Olivia DrakeHumanity is called to imagine an ethic that not only acknowledges but emulates the ways by which life thrives on Earth. How do we act, when we truly understand that we live in complete dependence on an Earth that is interconnected, interdependent, finite, and resilient? – The Blue River Declaration Every year, the College of the Environment gathers a group of Wesleyan faculty, scholars of prominence from outside Wesleyan and undergraduate students into a year-long academic think tank on a critical environmental issue. This year's theme is "Re-Envisioning the Commons." On Oct. 10, the group began engaging with the “Commons”…
Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, was named the winner of the 2013 Association for Women Geoscientists Professional Excellence Award in the Academia category. This award recognizes exceptional women who have made distinguished contributions in their professions throughout their careers. "The Award Committee was especially impressed with the breadth and depth of your professional accomplishments, your commitment to mentoring, and the emphasis you have placed on outreach and other service activities during your career," wrote Aimee Scheffer, president of the AWG in Thomas' award letter. "Congratulations and thank you for being a positive role model to current and…
By examining highly-detailed satellite images, researchers can spot small channels formed on the sides of craters on Mars. These channels may be evidence of flowing water on Mars. Since scientists don't exactly know what the surface of Mars is composed of, Wesleyan student Peter Martin ’14 created a modeling program that can simulate the kinds of salty water, or brine, solutions that would possibly form on Mars. For his efforts, Martin was awarded the Thomas R. McGetchin Memorial Scholarship Award. The $1,500 prize is given annually by the Universities Space Research Association in honor of the former Lunar and Planetary Institute Director, and…
Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, presented a keynote address at the 11th International Conference on Paleoceanography, Sept. 1-6 in Barcelona-Sitges, Spain. The theme of this conference was "Long-term perspectives on ocean and climate dynamics" and Thomas spoke on "Dynamics of the ancient non-analogue oceans." See her CV online here.
Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, is the co-author of "Surviving rapid climate change in the deep-sea during the Paleogene hyperthemals," published in the June 4 issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 110, No. 23. Read the paper's abstract online here. Thomas also is the co-author of "Paleoenvironmental changes during the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) and its aftermath: the benthic foraminiferal record from the Alano section (NE Italy)," published in the May 15 issue of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 378, 22-35. Read the paper's abstract online here. She also co-authored a book titled, The…
A geology book featuring a chapter co-authored by Ellen Thomas received a PROSE Award from The American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in 2013. Thomas is a research professor of earth and environmental sciences. She co-authored a chapter titled, "Carbon Isotope Stratigraphy," in the book, The Geologic Time Scale 2012, published by Elsevier in July 2012. The PROSE Awards annually recognize the very best in professional and scholarly publishing by bringing attention to distinguished books, journals, and electronic content in over 40 categories. Judged by peer publishers, librarians, and medical professionals since 1976, the PROSE Awards are extraordinary for…
Kate CarlisleIf anyone can appreciate humankind’s connection to the Earth, it’s a farmer. Essel Bailey ’66 grew up on farms in the South and Michigan, his early years shaped by the rhythms of planting and harvesting and his father’s careful stewardship of the land. The lessons of his farming boyhood stay with Bailey, a lawyer and executive in Ann Arbor, Mich., in his work with the Nature Conservancy and other groups, and informed, in part, his gift to Wesleyan’s College of the Environment. The nearly $3 million commitment from Bailey and his wife, Menakka, will endow a visiting professorship and bring…
Barry Chernoff and Dana Royer are the co-authors of "Diversity in neotropical wet forests during the Cenozoic linked more to atmospheric CO2 than temperature," published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, B, in 2013. Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of the journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology. Chernoff is the director of the College of the Environment, the Robert Schumann Professor of Environmental Studies, professor of biology, professor of earth…
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Kate Shervais '13 presented her thesis research on "Examining Microroughness Evolution in Natural and Experimental Pseudotachylyte-bearing Fault Surfaces," at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in April. More than 11,000 scientists from 95 countries attended the conference, which was held in Vienna, Austria. Only 28 percent of the participants were students. Shervais completed her study with Phil Resor, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences. Resor, who received a National Science Foundation grant to study earthquakes in an Italian fault zone, also attended the conference. The NSF grant supported their travel to the conference. "I had a wonderful time and…
Lily Baggott '15Plate subduction, magmatism, and mantle plumes are the focus of a recent study by Christopher Kincaid ’83, professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. A highly contested topic, the three proposed causes of volcanism in the northwestern United States led Kincaid and his team aboard the RV Endeavor to publish an article in the scientific journal Nature. “I always tell people that I got on this track to being an oceanographer because of my time at Wes,” Kincaid said. “I can trace it back to taking small geology classes alongside master’s level grad students. It made a huge…
Ellen Alexander '14, Professor Joop Varekamp and graduate student Lauren Camfield recently returned from Argentina where they studied the eruptive products of the Copahue volcano March 7-March 19. Varekamp, the Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, professor of environmental studies, has studied the volcano since 1997. It erupted in 2000 and again in December 2012. "Many Wesleyan students have done their senior theses and grad theses on Copahue. It's exciting stuff for us volcanology types," Varekamp said. Camfield sampled the products of the most recent eruption of Copahue, which included ash, pumice and volcanic bombs. She will analyze her samples…