Discovering Earth’s Secrets

New Lamont research suggests that boggy areas known as northern peatlands play a more important role in climate change and the carbon cycle than previously thought.

Lamont plant physiologist Kevin Griffin is among the first to use a new device called the point dendrometer. It can be used to detect how a tree shrinks and expands during the course of a single day, as well as how trees grow over time.

Bicycling perfectly balances the rate of human cognition and the pace of ecosystem change; cycling turns space into time. Lamont graduate student Elizabeth Hillary Case describes a week-long bicycle trip that has brought climate science to underprivileged schools.

A new project led by Lamont polar scientist Marco Tedesco will study Greenland’s Helheim Glacier in unprecedented detail, using drones, laser scanners, and high-resolution models to untangle the processes that are driving ice loss in this region.

On Saturday, October 5, Lamont opened its doors to the public once again. This year’s Open House attracted more than 3,600 visitors and, just like research at Lamont, covered a vast range of subjects and regions, from under the sea to the surface of the Moon.

Walter Pitman, a seagoing geophysicist who spotted a crucial piece of a huge puzzle that revolutionized the Earth sciences, died on October 1 at the age of 87. At the time of his death, he was a special research scientist at Lamont, where he had spent his entire scientific career.