Some of the world’s top scientists will discuss their work during a free public forum on the University of Miami campus on Saturday, September 25, when National Geographic hosts an evening discussion on field research and exploration.

The presentation, which will take place in UM’s Storer Auditorium at 7:30 p.m., will feature John Francis, National Geographic Society (NGS) vice president of research, conservation, and exploration; NGS Emerging Explorer and UM Professor Kenny Broad; and renowned alpinist and North Face athlete Peter Athans. The trio will describe their adventures both underwater and in exotic locations around the globe.

Francis will discuss his role at NGS as well as his work on the ‘Crittercam,’ a research tool that can be placed on wild animals to obtain video and audio recordings and environmental data. Francis pioneered the use of Crittercam to study marine mammals.

Broad participated in a challenging expedition to study underwater caves and blue holes in the Bahamas, as stunningly depicted in the cover story of the August 2010 National Geographic magazine. He is an associate professor of Marine Affairs and Policy at UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and director of the Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy.

Read the full story

photo credit: Wes Skiles

The cover story of the most recent issue of National Geographic Magazine (August 2010) features a University of Miami-led expedition to the underwater caves of the Bahamas, known as ‘Blue holes.’ These unique environments are one of the least understood ecosystems on the planet, largely due to the challenges involved in studying these extreme environments, which include complete darkness, dramatic reversing currents, extreme depths, poisonous gasses, and silty, tight squeezes. The expedition made significant findings related to the past history of the Earth, including human occupation, previously undiscovered microbial life, and abrupt climatic changes.

The expedition was conceived of and led by National Geographic Emerging Explorer Kenny Broad, director of UM’s Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for  Ecosystem Science and Policy and associate professor at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Funded by The National Geographic Society, the National Museum of the Bahamas, and the National Science Foundation, this work included more than 150 dives and involved unique collaboration between cave divers, scientists from several different fields, and a specialized film team led by the late Wes Skiles, a renowned filmmaker, conservationist, and cave explorer. The expedition also was featured in a one-hour NOVA PBS special entitled “Extreme Cave Diving.”

“What may look like an insignificant little muddy hole in the woods is actually a window into a world we know little about, a time capsule of evolutionary history that not only provides us with information about where we came from, but what surprises the climate may have in store for us,” said Broad. “In addition to the scientific value of these caves, underground aquifers are critical reservoirs of fresh water on a global scale. Like many out-of-sight out-of-mind situations, they are largely ignored and are threatened by overuse, pollution, and increasingly, sea-level rise.”

Broad worked closely with UM colleagues and students, including geochemist and professor Peter Swart, whose focus was dating and isotopic analysis of stalagmites to reconstruct past climate changes back nearly 500,000 years; and Amy Clement, associate professor of meteorology and physical oceanography, who has analyzed the data in the context of current theories on abrupt climate change.

Several UM students were also involved in the expedition, including Monica Arienzo, a marine geology and geophysics Ph.D. student analyzing geological samples that include Saharan dust found deep underwater; Bahamian native Nikita Shiel-Rolle, a marine science undergraduate and cave diver who worked on the unique microbiology in these holes; and Colton Hoover Chase, an aspiring filmmaker who assisted the National Geographic film team.

“The isolated nature of the Bahamas, free of any input from rivers, makes it an ideal place to study the flux of atmospheric-derived dust,” said Swart. “As the stalagmites can be dated very accurately, we can examine for the first time the relationship between dust and abrupt climate change in the sub-tropics and whether the sub-topics may be the actual driver of climate change.”

Other key team members included Dive Safety Officer and explorer Brian Kakuk and project coordinator Nancy Albury from the National Museum of the Bahamas, led by Keith Tinker. University members included astrobiologist Jenn Macalady from Pennsylvania State University, who studied water chemistry and microbes found in the different blue holes; biologist and cave explorer Tom Ilffe of Texas A&M University, who studies creatures that live in the submerged caves; David Steadman, professor and curator of ornithology at the Florida Museum of Natural History and a world leader in studying extinct species; and archeologist and cave diver Michael Pateman from the National Museum of the Bahamas, who was excavating and studying the remains of Lucayan Indians found in the deep, anoxic environment, which is ideal for the preservation of organic materials.

Six University of Miami students have received scholarships from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s prestigious Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship Program. The initiative’s core goals include recruitment and preparation of students for public service careers with NOAA and other natural resource and science agencies at the federal, state, and local levels.

The students are: Patricia Bruno, a marine science major who minors in ecosystem science and policy and secondary science education; Collin Crecco, a marine affairs and international studies double major with a minor in economics; Jonathan Davis, a double major in marine science and chemistry; Sara Johnson, a marine science and biology double major with minors in chemistry, biology, and anthropology; Lindsay Wickman, a marine science and biology double major with a minor in chemistry; and Juliet Wong, a triple major in marine science, biology, and geology with a minor in chemistry.

