We welcome new subscribers and thank our regular readers! Please enjoy this issue of our newsletter.

Scientific Progress during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Project Takes a New Approach to Gauging New York City’s Emissions

Lamont’s Earth and climate scientists are leading talks and demonstrations as part of the new EI LIVE virtual learning project. Targeting learners from kindergarten to adults, EI LIVE is creating astonishing online opportunities.

RSVP for Our Upcoming May EI LIVE Sessions for K-12 Students

How Catastrophic Floods May Have Carved Greenland’s ‘Grand Canyon’

A study by Lamont paleoclimatologist Benjamin Keisling suggests a new answer to an enduring question about how the canyon system beneath Greenland’s ice sheet formed.

Learn More

Project Takes a New Approach to Gauging New York City’s Emissions

Lamont atmospheric chemist Róisín Commane has devised a more accurate way to measure greenhouse gas emissions from the New York City region. With a cavity ring-down spectrometer, Commane and her team measured temporary emission reductions of 10 to 50% in key gas species, the result of the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learn More

Metal in Urine Provides Potential Non-invasive Test for Pancreatic Cancer

A study of metal concentrations and isotope ratios in urine—led by Lamont geochemist Kathrin Schilling—could signal the possibility of a new and completely non-invasive test for the most common form of pancreatic cancer.

Learn More

Why We Celebrate Earth Day

Earth Day is important to Lamont and everyone at the Earth Institute because it’s the one day of the year when everyone celebrates something that matters a lot to us: our beautiful planet.

Learn More

An Earth Day Message

Lamont and Earth Institute experts express their hopes for Earth Day 2020 and beyond.

Learn More

Waterfront Development Added Billions to Property Values Exposed to Hurricane Florence

A study led by Lamont polar scientist Marco Tedesco is the first to examine the impact of development in coastal areas on the financial risk from hurricanes and floods.

Learn More

Climate-Driven Megadrought Is Emerging in Western U.S., Says Study

Research led by Lamont bioclimatologist Park Williams indicates that a megadrought as bad or worse than any in the last 1200 years is very likely in progress in the western U.S., and warming climate is playing a key role.

Learn More

Unusually Clear Skies Drove Record Loss of Greenland Ice in 2019

Greenland’s exceptional ice loss last year wasn’t caused by warm atmospheric temperatures alone. A new study led by Lamont polar scientist Marco Tedesco identifies exceptional atmospheric circulation patterns that contributed in a major way to the ice sheet’s large mass loss.

Learn More

Examining How Early Humans Responded to Climate Change

Lamont paleoclimatologist Kevin Uno is working on a project designed to shed light on how different subsistence lifestyles influenced human resilience to climate change.

Learn More

American Robins Now Migrate 12 Days Earlier Than in 1994

New research led by Lamont ecologists Ruth Oliver and Natalie Boelman indicates that because of climate change robin migration is kicking off earlier at a rate of about five days per decade.

Learn More

As COVID-19 Halts Climate Expeditions, Scientists Grapple with Uncertainties

The coronavirus is stalling plans for fieldwork by scientists at Lamont and elsewhere.

Learn More

EDUCATION

Careers in Geoscience: Where to Start and What to Expect

By Cassie Xu

On Earth Day 2020, Lamont and Hostos Community College co-hosted a career panel as a part of the Community College Compass project, which is supported by the National Science Foundation’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program.

The panel featured professionals from the geosciences discussing what geoscience means to them, pathways into their fields, and career advice for future geoscientists.

The panel was moderated by Professor Anna Ivanova and Professor Yoel Rodriguez from the Natural Sciences Department at Hostos Community College.

Panelists included:

E. Christa Farmer, Professor of Geology, Environment, and Sustainability, Hofstra University
Allison Franzese, Assistant Professor, Hostos Community College
Melissa C. Lott, Senior Research Scholar, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University
Dara Mendeloff, Geographic Information Specialist, Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University
Chiza Mwinde, Scholar in the Bridge to the Ph.D. Program in STEM, Columbia University

We are excited to continue co-hosting events such as this one for students interested in the geosciences. If you have any questions about the project, please contact Cassie Xu.