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Degraded Military Lands To Get Ecological Boost From CU-led Effort

By Guest PostNovember 16, 2012Environmentamerican west, arid ecosystem, arid land, atmospheric dust, bacteria, biocrusts, biological soil crust, boulder, central america, China, colorado, cyanobacteria, degraded, desert environment, dugway proving ground, erosion, extreme environment, ferran garcia pichel, fort bliss, fungi, general george patton, hawaii, inoculation, jayne belnap, lichens, metropolitan area, michael duniway, microbial communities, military activity, military exercises, military installation, military vehicles, modeling, mojave desert, mosses, new mexico, nichole barger, northwest utah, pollutant, polyacrylamide, probability, restore, sasha reed, soil erosion, soil fertility, soil surface, South Africa, south america, survival, texas, university, water retention, word war

Some arid lands in the American West degraded by military exercises that date back to General George Patton’s Word War II maneuvers in the Mojave Desert should get a boost from an innovative research project led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

Headed up by CU-Boulder Assistant Professor Nichole Barger, the research team is focused on developing methods to restore biological soil crusts — microbial communities primarily concentrated on soil surfaces critical to decreasing erosion and increasing water retention and soil fertility. Such biological soil crusts, known as “biocrusts,” can cover up to 70 percent of the ground in some arid ecosystems and are dominated by cyanobacteria, lichens, mosses, fungi and bacteria, she said. (more…)

Probability of Success

By Guest PostMay 8, 2012Education, Generalalzheimer, ambre alexander, app, cancer therapy, ceo, champions, cotinga llc, emily bonistall, game 7, google my tracks, gre score, ipad, jeopardy, knowledge tracking, kristin deghetaldi, li liao, nanomedicine, old master paintings, probability, roger craig, success, tournament, tracey bryant, vinu krishnan

UD alum and ‘Jeopardy!’ champ Craig tells students it’s important to take chances

When Li Liao, associate professor in the University of Delaware Department of Computer and Information Sciences, saw Roger Craig’s almost-perfect GRE score while Craig was applying to graduate school at UD, the faculty member said to himself, “Wow, this guy is smart.”

Liao says he took a chance on Craig, who had no formal training in computer science. Craig would go on to exceed his adviser’s expectations, studying bioinformatics and earning master’s and doctoral degrees in computer and information sciences at UD.

Craig also would set several records on the Jeopardy! quiz show in 2010 and 2011, among them, the all-time record for single-day winnings ($77,000). Craig said that when he hit the daily doubles, he almost always bet everything. (more…)

Helping Women Faculty Navigate ‘Career Pressure Points’

By Guest PostMarch 23, 2012Scienceastronomy, coming of age, dark matter, ethical integrity, form of matter, gender matters, hellen hom diamond, India, local government, mary miller, massachusetts institute of technology, mathematics, MIT, model, monster black holes, parity as practice, physics, pipeline parity, president levin, priyamvada natarajan, probability, provost salovey, saybrook college, systemic barrier, trinity college, universe, woman in science, yale

As a professor of astronomy and physics, Priyamvada Natarajan doesn’t balk at taking risks. She has modeled the upper limits of “monster” black holes and analyzed the consistency of dark matter. As a theorist, she notes, intellectual risk is par for the course.

But as a woman in science, risk-taking has another meaning, she says. Studying in a predominantly male field, Natarajan considers herself fortunate to have been surrounded by exceptional mentors throughout her career. She recognizes that her experience was an unusual one. Many of her female classmates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) did not receive the same level of encouragement to continue their studies and research, she notes. (more…)

Tortoise Species Thought to Be Extinct Still Lives, Genetic Analysis Reveals

By Guest PostJanuary 10, 2012Naturec elephantopus, charles darwin, chelonoidis elephantopus, domed shaped shells, ecological integrity, floreana, floreana island, galapagos islands, genetic analysis, genetic database, giant tortoises, gisella caccone, hunting by whalers, hybrid offspring, isabela, isabela island, missing species, northern shore, northern tip of isabela island, probability, ryan garrick, saddle shaped, shells of tortoises, species, theory of natural selection, university of mississipi, volcanic slopes, volcano wolf, volcano wolf tortoises, voyage to the galapagos, yale university

Dozens of giant tortoises of a species believed extinct for 150 years may still be living at a remote location in the Galápagos Islands, a genetic analysis conducted by Yale University researchers reveals.

The analysis, published Jan. 9 in the journal Current Biology, suggests that direct descendants of at least 38 purebred individuals of Chelonoidis elephantopus live on the volcanic slopes of the northern shore of Isabela Island — 200 miles from their ancestral home of Floreana Island, where they disappeared after being hunted by whalers. (more…)

Tag Archives: probability

Degraded Military Lands To Get Ecological Boost From CU-led Effort

Probability of Success

Helping Women Faculty Navigate ‘Career Pressure Points’

Tortoise Species Thought to Be Extinct Still Lives, Genetic Analysis Reveals