The six students, who are among 119 Hollings Scholars from colleges and universities across the nation, make UM one of just two institutions with the highest number of Hollings Scholarship recipients this year.

“We are very proud that the University of Miami has continued to expand its pool of Hollings Scholarship winners since the NOAA program was introduced five years ago,” said Will Drennan, professor and associate dean for undergraduate studies at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. “Our students rank consistently among the best in the university and nationwide, and these scholarships are a recognition of their excellence and expertise.”

The scholarships provide successful undergraduate applicants with awards that include academic assistance for full-time study during the nine-month academic year; a ten-week, full-time summer internship at a NOAA facility; and, if reappointed, academic assistance for full-time study during a second nine-month academic year.

In addition to preparing students for public service careers, the program seeks to increase undergraduate training in oceanic and atmospheric science, research, technology, and education; foster multidisciplinary training opportunities; increase public understanding and support for stewardship of the ocean and atmosphere; and to improve environmental literacy and scientific and environmental education in the United States.

The Hollings undergraduate scholarships are awarded in honor of Senator Ernest F. Hollings, who championed the creation of NOAA and was among the most vocal of ocean advocates during his 36 years in Congress.

Broad Key, site of the Rosenstiel School's new research and education field station

The University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science has opened a research and education field station on Broad Key, Florida that will provide faculty and students with expanded opportunities to conduct research throughout the Florida Keys. Located in the North Keys, just two miles away from John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, the 63-acre island provides scientists with direct access to Florida’s subtropical marine ecosystem.

“The use of Broad Key beginning this fall semester is going to provide our renowned marine and climate scientists with an ideal platform from which to launch field courses that will help us to better understand Florida’s complex marine ecosystems,” said Roni Avissar, dean of the Rosenstiel School.

Broad Key features a five-bedroom great house built in 1952 by Arthur Vining Davis and a caretaker’s cottage that will be used by the University. The island also boasts a large boathouse and 33-foot dock that can accommodate watercraft with up to a six-foot draft, as well as its own water storage, solar generator power system, and state-of-the-art satellite communications.

“Its relative proximity to Miami will encourage faculty members to take full advantage of this resource, which will help to further advance our renowned research programs,” Avissar said.

The island was purchased in 1997 by the grandson of Louise Candler Eldredge, a member of the Coca-Cola family, and he has worked with the University to update the property and establish it as a field station that can be used by budding marine biologists, meteorologists, and ecologists as they study the environment.

Researchers aboard the R/V Roger Revelle recently deployed two sets of buoys in the Western Pacific as part of an experiment to measure the air-sea interaction during typhoons.

An international team of scientists and technicians from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Environment Canada are participating in a groundbreaking buoy deployment that will help them to better understand interactions between the ocean and atmosphere during typhoons. The research is funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research.

The R/V Roger Revelle, a Scripps Institution of Oceanography research vessel, departed from the port of Kao-hsiung, Taiwan, with two tandem buoy sets onboard: the boat-shaped EASI (Extreme Air-Sea Interaction) buoy and the ASIS (Air-Sea Interaction Spar) buoy. This is the first time these buoys will be used in the typhoon-prone Western Pacific. In the past, these buoy deployments have taken place in the Atlantic Ocean during hurricane season, and on separate experiments in the Southern Ocean and Labrador Sea.

Read the full story

Four graduate students at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science are among a select few to be awarded fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

David Weinstein (geosciences), Kevin Brix (evolutionary physiology), Quinn Bross Devlin (marine biogeochemistry), and Erica Staaterman (marine biology), have all received 2010 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships, which provide three years of support for study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees and are intended for students in the early stages of graduate study.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program invests in graduate education for a cadre of diverse individuals who demonstrate their potential to successfully complete graduate degree programs in disciplines relevant to the mission of the NSF. The agency seeks to ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the United States and to reinforce its diversity by offering approximately 1,654 graduate fellowships.

Rosenstiel School marine biology students Adam Greer and Rebecca Duncan have received the NSF Graduate Research Honorable Mention Award for their outstanding research contributions during their academic career.

“The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program is based on peer review and is a highly competitive nationwide competition. A total of six awards were offered to the University of Miami. This illustrates the strength of our Ph.D. programs,” said Martin Grosell, associate dean for graduate studies at the Rosenstiel School. “We, and especially the award recipients, have every reason to be proud of this significant achievement.”

Florida Governor Charlie Crist, left, addresses the roundtable and members of the media, as Rosenstiel School Dean Roni Avissar looks on.

