Please join CIRES Director Waleed Abdalati for another CIRES Town Hall on Tuesday, February 1 for both CU Boulder and NOAA-based employees. The agenda this week includes: the CIRES DEI strategic plan and start the CIRES-wide comment period.

Join Zoom Meeting: https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/93081058086

Meeting ID: 930 8105 8086

One tap mobile

+12532158782,,93081058086# US (Tacoma)

+13462487799,,93081058086# US (Houston)

Dial by your location

        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

        +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)

Meeting ID: 930 8105 8086

Find your local number: https://cuboulder.zoom.us/u/abG5vTWm3g

ESOC virtual coffee hour occurs weekly from 9-10am on Wednesdays. We will be meeting remotely on Zoom. Please email Claire Waugh (waughc@colorado.edu) for information.

ESOC researchers, post-docs and graduate students gather for conversation and to discuss research. Occasional guest speakers are invited to give short presentations on topics of interest.

This week Fangfang Yao, CIRES/ESOC Post-Doctoral Researcher, will give a talk “Understanding lake level variability from regional to global scales: trends, drivers and impacts”.

Are you looking to broaden your perspectives in Earth and environmental data science? Are you excited to collaborate with others and hear about new developments in this area?

Topics must be about using *big data* to advance knowledge of the dynamics and interactions of the Earth system, towards actionable insights and tools

Starting Spring 2022, Earth Lab will be hosting a regular weekly 50-min seminar series on topics related to Environmental Data Science (EDS) that uses big data to advance knowledge of the dynamics and interactions of the Earth systems, towards actionable insights and tools.

These weekly sessions are intended to inspire collaboraitons and creative problem solving using data and analytics for a broad range of environmental science topics. Each week will be led by someone and can take on many forms: data jams, ractice conference talks (15 min) w/ Q&A, paper Discussions, brainstorming, 30 min lecture, other. 

Purpose: To reignite collaborations by inspiring creative problem solving by sharing the many interesting projects and work that Earth Lab and affiliates have been doing to advance the use of data for environmental challenges. 
 
Who: Earth Lab affiliates, CU affiliates, and other interested parties are invited to attend.
When: Tuesdays 11:00-11:50 AM (MST) beginning on 1/18/22
Where: Remote (Zoom and VizStudio).
What: View the schedule of events here.  
Why: We wish to reinvigorate the Earth Lab community and facilitate collaborative interactions that have been challenging during extended work-from-home time.
 
To receive weekly announcements and reminders about future talks, SIGN UP HERE to be added to our listserv. 
 
Also attached is a recurring calendar invite. This is a series invite, if you ever plan to attend, please “tentatively accept” and decline individual events once this is saved to your calendar. 

This week's topic: Human causes and impacts of Fire in the Western US

Speaker: Phil Higueria - University of Montana

Visit our website for more details.

ESOC virtual coffee hour occurs weekly from 9-10am on Wednesdays. We will be meeting remotely on Zoom. Please email Claire Waugh (waughc@colorado.edu) for information.

ESOC researchers, post-docs and graduate students gather for conversation and to discuss research. Occasional guest speakers are invited to give short presentations on topics of interest.

Please join us for the NC CASC Webinar Series Webinar on Thursday, February 10, 2022, 11a -12p MST: "Developing Climate Information for US Fish and Wildlife Service Species Status Assessments Using the Climate Toolbox" 

Presented by: 

Katherine Hegewisch, University of California Merced

John Guinotte, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Alexandra Kasdin, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Registration link: Please register in advance for this meeting: https://cuboulder.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYocuGrqD0rGNHZ0LQcsqwe2067uK-iJOlx

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join the meeting.  

Abstract:

Field biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service develop climate information for species status assessments of potentially endangered species using data from ClimateToolbox.org.  In this webinar, we will discuss the data needs for these assessments and will provide an overview of the data and tools in the Climate Toolbox with specific examples of how biologists currently utilize the Toolbox for assessments. 

About the speakers:

Katherine Hegewisch is a project scientist at the University of California Merced where she works as a climate data provider, analyst and web tool developer. She is the developer of the Climate Toolbox, a series of web tools for visualizing climate data. She received her PhD in physics from Washington State University in 2010. 

