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Dean's Letter |
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Welcome to our second newsletter of the 2013-14 academic year. It’s been an exciting year thus far, with more interesting and important news than can be shared in just one venue. We hope you read, watch the videos and enjoy this newsletter! Meanwhile, I’d like to use this moment to share a bit about our most critical resource: our faculty.
Stanford’s School of Earth Sciences has two important missions: to educate future leaders and to carry out innovative research. Some of that research is focused on making discoveries about the workings of Earth and some is about developing knowledge needed to solve challenges that are among the greatest facing society.
The key to success in our teaching and research mission is, of course, our faculty. Today, we have 61 amazing, world-class scientists and engineers who teach and advise undergraduates, train and mentor graduate students, carry out game-changing research, and serve the university and their communities in numerous other ways. I know many of you remember your Stanford teachers and advisers with great warmth and respect. We continue in that tradition with each new hire that we make.
Read more...
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News & Discoveries |
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A comprehensive study led by Adam Brandt, assistant professor of Energy Resources Engineering, confirms that U.S. methane emissions have been significantly underestimated. Leaks from the nation's natural gas system were identified as an important part of the problem. The study’s findings have important implications for natural gas as a possible replacement fuel for coal. Read more...
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Scientists in Geophysics Professor Greg Beroza’s research group developed a new technique and used it to confirm a prediction that Los Angeles would experience stronger-than-expected ground motion if a major quake occurred along the southern San Andreas Fault. Their technique capitalizes on the ambient seismic field – signals that are generated by ocean waves interacting with solid Earth. Read more...
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It’s well understood how blocking ridges cause drought conditions, but why the current circumstance affecting California is so persistent is less clear. Noah Diffenbaugh, associate professor of Environmental Earth System Science, and his grad student Daniel Swain are investigating the extent to which climate change influences the formation of the ridge and whether extreme droughts will be more likely in California. Read More...
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Scientists have long been puzzled by how magnesite veins were formed millions of years ago, including those at a mine near campus. A solution proposed by Assistant Professor Kate Maher of Geological and Environmental Sciences and her research team may lead to a novel technique for permanently converting the greenhouse gas CO2 into a solid that can be stored underground safely. Read more...
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In a lecture for Stanford Continuing Studies, Professor Rob Dunbar discussed his recent explorations in Antarctica, illustrated by stunning video and still images. He gave a broad overview of his research ranging from seasonal changes in the carbon-rich Southern Ocean food chain to Antarctica’s climate history as revealed through sediment cores. Dunbar is the W.M. Keck Professor of Earth Science. Read more...
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More News & Discoveries
- Understanding how mountains and rivers make life possible
- Surface of sea on Titan is mirror smooth
- Crop yields likely to fall with rising temperatures, but early adaption could increase yields
- 39th Stanford Geothermal Workshop attracted leading researchers and professionals; papers and abstracts are available online
- Learning to use complex lab equipment, virtually
- NSF funded consortium aims to boost minority faculty in STEM fields
- Nearly 6,000 gas leaks discovered under Washington D.C.
- Icelandic volcano eruption proves professor’s hypothesis
- Stanford and Carnegie team up to launch online forest monitoring course; Spanish version also available
- Ancient rainfall record indicates that rising mountains dried out Central Asia
- Precious rare Earth metals discovered where continental plates collided
- School of Earth Sciences Distinguished Lecture videos
Earthquake Interaction on the Scale of a Fault to the Planet, Ross Stein (PhD, 1980, Geology), Geophysicist at the United States Geological Survey
The Hidden Hazard of the Santa Cruz Mountains, George Hilley, Associate Professor in Geological and Environmental Sciences - Reservoir Geomechanics course offered online, free of charge, in Spring quarter
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Faculty News & Honors |
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Rod Ewing is combining his science and policy expertise to tackle issues ranging from nuclear wastes to renewable energy sources. The recipient of a PhD in geology from Stanford in 1974, Ewing returns to The Farm with joint appointments in the School of Earth Sciences and the Center for International Security and Cooperation. Read more...
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As a teenager, Tiziana Vanorio was part of a mass evacuation from her hometown of Pozzuoli, Italy, an ancient port city nestled in the center of a giant volcanic crater. In 1983, the town experienced thousands of "microquakes" and ground swelling, causing residents to flee. When it came time for college, Vanorio, who was recently promoted to assistant professor of Geophysics, knew she wanted to study the Earth sciences. Read more...
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More Faculty News & Honors
- Kevin Arrigo has been appointed to the Donald and Donald M. Steel Professorship in the School of Earth Sciences. He is also the Victoria P. and Roger W. Sant Co-Director of the Earth Systems Program and a Gerhard Casper University Fellow in Undergraduate Education. He heads the Ocean Biogeochemistry Group.
- Gordon Brown has been elected as a Foreign Member in Academia Europaea, an organization of eminent scholars from across the continent of Europe.
- Jef Caers of Energy Resources Engineering has been promoted to full professor. He joined Stanford in 1999 as assistant professor of petroleum engineering. Congratulations Professor Caers!
- Noah Diffenbaugh is one of 13 leading climate scientists convened by the American Academy for the Advancement of Science to create the "What We Know" campaign, aimed at communicating the three "Rs" of climate change -- reality, risk and response -- to the public.
- Chris Field received the 2013 Max Planck Research Prize, one of Germany’s most prestigious and generous prizes. He was also named by the journal Nature as one of five people to watch in 2014, based on his leadership of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II. In addition, Field is the recipient of the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Climate Change from the BBVA Foundation, based in Spain.
- Rosemary Knight gave an invited talk on water security at a recent Stanford+Connects event in Monterey, CA. She described field research she will conduct this fall along the Monterey and Santa Cruz county coasts using novel surface technology to determine the extent to which saltwater is threatening local fresh water aquifers. View video...