After visits to Panama City and Tampa Bay, where he addressed matters related to the Gulf oil spill, Florida Governor Charlie Crist made a stop at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science last Wednesday. The U.S. Senate hopeful joined a group of UM scientists and other lawmakers in a roundtable discussion there on the environmental disaster’s impact on the state’s key industries and ecosystems.

The roundtable, held in a Rosenstiel School second-floor conference room, came just five days before tomorrow’s special legislative session to consider a constitutional ban on offshore drilling, and almost three months after the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers.

Last week, BP officials announced that the flow of oil from the blown-out undersea well, which may have gushed anywhere between 93 and 184 million gallons of crude, had been capped. Even so, Gulf shore residents remain concerned about the potential long-term damage caused by the spill.

“This is important to Florida—all of Florida,” Crist said at last Wednesday’s roundtable. “Florida depends on tourism as a major driver of its economy…The [state’s] economy and environment are inextricably linked, and we want to do everything we can to protect them.”

Many of the elected officials at the meeting expressed concern over the oil spill’s potential toll on the tourist-based economies of their region. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Village of Key Biscayne Vice Mayor Michael Davey, and State Senator Alex Villalobos, a UM alumnus, were among those in attendance.

Read the full story

Efforts by University experts to address the environmental crisis in the Gulf of Mexico range from satellite monitoring of the oil plumes to scientific modeling to predict their future path.

A satellite image of the Gulf oil spill. Courtesy of CSTARS.

The April 20 explosion of the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico ushered in an economic and environmental disaster. Millions of gallons have gushed from the wrecked wellhead in what is now the nation’s worst oil spill.

Amid ongoing efforts to stem the flow of oil spewing on the gulf floor, University of Miami researchers and scientists from several disciplines are serving as vanguards in the crisis, monitoring the spill through satellite imagery and aiding in preparations for the long-term consequences of the environmental disaster.

Read the full story

In its sixth annual Underwater Photography Contest, the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science attracted a diverse array of photographic talent representing more than 20 countries and nearly 600 images. The overall winner was an image submitted by Luc Rooman of Belgium: a photo of two mating cuttlefish. To see all of the winners, click here.

With the Gulf oil spill now eclipsing the Exxon Valdez as the worst in U.S. history, University of Miami researcher Andrew Baker, second from left, was among a group of panelists who discussed the environmental disaster’s potential impact on South Florida during the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s 2010 Goal Conference on June 5. Serving on the panel “Ripple Effect: The Impact of America’s Worst Oil Spill,” Baker, an assistant professor of marine biology and fisheries at UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, and other local stakeholders addressed how the oil spill might affect coral reefs, sea grasses, and mangroves. NBC 6 environmental reporter Jeff Burnside moderated the panel.

Above: Panelists included, from left, Adam Gelber, PBS&J senior scientist for the southeast coast of Florida; Baker; Carlos Espinosa, director of the Department of Environmental Resources Management for Miami-Dade County; and James Fourqurean, professor of biology at Florida International University. Edward Glab, clinical professor in the Department of Management and International Business and co-founder of the Energy Business Forum at FIU, also participated.

A study by UM researcher Robert Burgman has found a connection between La Niña-like sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific and droughts in western Europe and in what later became the southwestern United States and Mexico.

In the time before Columbus sailed the ocean, a cooler central Pacific Ocean was associated with drought conditions in Europe and North America, which may in turn have led to famines and the disappearance of cliff-dwelling people in the American West.

A new study from the University of Miami (UM) has found a connection between La Niña-like sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific and droughts in western Europe and in what later became the southwestern United States and Mexico, as published in a recent issue of Geophysical Research Letters.

“We’ve known for some time the connection between El Niño and La Niña and the weather conditions in North America and Europe,” said Robert Burgman, a scientist in the Division of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography at UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. “La Niña-like conditions, such as those we found, can cause persistent drought. And, as we know, warm conditions cause increased precipitation.”

Read the full story

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and University of Miami scientists have worked together through the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) since 1977 to improve our understanding of climate, hurricanes, and marine ecosystems along the southeastern U.S. coast. NOAA has selected the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science to continue this federal-academic partnership through a competitive application process. In the current fiscal year, CIMAS funding to the University is nearly $13 million dollars. Total funding over the next five years will be based on the number of projects NOAA funds to take advantage of the exciting new research and education capabilities of the expanded CIMAS. CIMAS will be eligible for up to five additional years of funding based upon rigorous review in year four, projected NOAA requirements, and the availability of funding.

“The University of Miami is a valued research partner with unique capabilities in the southeastern United States,” said Steve Murawski, chairman of the NOAA Research Council. “We are very pleased to renew our partnership with the University and to expand CIMAS with the inclusion of eight new schools.”