John Guinotte is a spatial ecologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in its Ecological Services Program, based out of the legacy region 6 office in Lakewood Colorado. John assists FWS field offices across regions 5 and 7 with analytical, geospatial and statistical needs for listing or delisting species under the Endangered Species Act’s Species Status Assessments. In addition to informing listing decisions, John’s work supports habitat conservation plans, recovery, critical habitat, climate vulnerability and mitigation. John has PhD in Tropical Environmental Studies and Geography from James Cook University in Australia. 

Alex Kasdin is a Species Assessment Team Project Manager with the Ecological Services Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; she works out of the Regional Office in Lakewood, Colorado.  She leads teams of biological experts crafting Species Status Assessments to inform classification decisions under the Endangered Species Act.  She also helps decision-makers apply the standards in the Act to determine if species warrant listing. Alex has a Bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a Master’s in Public Affairs, both from Princeton University.

Previous NC CASC webinar recordings: https://nccasc.colorado.edu/webinars

Longer term aging of organic aerosol: photobleaching and chemical transformations

Rachel O'Brien,
College of William and Mary

"Organic aerosol particles can influence the climate through either directly absorbing or scattering solar radiation or by acting as nuclei for cloud droplets. Some aerosol particles are dominantly scattering while others contain organic molecules that can absorb solar radiation in the visible region, termed brown carbon (BrC). We still have large uncertainties in the magnitude of these climate effects and a better understanding of the removal rates for the particle mass and absorption properties (i.e. color) is needed. One removal process is photolysis, where absorption of solar radiation leads to fragmentation of the organic molecules and the loss of particle mass and/or color. However, the photolysis rates and the overall extent of mass that can be removed via direct photolysis in laboratory experiments does not match what is used in models and often differs from ambient measurements. In this talk, I will combine results from work in our lab looking at photolysis of biogenic secondary organic aerosol as well as BrC from biomass burning organic aerosol to evaluate gaps in our ability to predict the observed ambient removal rates. By probing complex mixtures from recent biomass burning experiments (e.g. FIREX samples), I will demonstrate that our current measured rates in the laboratory are overestimated and that a slower photolysis rate, as well as a potential gas-phase oxidation rate, should be used to predict the role of photolysis on organic aerosol lifetime in the atmosphere."

Correction, see here for Feb 22 seminar: https://cires.colorado.edu/events/earth-lab-eds-seminar-0

Are you looking to broaden your perspectives in Earth and environmental data science? Are you excited to collaborate with others and hear about new developments in this area?

Topics must be about using *big data* to advance knowledge of the dynamics and interactions of the Earth system, towards actionable insights and tools

Starting Spring 2022, Earth Lab will be hosting a regular weekly 50-min seminar series on topics related to Environmental Data Science (EDS) that uses big data to advance knowledge of the dynamics and interactions of the Earth systems, towards actionable insights and tools.

These weekly sessions are intended to inspire collaboraitons and creative problem solving using data and analytics for a broad range of environmental science topics. Each week will be led by someone and can take on many forms: data jams, ractice conference talks (15 min) w/ Q&A, paper Discussions, brainstorming, 30 min lecture, other. 

Purpose: To reignite collaborations by inspiring creative problem solving by sharing the many interesting projects and work that Earth Lab and affiliates have been doing to advance the use of data for environmental challenges. 
 
Who: Earth Lab affiliates, CU affiliates, and other interested parties are invited to attend.
When: Tuesdays 11:00-11:50 AM (MST) beginning on 1/18/22
Where: Remote (Zoom and VizStudio).
What: View the schedule of events here.  
Why: We wish to reinvigorate the Earth Lab community and facilitate collaborative interactions that have been challenging during extended work-from-home time.
 
To receive weekly announcements and reminders about future talks, SIGN UP HERE to be added to our listserv. 
 
Also attached is a recurring calendar invite. This is a series invite, if you ever plan to attend, please “tentatively accept” and decline individual events once this is saved to your calendar. 

