School of Earth & Sustainability News

Tune in to hear NAU Geologist Michael Smith talk to KJZZ's The Show about past and future climate variation. Michael explains how detailed records from warm periods in the past (from the NSF-funded Green River Eocene Earth and Climate Observatory project) could help us to predict the where and when of current and future increases in temperature.

Tune in to hear NAU Geologist Michael Smith talk to KJZZ's The Show about past and future climate variation. Michael explains how detailed records from warm periods in the past (from the NSF-funded Green River Eocene Earth and Climate Observatory project) could help us to predict the where and when of current and future increases in temperature.

NAU faculty in Biological Sciences and the School of Earth and Sustainability have recently published research showing that plant traits such as plant height and dispersal ability have impacted their ability to move across the landscape in response to 10,000 years of changing climate conditions. How can we know this about the past? Packrat middens! Read the NAU News story or jump straight to the research article.

SES researchers Michael Erb, Nick McKay, and Darrell Kaufman are part of a global effort to bring together all possible data about past climate variability, providing a better baseline to evaluate recent anthropogenic change. Their latest work in Nature Geoscience shows that no matter how you look at it, our current actions are causing exceptionally rapid change. Read the story in NAU News or jump straight to the paper.

Intentionally introduced tamarisk beetles do a great job of beating back invasive tamarisk along Arizona's rivers, but what does this mean for the habitat available to endangered flycatchers? Matt Johnson explains the need for follow-up plantings of native trees and shrubs to fill the hole left by the beetles. Read the AP story here.

School of Earth & Sustainability professor Rebecca Best, along with Co-PIs from the Department of Biological Sciences at NAU and the Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research , have received a new NSF grant to study the evolutionary origins and ecological consequences of "flexibility" in the way cottonwood trees at the heart of riparian ecosystems respond to stresses. By investigating the history and future of climate stresses and insect attacks, these professors, postdocs, and students hope to contribute better predictive power…

Rivers in the Southwest are increasingly intermittent: flowing when it's wet, but converted to a series of isolated pools when it's dry. This has major effects on the types of aquatic plants and animals that live in and near rivers. As part of a new $3 million NSF grant, Ben Ruddell and Abe Springer are working to develop a smartphone app that lets everyone contribute to documenting dry and wet river conditions. Read more at NAU News.

Project Director Karin Wadsack is working with multiple federal agencies and the Navajo Nation on a new grant focused on diversifying economic opportunities after the closing of the Navajo Generating Station and Kayenta Mine in 2019. Read more in NAU News.

How much is a tree worth? Julie Mueller is going to find out. Mueller, an associate professor in The W. A. Franke College of Business and School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability (SESES), was awarded a $185,000 grant from the U.S. Geological Survey to measure the economic value a forest ecosystem in northern New Mexico provides. This project takes into account a variety of benefits a healthy forest provides to surrounding areas, including cleaner air, water for municipal and agricultural use and recreation opportunities…

Environmental Sciences student Sierra Cottle has been selected as the Distinguished Senior for the College of the Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences! Sierra will graduate this semester with outstanding achievements in academics AND community involvement (including Fair Trade NAU, the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Student Water Symposium). Read about all the awards for graduating NAU students at NAU News.

Geology student Mia Pique is back from her year abroad in Argentina, where she studied both volcanoes and Spanish as part of her Interdisciplinary Global Program (IGP) double major. Read all about Mia's adventures in NAU News this week. Congrats on a great journey Mia!

Recent graduate Morgan Andrews (Environmental Sciences 2019) won the award for best poster in the applied research category at the annual national meeting for Freshwater Science in Salt Lake City, Utah, in May. Andrews started researching aquatic ecosystems in her junior year, and was supported by a Hooper Undergraduate Research Award working with Dr. Rebecca Best. She is now an intern with the United States Geological Survey working on salmon population health. See Morgan's Student Spotlight in NAU News.

This year saw honors rain down all over the School, from national and NAU awards to faculty, to NAU, College, and School awards to our graduate and undergraduate students. Congrats to all of you and here's to the year ahead! School of Earth & Sustainability Awards for the 2018-2019 Academic Year Faculty Award for Faculty Excellence in Global Learning - Michael Ort (link) College of the Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences Teacher of the Year - Taylor Joyal (link) Geological…

Organized by SES faculty and students and spanning diverse disciplines related to water, the Student Water Symposium is back April 18-19. Check out the website for full details on posters, talks, and keynote presentations!  

Alum Wes Swaffar has forged a unique partnership between the National Forest Foundation, where he is reforestation and partnership director, and Anheuser-Busch. Every purchase of the company's newest brew will go towards reforestation in National Forests across the US. For his work on forest restoration, he's also the company's first #Cervezas4YourService honoree - Congrats Wes! Read more at the Missoulian.

NAU Alum Marvin Glotfelty, RG has published a new book on the conservation of groundwater. Available from the National Ground Water Association Press, the book "provides practical information on water wells—covering everything from site selection to design, drilling methods, economics, and more­—and is written in a fashion that is understandable, technically accurate, and applicable to real-world situations."

Mike Kelly (MS ’91 and Adjunct Professor) is helping illustrate future climate change at a new visitor center exhibit at Acadia National Park, ME. From the article: "Displays such as 'Open ocean tomorrow?' ask visitors to consider some scenarios of climate change consequences in the park. 'As sea levels continue to rise, scientists question if some of Acadia’s salt water marshes might permanently flood, creating an open ocean where a tidal marsh once existed'...the exhibit, which includes a 3D topographic map of the park…