August 2018

Sea Level Rise and Coastal Development

In the academic community, many interested in the business of coastal development have begun to take into account information from climate scientists and have expressed frustration that government regulators are not doing so.

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Education Section

Pictured, from left to right: Sara Sobolewska, Annemarie Pillsbury, Juan Jaramillo, Michael Pirrie, and Jasmine Vera. Not pictured: Bridget McCann.
 

Summer Internship Opens Eyes and Doors for Community College Students

by Cassie Xu
This summer, the Lamont Summer Intern Program welcomed 14 interns as part of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program of the National Science Foundation. These interns spent 10 weeks in immersive research experiences supervised by Lamont research faculty. This year was particularly special for us, as we had more interns from community colleges in the New York metropolitan area than ever before. Six of our interns this year were community college students, and each has had an overwhelmingly positive experience doing authentic scientific research at a world-renowned Earth science research institute.

There has been a steady increase in the number of students attending community colleges, and education experts now realize that the transfer point between a two-year and a four-year institution has become an especially important time in the educational development of many students. A number of students who complete their associate’s degrees at community colleges do not go on to pursue bachelor’s degrees, let alone degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Therefore, the transition has become a time of particular focus for the National Science Foundation as well as those working in STEM education research.

From colleagues at community colleges in the New York metropolitan area, we at Lamont have gained crucial insights into the importance of providing research experiences for students. More generally, we feel it’s important to reinforce the idea that the doors to four-year institutions remain open for all. We therefore decided to focus on actively recruiting community college students into our REU program. In partnership with Lamont’s Office of Education and Outreach, the principal investigator of the Observatory’s REU program, Dallas Abbott, worked this year to increase the number of community college participants in the Summer Intern Program.

We welcomed the six students onto the Lamont campus on June 3, and they have been working with their supervisors on individual research projects. The students, Juan David Jamarillo from Queensborough Community College, Bridget McCann and Sara Sobolewska from Kingsborough Community College, Annemarie Pillsbury from Dutchess Community College, Michael David Pirrie from Housatonic Community College, and Jasmine Vera from Orange County Community College, worked on very different projects – from investigating core formation in meteorite parent bodies, to constructing records of ice-rafted debris at the Bermuda Rise, validating smart watches to connect to data collected by children with asthma, using personal air monitors to determine how much black carbon cyclists inhale when they bicycle in New York City, exploiting stratigraphic markers in Hudson River sediments, and examining differential time travel of P and S waves to understand the nature of the Northern Appalachian seismic anomaly.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with the students to learn more about their summer research experiences. Four of the students stated that prior to coming to Lamont they had a narrow perspective of research, and they now realize that Earth science is much more interdisciplinary than they had imagined. A few also commented that lessons in their science classrooms were always reviews of other people’s research, but they never before had the opportunity to work with real data. This summer’s experience was particularly illuminating for them as they realized just how connected to real-world issues their projects are. For the students working with small samples, they felt great excitement to see how something so small could tell us such a vivid story about the past.

And while analyzing the data wasn’t always glamorous and was sometimes frustrating, the students all agreed that it was extremely rewarding for them to be part of the scientific process. For many, this experience confirmed that scientific research would definitely be a part of their futures. Lastly, when this cohort was asked about why this experience was especially important for community college students, they all agreed that it allowed them to work with research faculty not available at their own institutions, to expand their social networks, and to participate in a rewarding place-based learning experience.
 

Lamont in the Media
 

Marie Tharp, the Woman Who Discovered the Backbone of Earth
Forbes

When Noise Becomes Signal
NOAA Research News

Earth Matters: A Death Threat for the Hudson River
Nyack News and Views

City Cyclists: Here’s How Much Pollution You’re Actually Inhaling
Vice News

Ghosts of Ancient Forests
National Geographic

Sea Levels Must Rise to the Top of the Agenda in Washington
The Hill

The Antarctica Series: Four Virtual-Reality Films That Take You On, Above and Below the Antarctic Ice
New York Times

Lava Bomb Hits Tourist Boat in Hawaii, Injuring 23
The New York Times

A Giant Iceberg Parked Offshore. It’s Stunning, but Villagers Hit the Road.
The New York Times

A Brain Scientist and Volcanologist Investigate Why Some Volcanoes Turn Explosive
Columbia News

The Lowdown on Rising Temps
The East Hampton Star

Pioneering Western Water Management Strategies
Science Friday

Earth Matters: Last-Minute Win for the Hudson River
Nyack News & Views