One of the notable news events this week was the release by Pope Francis yesterday of an encyclical calling for global action on climate change and widespread threats to the environment (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/world/europe/pope-francis-in-sweeping-encyclical-calls-for-swift-action-on-climate-change.html?_r=0). Leaked drafts of the encyclical prompted earlier media stories, including one that cited Michela Biasutti (http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20150614_Pope_s_warning_on_climate_change_stirs_controversy.html).
This past weekend, Terry Plank received an honorary doctorate from Dartmouth College (http://now.dartmouth.edu/terry-ann-plank-honorary-degree). Terry, a 1985 alumna of Dartmouth, was one of only two to receive an Honorary Doctor of Science degree this year. The other was Nobel Laureate and former Secretary of Energy Steven Chu (http://now.dartmouth.edu/category/people?page=1), so Terry was in good company. Congratulations, Terry!
On Monday, the R/V Langseth set a record for common-midpoint processing (CMP) line kilometers acquired in a single day. According to Robert Steinhaus, the ship acquired a total of 166.43 sail line km, and, given the number and length of streamers in the water, that figure translates to 4160.75 CMP line km for the day. That total sets a ship record not only since Lamont began operating the Langseth in early 2008, but it exceeds any day total during the time the ship operated for industry as the M/V Western Legend. On its current cruise, the Langseth had acquired 1606.61 sail line km, or 40,165.25 CMP line km, through Monday’s total.
Also on Monday, the Picture of the Day on the National Science Foundation’s Science 360 website was a photo by Billy D’Andrea of icebergs calving off a glacier in a fjord in Svalbard (http://news.science360.gov/obj/pic-day/513cf608-f216-4613-9e09-6af1fd6b06d3/glacier-calving-icebergs-fjord). The photo is accompanied by a summary of Billy’s work documenting that recent summers in Svalbard are warmer than at any other time in the last 1800 years.
On Tuesday, all of you should have received a request from Ajit Subramaniam for suggestions for speakers in the Earth Science Colloquium series that will begin this fall. Ajit oversees a graduate student committee that includes veterans Olivia Clifton, Kassandra Costa, and Ruth Oliver together with new members Kira Olsen, Daniel Rasmussen, and Frank Pavia (who replaced outgoing members Natalie Accardo, Jonathan Gale, and Hannah Rabinowitz). The committee is already planning the fall season, so please send them the names of individuals who are doing interesting work and can bring it to life in an engaging and broadly accessible presentation.
From Tuesday through Thursday I was in Berlin for a meeting between representatives of the science teams for the MESSENGER and BepiColombo spacecraft. The meeting was hosted by the Institute of Planetary Research at the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), the German space agency. BepiColombo is a joint mission of the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to launch two spacecraft to Mercury in 2017. The probes are scheduled to be inserted into orbit about Mercury in early 2024.
On Wednesday, Lamont held its second annual blood drive in honor of our late colleague, Gerry Iturrino. Angela Martin from Lamont’s Finance Office led the organizational planning effort. Edie Miller writes that Angela “did a lot of outreach in the local community and solicited donations of prizes for a raffle for people who signed up to donate. Angie's focused work resulted in our turnout being double what we have achieved in prior years. This year 54 people signed up to donate lifesaving blood, and we collected 42 pints. The Blood Center estimates each pint of blood saves three lives, so yesterday the Lamont community helped save 126 people." Thanks to Angela and to all who participated!
On Wednesday evening next week, the 2015 Vetlesen Prize will be given to Steve Sparks of the University of Bristol. One of the world’s foremost volcanologists, Steve will be visiting Lamont on Monday. He will offer us a lecture, entitled “How volcanoes work,” at 3:30 pm in the Monell Auditorium, and a reception will follow. I hope that you can join me for both events.
Sean