This week's topic: Assisted Migration Analytics to Rescue Populations from Extinction

Speaker: Ty Tuff - CIRES Earth Lab

Visit our website for more details.

High mountain biodiversity under climate change: progress, challenges, and promise by Dr. Scott Hotaling

Abstract: Climate change is dramatically altering mountain ecosystems worldwide. In high-elevation regions, perhaps the most consequential change is the rapid recession of glaciers and perennial snowfields. How a changing cryosphere will impact biodiversity, particularly in glacier and meltwater-driven habitats, is poorly known. In this seminar, I will integrate community ecology, ecophysiology, and molecular tools to give a broad overview of the existing biodiversity in high mountain habitats, its potential fate under climate change, and the evidence for in situ refugia to buffer these changes.

Bio:  Scott Hotaling is currently a postdoc in the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University but in Summer 2022, he’ll be starting a new lab at Utah State University in the Dept. of Watershed Sciences. He received a PhD in 2017 from the University of Kentucky (Advisor: David Weisrock) and has a BS from North Carolina State University (2011). In 2015, he co-founded the Teton Alpine Stream Research project which is dedicated to using long-term ecological monitoring to quantify how mountain aquatic ecosystems are changing. He is also a big fan of Twitter (@MtnScience).

TO JOIN BY ZOOM:

From a computer: https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/5409618610

Or iPhone one-tap :

US: +16465588656,,5409618610# 

Or Telephone:

Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): 

US: +1 646 558 8656 

Meeting ID: 540 961 8610

International numbers available: https://zoom.us/u/MNl8z

Please join CGA members and Christine Wiedinmyer for our first Hidden Curricuculm seminar in the series to discuss building your network of mentors!

The Hidden Curriculum seminars were developed by Amanda Donaldson, Galen Gorski, Colleen Murphy, Jenny Pensky, Adam Price, Christina Richardson, Araceli Serrano, and Margaret Zimmer* because much of the graduate school experience is focused on tangible and formal skill development surrounding research and teaching. These seminars focuses on the informal “hidden curriculum” in graduate school that can complement formal student learning to help individuals lead successful research careers. 

The first seminar of this series will focus on how to build your network of mentors, lead by CIRES' own, Christine Wiedinmyer. She will discuss how to find and pick mentors in order to build the best supportive network. 

Please join us on Thursday February 17th @12:30 - 2 pm on zoom to hear some tips and ask your own questions. RSVP here by Wednesday at 11:59 pm MST in order to receive the zoom link on Thursday morning. 

* Source: 
Zimmer, M., A. Donaldson, G. Gorski, C. Murphy, J. Pensky, A. Price, C. Richardson, A. Serrano (2021). Hidden curriculum in the geosciences graduate course, HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/60b4def2ee034f4b8a0b488704770905

Important resources mentioned during the event:

Writing support + Professional development opportunities through the Graduate School: https://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/professional-development-community

CU Student + postdoctoral services: https://ciresecguide.colorado.edu/cu-services

National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (activate your membership here): https://www.facultydiversity.org/institutions/university-of-colorado-boulder

Graduate student process therapy groups through CU (included in CU Gold plan): https://www.colorado.edu/counseling/services/process-therapy-groups

Faculty & staff counseling services: https://www.colorado.edu/hr/faculty-staff-assistance-program

Confidential reporting services: Cireshr@colorado.edu & https://www.colorado.edu/ombuds/

Graduate student/advisor mentoring agreement: https://www.colorado.edu/engineering-facultystaff/sites/default/files/attached-files/advising_agreement_final_final.pdf

