Hello Friends, Lamont Research Professor Joerg Schaefer is the Where’s Waldo of scientists this week. Here he is in Greenland discussing top-secret Operation Iceworm, nuclear missiles and ancient vegetation on Greenland. And here he is in New Zealand investigating the Zealandia Switch mechanism that could gravely increase the rate of global warming. And here he is in almost a dozen leading news outlets telling us all about it (see list at end). Where will this intrepid explorer and his trusty band of co-scientists (Dorothy Peteet! Mike Kaplan! Carolina Munoz-Saez!) show up next? But seriously, I hope you read about Operation Iceworm and maybe also reflect on the importance of data and sample archiving and curating. This is a perennial and ongoing logistical and financial challenge at Lamont and it is important that we not lose sight of the prize. Namely, you never know where the next amazing discovery will come from—sometimes many decades later. Thus speaketh a repository director!
Other work highlighted in the media this week is that by Lamont paleoclimatologist Nathan Steiger, climate scientist Jason Smerdon, and their colleagues. Their work explores the effects volcanic eruptions can have on climate (and you will have to brush off your Spanish). LDEO intern and undergraduate Lauren Ritchie continues her development of Columbia Climate Conversations, a panel series that invites well-known activists to speak on topics ranging from intersectional environmentalism to disability awareness. There is a terrific profile of her in the Columbia Spectator this week and her invitation for all of us “to incorporate sustainability into [our] lives in a way that is proportionate to [our] resources” while “holding larger corporations accountable for their disproportionate impact on the environment” really resonates. For Lauren, being sustainable is not about being perfect, but about making progress. Amen.
Also this week, Jason Smerdon writes “This won’t come as a surprise to any of you, but this piece [in Nature] on current academic burnout (and the asymmetries with which it is being experienced) is worth a read if you haven’t seen it. Perhaps most helpful is the suggestions it includes for managing burnout. Worth a read and reflection in your various centers and networks.” Thanks for sharing Jason. Another informative read was brought to my attention by Lamont Research Professor Alberto Malinverno—it is an article and podcast about Project Mohole and how it spearheaded the scientific ocean drilling program we still have today as well as the field of paleoceanography. Our Lamont alumna Suzanne O’Connell is prominently featured.
I’d also like to draw your attention to an art exhibit organized and curated by Archeology graduate student and former Lamonter Jeff Benjamin. The art/archaeology exhibit, "The Soil Is Sentient", has been on display in Low Library at Columbia University for a year now, but has been largely inaccessible due to Covid restrictions. However, the exhibit has recently been translated into a virtual exhibit which, in itself, is a work of art. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and note that DEES/Lamont graduate student Clara Chang also contributed to the exhibit. My favorite part is the crafty saltine.
Prof. Md. Shofiqul Islam arrived on campus this week to start a seven-month visit collaborating with Dr. Michael Steckler as part of a Fulbright Visiting Scholarship. Prof. Islam is from the Department of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet, Bangladesh. Shofiqul, I hope to welcome you in person some day in the not too far future. Speaking of which, I was happy to read in a University-wide email from President Bollinger that CU’s goal is to have everyone vaccinated and able to return to normal University life in September. Let us all hope that this will be the case.
In a year filled with pain from many quarters, the latest has been this week’s deadly shooting in Atlanta which has deeply shaken us all, especially the Asian-American community at Lamont and EI. Some of the email threads, as well as last week’s Town Hall, where our Asian-American colleagues shared their thoughts and experiences, were eye-opening and relevant to us all. Here are some links and resources that I encourage you to check out, including ways to be an ally: Anti-Racism Resources to Support the AAPI Community; How to Support Asian American Colleagues; There were 3,800 anti-Asian racist incidents, mostly against women; and How Racism and Sexism Intertwine. Additionally, I encourage you to sign up for the the Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Asian/American Harassment and Xenophobia—I plan to sign up for it myself. At stressful and disturbing times like these, remember various services and resources are available to the Columbia community, including: Counseling and Psychological Services; Mental Health Resources for Faculty and Staff; and Support Space for Asian Students. You also can report a bias incident here. And, last but not least, we should make it a priority to check in on our Asian-American colleagues during this time, and do whatever we can to make our campus (albeit virtually) as inclusive as possible. In the coming weeks, The Office of Academic Affairs and Diversity will conduct a workshop on Addressing Anti-Asian Bias. More details on that later.
