic exploration of a portion of the continental shelf that preserves a record of past rises and falls in sea level. Robert Steinhaus reported today that the ship has completed more than 93% of its planned lines and is scheduled to end seismic operations on Monday and to return later that day to SUNY Maritime College in the Bronx.
On Monday, Lamont was visited by Michael Gerrard, Director of Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and incoming chair of the Earth Institute faculty. Michael met individually with Robin Bell, Peter Schlosser, Richard Seager, Jason Smerdon, Donna Shillington, Lex van Geen, and IRI’s Lisa Goddard, and he held a group meeting with Marc Levy, Alex de Sherbinin and Greg Yetman at CIESIN. Over lunch, Michael met with Lamont’s Associate Directors and the Directors of IRI and CIESIN, as well as Art Lerner-Lam and me. The goal of the visit was to give Michael feedback on how the Earth Institute faculty might work more closely with the scientists on the Lamont Campus, particularly those who are not current members of that faculty.
On Tuesday, I hosted a visit by David Madigan, Executive Vice President and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Our discussion ranged broadly over financial models for the operation of the Lamont Campus and the support of faculty and students from Arts and Sciences.
On Wednesday, a Kevin Krajick story on last week’s award of the 2015 Vetlesen Prize to Stephen Sparks of the University of Bristol, and the accompanying gala in Low Library, was posted on the Lamont web pages, complete with photos of several tuxedoed participants (http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/news-events/vetlesen-science-prize-celebrated-columbia-gala). That the event’s logistics, the staging of the ceremony, and the dinner and associated activities went smoothly was, of course, because of a great deal of advance planning. I hope that all of you who attended will join me in thanking Miriam Cinquegrana, Yvette Matos-Gooding, Marian Mellin, Stacey Vassallo, Bev Wuerfel, and Vilma Gallagher and Jennifer Genrich from the Earth Institute for their considerable efforts to ensure that the Vetlesen ceremony was enjoyable to all.
On Thursday, I was in Washington, D.C., to give an “end of mission” briefing on MESSENGER to NASA Headquarters. Although the talk was a contractual obligation, it was a public lecture web-streamed to a broad audience and gave me an opportunity to speak about mission findings and lessons learned for future missions, particularly those led by a scientist Principal Investigator.
In the news this week, Jason Smerdon was subjected to a demanding if humorous interview about climate change by Ben Kissel on Internet Action Force (IAF) television (http://iaf.tv/2015/07/01/answers-questioned-climate-change/). And (new mother) Meredith Nettles was called out for her work on glacial earthquakes by Grist in a Woman Crush Wednesday article for Independence Day (http://grist.org/living/celebrate-independence-day-with-these-rad-women-and-popsicles/).
It is likely that you will not be reading this report until Monday morning. I hope that you will then be able to look back on a relaxing and enjoyable three-day weekend.
Sean