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ESS News Archives: Looking for an old news item? Check our archives section.

ESS News

Tsunamis in Washington Lecture on UWTV
Pacific Northwest Earth Science Lecture Series
Johnson Hall Renovation and Remodel Page
Faculty News
Staff News
Student News 2007 - 2008
Student News Archives

ESS in the News


Faculty and students from the UW Department of Earth and Space Sciences have been cited in numerous publications in recent months in connection with both the activities at Mount St. Helen's, beginning in fall 2004, as well as the Tsunami in December of 2004. It is not possible to list all of the news references to these events. Additional information is available with the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network and the Tsunami page.

Native lore tells the tale: There's been a whole lotta shakin' going' on
Spirit tales reveal ancient landslides
New evidence indicates biggest extinction wasn't caused by asteroid or comet
Pinatubo's rivers show the dangers isn't over when volcanic eruption ends
Historic Himalayan ice dams create huge lakes, mammoth floods
New propulsion concept could make possible 90-day round trip to the red plant
Mount St. Helens activity increasing likelihood of hazardous event
Mount St. Helens hit by swarm of small earthquakes
Brick chimneys can double as strong-most ion sensors in earthquakes
Folds at surface show ancient seismic stresses still at work in Washington
UW scientists say new Hollywood climate thriller is so bad it's good
Scientists hope current silent earthquake will help to understand big quakes
New interpretation of satellite measurements confirms global warming
Miniseries featuring huge West Coast quake rooted in fiction, not science


Faculty News  top of page
Joshua Bandfield, research assistant professor of earth and space sciences, was named a NASA Early Career Fellow in Planetary Science, Dec 2007. Prof. Bandfield was selected based on a research "proposal of outstanding scientific merit and was identified as one of the rising stars of the Planetary Science community."

Stephen C. Porter, professor emeritus of earth and space sciences and the quaternary research center, has been elected an Einstein Professor in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China's foremost scientific organization. Porter is the first Earth scientist to be so honored. The Academy's aim in establishing the professorships is to help develop future academic leaders through the interaction of Chinese graduate students and top international scholars. Porter, who was Director of the Quaternary Research Center from 1982 to 1998, first visited China in 1983 as a member of an American scientific delegation concerned with climate-related issues. Since 1985 he and Chinese colleagues have carried out collaborative field studies across the loess region of central China from Inner Mongolia to the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Their research has primarily dealt with changes in monsoon climate during the glacial ages.

Brian Atwater, geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and affiliate professor of earth and space sciences, has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2007) in recognition of distinguished and continuing achievements in original research relating to historically recent earthquakes and tsunamis and their inherent hazards.

Terry Swanson, senior lecturer of earth and space sciences, has received the UW Distinguished Teaching Award (2007). Awardees are chosen based on a variety of criteria, including mastery of the subject matter; enthusiasm and innovation in the learning/teaching process; ability to engage students both within and outside the classroom; ability to inspire independent and original thinking in students and to stimulate students to do creative work; and innovations in course and curriculum design.

David Montgomery, professor of earth and space sciences and director of the quaternary research center, has been named Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2007).

Bernard Hallet, professor of earth and space, has been named Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2007).

Charles F. Raymond, emeritus professor of earth and space sciences, received the 2007 Louis Agassiz Medal from the European Geosciences Union Division on Cryospheric Sciences in recognition of his major contributions to glaciology which have advanced the quantitative understanding of glacier and ice-sheet flow.


Staff News  top of page
Congratulations to Kathy Gabriel, Fiscal Specialist, who received the department's 2007 Julian D. Barksdale Distinguished Service Award "for her deep commitment to the department and her professionalism, consistently performing at an exceptional level and routinely going beyond the scope of her responsibilities to ensure quality services for all members of the department." Kathy was presented with this award at the ESS Awards Ceremony this past May.






Student News 2007 – 2008
 top of
page
The following students were each awarded a Mary Gates Research Scholarship for their various projects within the Earth and Space Sciences Department:


Elias Bloch
Title: "Cumulate Xenoliths as Indicators of Magma Chamber Processes at Mauna Kea Volcano, Hawaii" Supervisor: Professor Stu McCallum

Julian Dillon
Title: "Ecological Assessment of Microbiota of North Puget Sound" Supervisor: Professor Liz Nesbitt

Jennifer Hanna
Title: "Automated Detection of Tremor in the Cascadia Subduction Zone" Supervisor: Professor Ken Creager

Paul Richardson
Title: "Puget Sound Foram Infera: The use of foram inifera as environmental bio indicators in the Southern Puget Sound" Supervisor: Professor Liz Nesbitt

Rachel Weber
Title: "Quaternary Geochronology using Plasma Mass Spectrometry" Supervisor: Professor Bruce Nelson


Earth and Space Sciences

(Geology, Geophysics, Geological Sciences)
University of Washington
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4000 15th Avenue NE • Seattle, WA  98195-1310
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