As I wrap up this week, I look forward to hearing Prof. Susan Trumbore’s talk. She is the guest speaker for our annual Distinguished Alumni Colloquium, sponsored by the Lamont Alumni Association. Welcome back Sue—I wish you could have come in person. I’d also like to thank the “Earth Elders”, especially Mark Cane, Jim Hays, and Klaus Jacob, who donated funds to purchase the (sustainably grown) cedar Adirondack chairs that are now dotting the campus. We also have a bunch of new picnic tables in various places. Outside is the new inside!
As we mark one full year of the pandemic, I wish you all a peaceful and safe weekend.
Best, Mo
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LAMONT IN THE MEDIA:
FEATURED NEWS
Scientists' Climate Warning after 'Grave' Rediscovery from Secret Cold War Military Base
Sky News
March 16, 2021
Article on study by geochemist Joerg Schaefer, paleoclimatologist Dorothy Peteet, and colleagues.
Greenland's Lost and Found Forest
Cosmos
March 16, 2021
Article on study by geochemist Joerg Schaefer, paleoclimatologist Dorothy Peteet, and colleagues.
Greenland Was Once Ice-free — and Seas Were 20 Feet Higher: Study
New York Daily News
March 16, 2021
Article on study by geochemist Joerg Schaefer, paleoclimatologist Dorothy Peteet, and colleagues.
Zealandia Switch May Be Missing Link in Understanding Ice Age Climates
Eurasia Review
March 16, 2021
Article on study by Lamont geochemist Joerg Schaefer, geologist Mike Kaplan, and colleagues.
A Forgotten Cold War Experiment Has Revealed Its Icy Secret. It's Bad News for the Planet.
Washington Post
March 15, 2021
Article on study by geochemist Joerg Schaefer, paleoclimatologist Dorothy Peteet, and colleagues.
How a Secret Cold War Project Led to Signs of Ancient Life—and a New Warning About the Future
Atlas Obscura
March 15, 2021
Article on study by geochemist Joerg Schaefer, paleoclimatologist Dorothy Peteet, and colleagues.
The Conversation
March 15, 2021
Article on study by geochemist Joerg Schaefer, paleoclimatologist Dorothy Peteet, and colleagues.
Columbia Spectator
March 15, 2021
Article features Lamont intern Lauren Ritchie.
SciTech Daily
March 14, 2021
Article features study co-authored by Lamont oceanographer Pierre Dutrieux. Article features study co-authored by Lamont oceanographer Pierre Dutrieux.
Zealandia Switch: New Theory of Regulation of Ice Age Climates
ScienceDaily
March 12, 2021
Article on study by Lamont geochemist Joerg Schaefer, geologist Mike Kaplan, and colleagues.
Volcanic Eruptions Have a Strong Impact on Climate, Study Suggests
EFE
March 11, 2021
Article on study by Lamont paleoclimatologist Nathan Steiger, climate scientist Jason Smerdon, and colleagues.
Large Eruptions Produce a Persistent Hydroclimatic Response
Europa Press
March 9, 2021
Article on study by Lamont paleoclimatologist Nathan Steiger, climate scientist Jason Smerdon, and colleagues.
BLOGS
Fossil Plants at Bottom of the Greenland Ice Sheet Warn of Future Melting
March 15, 2021
The discovery of fossil plants below a mile of Greenland ice indicates that the ice sheet completely melted in the past, and suggests it could rapidly do so again.
The ‘Zealandia Switch’: Missing Link in Big Natural Climate Shifts?
March 15, 2021
Movements of winds in the Southern Hemisphere may be the key to waxing and waning of ice ages, says a new study.
Chasing Gold, Geysers and Geothermal Power With Carolina Muñoz-Saez
March 11, 2021
The postdoctoral researcher studies hydrothermal systems and will soon go to the Chilean Andes to explore how geyser activity there may be related to glacier growth and retreat over thousands of years.