|
2009 News
January-March | April-June | July-September | October-December
 |
June 29, 2009
CIRES Scientists win Gerbier-MUMM Award
CIRES Fellow Balaji Rajagopalan was in Geneva earlier this month to receive the Norbert Gerbier-MUMM International Award from the World Meteorological Organization. The Gerbier–MUMM Award was established to "reward an original scientific paper on the influence of meteorology in a particular field of the physical, natural or human sciences" or the influence of one of those sciences on meteorology. [ source: News & Events ] |
 |
June 29, 2009
Tsunami Team Awarded CIRES Silver Meda
The 2008 CIRES Silver Medal was awarded to the Tsunami Team at NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center for their work to improve tsunami forecasting and preparedness. [ source: News & Events ] |
 |
June 12, 2009
Online Course Will Help Teachers Introduce Climate Change To Middle, High School Classrooms
Colorado middle and high school teachers will be able to clear up global warming misconceptions and develop effective climate science curricula for their classrooms through a new online course offered by the University of Colorado at Boulder. "Climate Literacy: Essential Principles for Teachers" will cover scientific basics about Earth’s climate, address key misconceptions about the climate system, and help teachers develop climate-based lesson plans. [ source: News & Events ] |
 |
June 11, 2009
NSIDC Data Scientist Wins Falkenberg Award
NSIDC program manager Mark Parsons has won the Charles S. Falkenberg Award for his leadership in Earth science research and data management. The award is presented jointly by AGU and the Earth Science Information Partnership (ESIP) and honors a scientist under 45 years of age who has contributed to the quality of life, economic opportunities and stewardship of the planet. Since joining NSIDC in 1994, Parsons has worked to improve the flow of Earth science information and raise public awareness of the importance of the Earth's polar regions and cryosphere.
[ source: NSIDC News ] |
 |
June 5, 2009
CIRES Graduate Students Earn Top Fellowships
Eight CIRES graduate students were awarded prestigious fellowships by NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) this spring. Congratulations to NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship winners Jessica Axson, Lin Liu, Carly Robinson, John Smith, and Samantha Stevenson and to NSF Graduate Research Fellowship winners Adriana Bailey, Stephanie Higgins, and Kelly Ramirez. Congratulations also to recent biology Ph.D. graduate Jia Hu, who has been accepted into NCAR’s Advanced Study Program. [ source: News & Events ] |
 |
May 26, 2009
CIRES Researchers Recognized For Role In Historic Colorado River Shortage Agreement
CIRES Fellow Balaji Rajagopalan and Western Water Assessment Director Brad Udall were among those honored with the U.S. Department of the Interior's "Partners in Conservation Award" this month for their role in the adoption of innovative, new operational guidelines for managing the Colorado River in drought years. [ source: News & Events ] |
 |
May 19, 2009
Professor Mark Serreze Named National Snow and Ice Data Center Director
University of Colorado at Boulder Professor Mark Serreze has been named director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, a campus center for data, research and information focusing on Earth's frozen regions. [ source: News & Events ] |
 |
May 14, 2009
Melting Threat From West Antarctic Ice Sheet Less Than Expected But Could Hit U.S. Hardest, Study Says
While a total or partial collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet as a result of warming would not raise global sea levels as high as some predict, levels on the U.S. seaboards would rise 25 percent more than the global average and threaten cities like New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, according to a new study. [ source: News & Events ] |
 |
May 7, 2009
Interior Department Recognizes CIRES' Western Water Science
Several CIRES scientists were among the recipients of a "Partners in Conservation Award," presented by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to honor the collaborative development of interim operational guidelines for managing the Colorado River in 2007. They were CIRES Fellow Balaji Rajagopalan, who was recognized through his involvement in the CU Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES), and the CIRES Western Water Assessment team. |
 |
April 17, 2009
ESRL-CIRES Graduate Fellowship Winners Announced
Three students have been awarded this year's prestigious NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)-CIRES Graduate Research Fellowship. The fellowship program allows students to conduct research with ESRL's world class scientists and earn a degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder. This year's award winners are Sunil Baidar, Ph.D. student in Chemistry and Biochemistry, Katherine McCaffrey, Ph.D. student in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC), and Alice Duvivier, Master's student in ATOC. |