- David Lobell was selected one of 100 Leading Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine which cited his efforts to help farmers feed the world.
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Student News |
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A field trip to eastern California gave many undergrads their first opportunity to explore the Golden State at any significant distance from the Stanford campus. View video... |
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Undergrad research makes waves
From Ecuador to Palau to here on The Farm, more than 30 undergraduates spent last summer working intensively on scientific projects through the popular School of Earth Sciences Undergraduate Research Program. And some made waves by presenting their research at the recent AGU Oceans Conference. Read more...
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Graduate student Nora Nieminski recently returned from New Zealand, where she used a remote-controlled quadcopter to measure the thickness of coastal sandstone beds. Her findings could lead to improved models for locating hidden oil caches. Before using the drone in the field, Nora tested it around campus. Read more... |
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After organizing a successful sophomore college class in the wilderness of southeast Alaska last fall, a team of four Earth Sciences PhD students and alums are dreaming a possible dream: they aim to establish a not-for-profit, experiential field school called the Inian Islands Institute. Read more...
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More Student News
- Usua Amanam, MS co-term (Energy Resources Engineering), was named all-academic honorable mention by the Pac-12 Conference for the second straight season. In his four years on the team, Stanford’s record was 46-8 and played in four consecutive BCS post-season bowl games. He was named Defensive MVP of the 2013 Rose Bowl Game. And he is one of three students featured in President Hennessy's letter, "In Praise of True Student-Athletes," in the March/April issue of Stanford magazine.
- Suzanne Birner and Blair Burgreen, both graduate students in Geological and Environmental Sciences, received Outstanding Student Paper Awards during the 2013 Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. Burgreen’s talk was entitled "The impact of structural deformation in a 2D basin and petroleum system model of the East Coast Basin, New Zealand." The title of Birner’s talk was "Variations in Oxygen Fugacity among Forearc Peridotites from the Tonga Trench."
- Amanda Cravens, 5th year, PhD (Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources), received the Goldsmith Writing Prize in Conflict Resolution by the Stanford Center for International Conflict and Negotiation.
- Lauren Oakes, 5th year, PhD (Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources), received a Gerald J. Lieberman Fellowship through the Stanford Vice Provost for Graduate Education for her potential as an academic leader. As a student in Tom Hayden's class "Opinion Writing in the Sciences," she wrote an op-ed titled "Microbead cleansers can be bad for everyone's health" that was featured in the San Francisco Chronicle.
- Dan Reineman, 4th year, PhD (Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources), received a Goldman Graduate Fellowship through the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment for his dissertation research. He also received a Graduate Public Service Fellowship from Stanford’s Haas Center for Public Service.
- Nik Sawe, 4th year, PhD student (Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources), another student of Tom Hayden's "Opinion Writing in the Sciences" class, placed an editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle titled "California drought: Why it's hard to conserve."
- Aaron Strong, 3rd year, PhD (Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources), received a Graduate Public Service Fellowship from Stanford’s Haas Center for Public Service.
- Valerie Zuin, 6th year, PhD (Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources), recently published research demonstrating merit in sub-Saharan Africans buying water from neighbors, which provides benefits in terms of quality, quantity, convenience and price.
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Alumni News & Class Notes |
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Siemon Muller: An unforgettable teacher
Wendell A. Duffield writes that Professor Siemon Muller (far left) became a permanent part of his existence. In a short essay, Duffield pays tribute to Muller, whom he encountered while working toward degrees in Geology: '65, MS and '67 PhD. Duffield is shown on a field trip in Baja.
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After a career as an exploration geologist, Paul Zweng bought land on Oahu, where much of the native ecosystem had been overrun by invasives. As featured in the New York Times, Zweng (‘80, BSc, Geology and BA, Mineral Economics; ‘93, PhD, Applied Earth Sciences) is both removing the invasives and restoring native species. Volunteers needed! Read more...
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Throughout the world, Earth Sciences alumni are moving, shaking and even retiring. Scan our alphabetical listing for updates on your fellow alums about their post-Stanford lives. We’d love to hear from you too – about work, life, honors or awards – so please send updates for the Earth Matters newsletter and for posting on the SES website. Read more...
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Upcoming Events |
April 7, 2014, 5:30 - 7 p.m. - Houston, TX
April 11, 2014, 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Y2E2, Stanford CA
Featuring Professors Chris Field and Noah Diffenbaugh; alumnus Michael Mastrandrea, postdoctoral researcher Dan Horton, and PhD students Fran Moore, Nik Sawe, Deepti Singh and Aaron Strong.
April 18, 2014, 12:30 - 5:30 p.m., McCaw Hall in Arrillaga Alumni Center, Stanford CA - advance registration required, no admission fee
School of Earth Sciences Distinguished Lecture by Prof. Randall LeVeque
April 24, 4:15 p.m., Mackenzie Room, Huang Engineering Center, Stanford CA
SES professors Margot Gerritsen and Noah Diffenbaugh will be among the presenters
May 10, 2014, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Cemex Auditorium, Stanford CA
Stanford’s 123rd Commencement
June 15, 2014, 9:30 a.m., Stanford Stadium. The commencement speakers at Bill and Melinda Gates. The School of Earth Sciences Diploma Ceremony follows at 12:30 p.m. on the patio of the Mitchell Building.
Earth Sciences Alumni Reception, Stanford Reunion Homecoming
October 24, 2014. More information will be available in the coming months.
September 27, 2014, New York City
November 1, 2014, Seattle, WA
November 8, 2014, San Diego, CA
Please visit earth.stanford.edu/events for a comprehensive list of on-campus events including seminars and lectures.
*Alumni who do not attend the conference are welcome to join us at the reception.
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