Earth and planetary science at CU 麻豆影院

Experts available: American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2021

  New Orleans    Online everywhere   Dec. 13鈥17

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting begins Monday, Dec. 13 in New Orleans and online. Top earth and planetary scientists from CU 麻豆影院 will present their research at this conference, from new findings on cosmic dust to atmospheric rivers and the rapidly-melting Thwaites glacier. Media are invited to . 

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CU 麻豆影院 is ranked No. 1 globally for earth and atmospheric science in the 2021 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS). Find more experts and story ideas through the , a partnership of NOAA and the 麻豆影院. 

Contact:Kelsey Simpkins, CU 麻豆影院 media relations

CU 麻豆影院 receives more NASA funding than any other public university in the country. Learn more about the and CU 麻豆影院 aerospace

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As a global leader in climate, environmental and energy research, CU 麻豆影院 is partnering with United Nations Human Rights to co-host the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit in fall 2022. Contact cunews@colorado.edu to receive media updates. 

Research News

Arctic Report Card reveals cascading disruptions, extreme events, global connections

On Dec. 14, a team of 111 scientists from 12 countries released the 16th annual Arctic Report Card, a yearly update on the state of the Arctic system. NSIDC's Matthew Druckenmiller and Twila Moon share what it means on The Conversation. 

The threat from Thwaites: The retreat of Antarctica鈥檚 riskiest glacier

Antarctica鈥檚 Thwaites Glacier is retreating rapidly as a warming ocean slowly erases its ice from below, leading to faster flow, more fracturing, and a threat of collapse, according to an international team of scientists.

Spelunking on the moon: New study explores lunar pits and caves

One day, human astronauts could live in the protected environments of pits and caves on the moon. A new study seeks to better understand what the environments may be like within these craggy features.

Mysterious STEVE light emissions emanate from Earth鈥檚 magnetosphere

Contributions from citizen scientists are helping researchers identify different types of aurora-like light emissions and constrain how, and where in Earth鈥檚 atmosphere, those light emissions are generated.

Scientists envision what Mars would look like as an exoplanet

Which planets beyond our solar system are most likely to host life? By extrapolating the current scientific understanding of Mars, a multi-disciplinary team, including researchers from LASP, is helping identify alien planets that may be habitable.

Atmospheric and Earth Science

<b>Thwaites Glacier</b>

, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)
tascambos@colorado.edu 

Scambos studies the effects of climate change on the cryosphere, including one of the largest glaciers in the world: Antarctica鈥檚 Thwaites Glacier, which could be responsible for a significant part of sea level rise by the end of the century. He is the U.S. PI for the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration Science Coordination Office. 

AGU highlight: 鈥溾
9 a.m. CST Dec. 13, press conference room and online through AGU's media center

<b>Atmospheric rivers</b>

Jan Lenaerts, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences 
Jan.Lenaerts@colorado.edu 

Lenaerts studies how polar regions are impacted by atmospheric rivers, or 鈥渞ivers鈥 in the sky that move warm air from wetter to drier locations. They鈥檙e important for the water cycle but can cause extreme precipitation or melting events. He leads the Ice Sheets and Climate lab at CU 麻豆影院.

AGU highlight: 鈥溾&苍产蝉辫;
1:48 p.m. CST Dec. 16, Room 215鈥16 

<b>Climate and weather modeling</b>

Jennifer Kay, associate director for the , associate professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences and visiting scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) 
jennifer.e.kay@colorado.edu 

Using global climate models, Kay examines projected Arctic sea ice loss, as well as changes in cloud and precipitation processes and ocean heat transport due to climate change. Her work also explores how integrating observations and models can help scientists better understand a rapidly changing Arctic. 

AGU highlight: 鈥溾&苍产蝉辫;
10:24 a.m. CST Dec. 17, Room 280鈥82

<b>Arctic precipitation</b>

Mark Serreze, director of the , distinguished professor of geography and CIRES fellow 
serreze@kryos.colorado.edu 

In early 2020, NSIDC launched , a website providing monthly insight into snow conditions and daily near-real-time data across the Western United States. Serreze is a co-author on new research in that finds more rain than snow will fall in the Arctic sooner than expected. 

AGU highlight: 鈥溾&苍产蝉辫;
1:07 p.m. CST Dec. 16, Room 211鈥13 

<b>Monitoring methane emissions</b>

, CIRES research scientist and Co-Founder LongPath Technologies, Inc. 
caroline.alden@colorado.edu 

Alden鈥檚 work focuses on using trace gas measurements in the atmosphere to address carbon monitoring and carbon-climate mitigation challenges. LongPath Technologies Inc. uses Nobel Prize-winning technology to monitor and quantify methane emissions in real time. 

AGU highlight: 鈥溾&苍产蝉辫;
4鈥6 p.m. CST Dec. 14, Poster Hall D-F

<b>Colorado River drought</b>

Balaji Rajagopalan, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering 
balajir@colorado.edu 

Rajagopalan uses historical records and reconstructions to better understand and contextualize drought and climate change in the Colorado River Basin and across India, which helps stakeholders in these basins devise efficient water management strategies.

AGU highlight: 鈥溾
1 p.m. CST Dec. 14, Room 203鈥05

Planetary Science

<b>Space weather</b>

Daniel Baker, director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP)
daniel.baker@lasp.colorado.edu 

Baker explores the connections between Earth and the sun, and the potential dangers that space weather poses to human society. He has served as an investigator on several NASA missions, including the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) and the Van Allen Probes missions. 
 
AGU Highlight: 鈥溾
10:20 a.m. CST Dec. 14, Room 388-390

<b>Mars and exoplanets</b>

David Brain, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP)
david.brain@colorado.edu 

Brain examines how the atmospheres of planets like Mars, Venus and others beyond our solar system evolve over time, insights that may help to shape the search for life on alien worlds. He recently launched an effort to study how magnetic fields may help鈥攐r not help鈥 planets hang onto their atmospheres.

AGU Highlight: 鈥溾&苍产蝉辫;
4鈥6 p.m. CST Dec. 13, Poster Hall D-F 

<b>Asteroids</b>

Daniel Scheeres, Ann & H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences
scheeres@colorado.edu 

Scheeres has investigated the dynamics of how asteroids move through space through his work on NASA鈥檚 OSIRIS-REx and Japan鈥檚 Hyabusa missions. He is leading the Janus mission, which will launch in 2022 and send twin small spacecraft to rendezvous with two pairs of binary asteroids. 

AGU Highlight: 鈥溾&苍产蝉辫;
4:10 p.m. CST Dec. 13, eLightning Theater V

<b>Jupiter and beyond</b>

Fran Bagenal, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP)
fran.bagenal@lasp.colorado.edu 

Bagenal has studied planetary bodies throughout the solar system, from Jupiter and its moons to Pluto and Arrokoth, through NASA missions like Voyager, Galileo, Juno and New Horizons. She will also take part in NASA鈥檚 upcoming Europa Clipper mission. 

AGU Highlight: 鈥溾
4鈥6 p.m. CST Dec. 14, Poster Hall D-F

<b>Cosmic dust</b>

Mih谩ly Hor谩nyi, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP)
horanyi@colorado.edu 

Hor谩nyi leads the Institute for Modeling Plasmas, Atmospheres, and Cosmic Dust (IMPACT), which studies how dust streams through space and can even damage spacecraft when they collide. He and his colleagues have explored the dust and plasma environments around the moon, Saturn鈥檚 rings, the Kuiper Belt and more.

AGU Highlight: 鈥溾
8:25 a.m. CST Dec. 17, Room 395-396