 |
April 13, 2009
CIRES Announces Outstanding Performance Awards
What makes an outstanding CIRES employee? Whether its boosting the institute's recycling program, reporting stories from the field, or improving data retrieval from radar, CIRES' oustanding science and service award winners help advance the institute's research and educational mission. This year's science winners are Sonja Wolter, Doug Guenther, Fred Moore, John Holloway, and Sergey Matrosov. The outstanding service award goes to Molly Heller and Adriana Bailey. |
 |
April 8, 2009
Ice Bridge Supporting Wilkins Ice Shelf Collapses
An ice bridge connecting the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula to Charcot Island has disintegrated, reported scientists at CIRES' National Snow and Ice Data Center. The event continues a series of breakups that began in March 2008 on the ice shelf, and highlights the effect that climate change is having on the region. [ source: News & Events ] |
 |
April 6, 2009
New Satellite Data Show Arctic Literally On Thin Ice
The latest data from NASA and CIRES' National Snow and Ice Data Center show the continuation of a decade-long trend of shrinking sea ice extent in the Arctic, including new evidence for thinning ice as well. Data show the winter of 2008-09 was the fifth lowest maximum ice extent on record. Seasonal ice -- which melts and re-freezes every year -- now comprises about 70 percent of Arctic sea ice in winter, up from 40 to 50 percent in the 1980s and 1990s. [ source: News & Events ] |
|
Notable & Quotable
June 17, 2009
Runoff and Reservoirs
Andy Barrett of the National Snow and Ice Data Center says that Colorado needs to be mindful of water storage capacity in light of this spring's early snowmelt. Data show reservoir storage is at 116 percent of average statewide. “You have to make sure there's room in reservoirs to store the water, and also satisfy the demands of people downstream,” Barrett said. Read more in the Denver Post.
June 15, 2009
UAVs May Unlock Polynyas' Global Effect
Unique holes of open water, called polynyas (pronounced puh-LIN-yuhs) are among the few places in the Antarctic not covered by snow and ice in the winter. The strong exchange of heat and moisture between the ocean and the air are of particular interest to CIRES scientist John Cassano because of the profound effect on ocean current and global climate the polynyas may have. Previous work has modeled the phenomena extensively, but this August, Cassano's team will measure a polynya’s properties first-hand. They'll fly four unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over Terra Nova Bay, and make a some Antarctic research history while they're at it. Read more about this summer's missions in the Antarctic Sun.
June 1, 2009
Methodological Mess
Global warming is causing more than 300,000 deaths each year, according to a new report by the Global Humanitarian Forum; but CIRES' Roger Pielke Jr. called the report "a methodological embarrassment," highlighting the Forum's failure to distinguish between climate change and other factors such as population growth and economic development. See his quotes in the New York Times and LiveScience.com.
May 19, 2009
CIRES Researcher's Hobby Is Electrifying
In his spare time, CIRES researcher Bill Dube has designed and built the world's fastest electric powered motorcycle: the KillaCycle. Recently, he talked about his pasttime with CU Engineering students. Check out the Daily Camera YouTube video.
May 19, 2009
Accelerating Spring Runoff
"Colorado’s rivers and streams could reach their peak runoff 20 to 30 days earlier than average this year because of the dust that coated the mountains," reporter Scott Condon wrote in the Aspen Times ("Spring runoff to be fast and furious") after talking with NSIDC hydrologist Andy Barrett.
April 21, 2009
Colorado River Crisis
A new study in PNAS suggests that by mid-century, as the climate changes, Colorado River water deliveries might not be met 60-80% of the time. Western Water Assessment Director Brad Udall commented to the Arizona Republic ("Warming could spur water crisis"): "This paper is a call to action to try to begin to figure out among the water-management community how will we handle this."
April 6, 2009
Ancient Architecture In Italy Earthquake
"Italy consistently has the worst fatality rate when it comes to earthquakes in Europe," CIRES Fellow Roger Bilham told CU News, in response to the powerful quake that shook Italy on April 6. "It is clear there is very high seismic strain in the region, and many of the earthquakes occur in places where the picturesque buildings are many centuries old and vulnerable to collapse by strong shaking," he said.
|
About Us