Read the full story

The R/V F.G. Walton Smith is a 96-foot catamaran outfitted with 680 square feet of laboratory space and state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation.

At the request of federal government agencies involved in the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command, the National Science Foundation and the University of Miami have reassigned the R/V F.G. Walton Smith to support efforts by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency in assessing the situation at and near the wellhead of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform.

The ship will be used to support scientists assessing the extent and chemical composition of subsurface blooms previously reported by researchers aboard another UNOLS (University National Laboratory System) vessel contracted to NOAA. The academic scientists who participated in the prior cruise, along with federal scientists and representatives of the national press are aboard.

“The R/V F.G. Walton Smith has been scheduled for scientific cruises throughout most of the summer, but we have temporarily redeployed it to assist in this national emergency,” said Roni Avissar, dean of UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, where the vessel is based. “The ship joins our comprehensive scientific efforts, which up until now have included extensive use of satellite imagery through the Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing, collaboration with NOAA on flights over the affected region, and modeling of possible oil trajectories.”

The R/V F.G. Walton Smith is part of UNOLS, an organization of 61 academic institutions and National Laboratories involved in oceanographic research. The vessel is a 96-foot catamaran outfitted with 680 square feet of laboratory space, state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation, and space to carry 20 scientists and a crew. The ship’s shallow seven-foot draft enables it to explore reefs, mangroves, grass beds, and other shallow environments, as well as deep ocean environments.

The Rosenstiel School has launched a new “Oil Spill” Web page designed to share some of the science being conducted at the school that is relevant to the issues emerging from the incident on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. Designed for use by teachers, students, and general audiences, the site focuses on the ocean environment. To view it, click here.

Satellite image of Western Greenland taken by NASA’s MODIS satellite. The narrow grey band in the center of the image is melting ice, between the rocky coast to the left (west) and thicker, non-melting, higher-altitude ice to the right (east). Small lakes form in this region during the summer. Arrow points to darker grey zone of rapidly thinning ice near the outlet of Jacobshavn glacier, which also loses mass due to iceberg calving. Courtesy of NASA.

Greenland is situated in the Atlantic Ocean to the northeast of Canada. It has stunning fjords on its rocky coast formed by moving glaciers and a dense icecap that covers much of the island, pressing down the land beneath and lowering its elevation. Now, scientists at the University of Miami say Greenland’s ice is melting so quickly that the land underneath is rising at an accelerated rate.

According to the study, some coastal areas are rising nearly one inch per year. If current trends continue, that number could accelerate to as much as two inches per year by 2025, explains Tim Dixon, professor of marine geology and geophysics at UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and principal investigator of the study.

“It’s been known for several years that climate change is contributing to the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet,” Dixon says. “What’s surprising and a bit worrisome is that the ice is melting so fast that we can actually see the land uplift in response. Even more surprising, the rise seems to be accelerating, implying that melting is accelerating.”

Dixon and his collaborators share their findings in a new study titled “Accelerating uplift in the North Atlantic region as an indicator of ice loss,” now published as an advance online publication by Nature Geoscience. The idea behind the study is that if Greenland is losing its ice cover, the resulting loss of weight causes the rocky surface beneath to rise. The same process is affecting the islands of Iceland and Svalbard, which also have ice caps, explains Shimon Wdowinski, research associate professor at the Rosenstiel School and co-author of the study.

“During ice ages and in times of ice accumulation, the ice suppresses the land,” Wdowinski says. “When the ice melts, the land rebounds upwards. Our study is consistent with a number of global warming indicators, confirming that ice melt and sea level rise are real and becoming significant.”

Read the full story

With support from close to $90 million in stimulus-backed grant awards—and counting—from various federal agencies, University of Miami investigators have embarked on research projects aimed at finding solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Stimulus-backed research is being conducted on UM's Coral Gables, Miller School, and Rosenstiel School campuses.

The bioreactor that will enable Weiyong Gu to analyze the growth characteristics of intervertebral tissue without having to remove samples from the device hasn’t even been invented yet. But the University of Miami biomedical engineer is in a race against time, working long hours in his lab to build the instrument that could help pave the way for advanced techniques in the engineering of human tissue to replace organs.

At UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, the challenge that confronts geochemist Peter Swart lies not in building a new device, but in using existing tools to determine whether the technique of carbon capture can actually help solve the global-warming crisis.

Both investigators are conducting their research with the blessing and backing of Uncle Sam. They are beneficiaries of hefty grants that have been flowing from the federal government’s coffers ever since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) pumped $10.4 billion into the National Institutes of Health, with $8.2 billion earmarked for scientific research priorities.

Read the full story