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Inside of the Blue Ice Drill tent, drillers Tanner Kuhl (left) and Elizabeth Morton (right) work with graduate students Austin Carter, Jacob Morgan and postdoctoral fellow Sarah Shackleton in Antarctica in 2019.  Photo: John Higgins
Scientists Have Found Some Significant Ancient Ice, But Now They Want Ice That's Even Older
Dec. 29, 2020
Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR
The oldest ice on Earth probably is hiding somewhere in Antarctica, because this frozen continent holds ice that's hundreds of thousands and even millions of years old. Scientists are hoping to find it. (Higgins mention)
Hurricane Laura makes landfall in Cameron, LA. Photo: Courtesy of NOAA
2020 Was a Record Year for Hurricanes
Dec. 10, 2020
Tina Gerhardt, Sierra, Sierra Club Magazine
The 2020 season also forms part of a pattern that calls into question what even constitutes an “average” season. It is the fifth consecutive year with an above average hurricane season.
This diatom species, Fragilariopsis kerguelensis, photographed both alive (left) and fossilized (right)
What caused the ice ages? Tiny ocean fossils offer key evidence
Dec. 10, 2020
Liz Fuller-Wright, Office of Communications
"The cause of the ice ages is one of the great unsolved problems in the geosciences,” said Daniel Sigman, the Dusenbury Professor of Geological and Geophysical Sciences. “Explaining this dominant climate phenomenon will improve our ability to predict future climate change.”
Artist’s representation of meteorites falling to Earth. Image by Shutterstock/Triff/NASA.
High-impact research: How meteorite strikes may change quartz on the Earth’s crust
Dec. 2, 2020
Andre Salles, Argonne National Laboratory
Scientists using a unique combination of capabilities at the Advanced Photon Source have learned more about how meteorites affect one of the most abundant materials in the Earth’s crust.
Webinar featuring Laure Resplandy
Webinar: Do you want to know more about deoxygenation in the ocean?
Nov. 30, 2020

Join Professor Laure Resplandy where she will present: "Will oxygen minimum zones expand or shrink? The crucial contributions of ocean mixing and biogeochemical feedbacks" on December 9th 2020 at 9am ET.  This new webinar series on ocean deoxygenation is organized by the UNESCO Global Ocean Oxygen Network and…

Bess Ward, William J. Sinclair Professor of Geosciences and the High Meadows Environmental Institute. Chair, Department of Geosciences.
Note From The Chair
Nov. 28, 2020
Bess Ward
I last wrote at the end of the Spring semester, when the students had vacated the campus and had completed the semester remotely.  Summer began with everybody working at home.  The University resumed research in early July, after every lab Principal Investigator provided a detailed plan for safe working in each lab space.
Hurricane Iota in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. (Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)
Multiple rapidly intensifying hurricanes portends trouble in a warming world
Nov. 18, 2020
Andrew Freedman, Washington Post
Ten storms rapidly intensified this Atlantic season, some to a record degree. (Vecchi mention)
Virginia Beach hurricane. Photo Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images
Study: Climate change is pushing hurricanes deeper inland
Nov. 11, 2020
Nathanael Johnson, Grist

Well, it’s complicated, but a new study suggests that climate change makes some elements of destructive hurricanes even worse.

A boy rides a bicycle along a flooded street due to the heavy rains. Photo: Johan Ordonez, AFP and Getty Images
In most years, hurricanes and their activity would have wound down by now. Not in 2020
Nov. 6, 2020
Emma Newburger, CNBC
During most years, hurricanes and their activity would have long since waned by now. But in 2020, with about a month left of official Atlantic hurricane season, forecasters anticipate even more storms.

 

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Ashley Maloney, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Ashley Maloney is a recipient of the 2020 Simons Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships in Marine Microbial Ecology
Nov. 4, 2020
Geosciences Princeton University
Ashley Maloney is among the recipients of the 2020 Simons Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships in Marine Microbial Ecology.
Illustration of the SOCCOM float observing system
Princeton project expands to create a worldwide fleet of robotic floats to monitor ocean health
Oct. 29, 2020
Roberta Hotinski, SOCCOM project manager
On October 29, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a $53 million grant — shared among a consortium of the country’s top ocean research institutions — to build a global network of chemical and biological sensors that will monitor ocean health.
Emily Wild, Geosciences Librarian
From hurricanes to astrogeology: Princeton's geosciences librarian and collections serve national, international communities
Oct. 19, 2020
Emily Judd, Communications Coordinator

In 2018, Chemistry, Geosciences, and Environmental Studies Librarian Emily Wild joined Princeton University Library (PUL) after serving as a hydrologist and librarian (physical scientist) at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for over two…

Compiled climate science topics
Addressing humanity’s environmental challenges
Oct. 15, 2020

Environmental challenges have galvanized activity across Princeton’s campus in recent years like few other issues in our history. From physical, biological and applied sciences to art, architecture, psychology, policy and more, research groups across the University are tackling some of the toughest problems facing humanity with the fullest range of toolkits. To capture the imposing volume of work and to share the remarkable legacy it is built upon, the University has launched a new digital initiative.

Princeton Environmental Research Portal image
Princeton Environmental Research Portal: A Half-Century at the Forefront of Environmental Research
Oct. 15, 2020
Princeton University

You can now explore the full scope of Princeton’s latest environmental research – plus the University’s legacy of environmental commitment – through a single portal: "Princeton Environmental Research: A Half-Century at the Forefront." The portal was launched on Thursday, Oct 15, 2020. Users will find a video presenting 50 years of environmental research as well as a series of articles documenting Princeton’s historic research contributions in a areas from climate modeling to the future of food.