An Investigation of Carboxylic Acid Chemistry in Indoor and Outdoor Environments

Anna Ziola, ANYL 3rd year,
Ziemann group

"Carboxylic acids are prominent organic molecules in indoor and outdoor environments and also have chemical properties that make them useful probes for investigating the chemistry of indoor and outdoor air. Even though the average person spends nearly 90% of their lifetime indoors, we know very little about the processes that impact volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor environments, where there are a variety of surfaces that VOCs can interact with. To understand the role of wood surfaces, we have used an iodide chemical ionization mass spectrometer (I-CIMS) and an attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectrometer along with a model to quantify and better understand how carboxylic acids interact with a variety of wood species and varnishes. These experiments have provided parameters for use in models and shown that the behavior of carboxylic acid VOCs indoors relies more on the identity of the varnish and less on the identity of the wood species. We have also taken advantage of the chemical properties of carboxylic acids to study the oxidation of alkenes in low NOx environments. According to data from CalNex in 2010 and LAAQS in 2020, the concentration of mid-day NO, a prominent component in VOC oxidation mechanisms, has decreased by about 75% in Los Angeles in the past decade. There have been many studies on the oxidation of VOCs in high NOx environments, but far fewer in the absence of NOx. To gather more knowledge about low NOx chemistry, we reacted 6-heptenoic acid, a C7 1-alkene with a terminal carboxylic acid group, with OH radicals in an environmental chamber while using an I-CIMS to identify and quantify gas-phase products. We also collected aerosol particles on filters, derivatized the carboxylic acid groups, and identified and quantified the products using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in tandem with an electrospray ionization mass spectrometer (ESI-MS). Therefore, by taking advantage of carboxylic acid properties, we have been able to better understand their interactions with indoor surfaces and gain insights into the oxidation of alkenes under low NOx conditions."

Are you looking to broaden your perspectives in Earth and environmental data science? Are you excited to collaborate with others and hear about new developments in this area?

Topics must be about using *big data* to advance knowledge of the dynamics and interactions of the Earth system, towards actionable insights and tools

Starting Spring 2022, Earth Lab will be hosting a regular weekly 50-min seminar series on topics related to Environmental Data Science (EDS) that uses big data to advance knowledge of the dynamics and interactions of the Earth systems, towards actionable insights and tools.

These weekly sessions are intended to inspire collaboraitons and creative problem solving using data and analytics for a broad range of environmental science topics. Each week will be led by someone and can take on many forms: data jams, ractice conference talks (15 min) w/ Q&A, paper Discussions, brainstorming, 30 min lecture, other. 

Purpose: To reignite collaborations by inspiring creative problem solving by sharing the many interesting projects and work that Earth Lab and affiliates have been doing to advance the use of data for environmental challenges. 
 
Who: Earth Lab affiliates, CU affiliates, and other interested parties are invited to attend.
When: Tuesdays 11:00-11:50 AM (MST) beginning on 1/18/22
Where: Remote (Zoom and VizStudio).
What: View the schedule of events here.  
Why: We wish to reinvigorate the Earth Lab community and facilitate collaborative interactions that have been challenging during extended work-from-home time.
 
To receive weekly announcements and reminders about future talks, SIGN UP HERE to be added to our listserv. 
 
Also attached is a recurring calendar invite. This is a series invite, if you ever plan to attend, please “tentatively accept” and decline individual events once this is saved to your calendar. 

This week's topic: Joint Species Distribution Modeling

Speaker: Adam Mahood - CIRES Earth Lab

Visit our website for more details.

ESOC virtual coffee hour occurs weekly from 9-10am on Wednesdays. We will be meeting remotely on Zoom. Please email Claire Waugh (waughc@colorado.edu) for information.

ESOC researchers, post-docs and graduate students gather for conversation and to discuss research. Occasional guest speakers are invited to give short presentations on topics of interest.

Please join the CMC for their monthly meeting. Join by Google Meet or phone: (US) +1 470-771-3037 (PIN: 191011736)

Please join CIRES HR for a Supervisors Best Practices training seminar on February 28 at 10 am.  If you are a supervisor, please attend, as this training is relevant for all CIRES supervisors regardless of how long you have been a supervisor. Many things have evolved over the years on hiring, career development, and annual evaluations, leave reporting and more. This training will give you resources and foundational knowledge that is critical for both you and your supervises.

Session will be recorded and posted here once video has been processed for those who are unable to attend at the time of the event.

Join Zoom Meeting https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/92486704095 Meeting ID: 924 8670 4095

One tap mobile +12532158782,,92486704095# US (Tacoma) +13462487799,,92486704095# US (Houston)