| Department of Geosciences

UMass Amherst Geography shines at the 2018 New England-St Lawrence Valley World Geography Bowl!

Once again, the UMass Amherst Geography Club performed well against tough competition at the regional World Geography Bowl during the New England-St Lawrence Valley (NESTVAL) divisional meeting of the American Association of Geographers, October 12, 2018, at Keene State College. The team as a whole placed third in the region, which includes colleges and universities in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Quebec.
October 14-20 is Earth Science Week!

Since 1998, the American Geosciences Institute has organized this international event to promote understanding of Earth science and encourage stewardship of the Earth.
Dr. Piper Gaubatz wins outstanding service award

Congratulations to Dr. Piper Gaubatz on receiving The American Association of Geographers China Specialty Group outstanding service award! This award is presented to the individuals who provided significant services and leadership or made important contributions to the advancement of China geography studies.
Dr. Michele Cooke and Jennifer Byer analyze enigmatic earthquake patterns near San Andreas fault...

Dr. Michele Cooke and PhD student Jennifer Beyer find unexpected ‘Deep Creep’ Near the San Andreas and San Jacinto Faults. Their analysis shows enigmatic earthquake pattern in San Bernardino basin is not typical. Find out more by visiting our site. Read More...
Dr. Jon Woodruff discusses fate of coastal wetlands in Nature News and Views

Dr. Jon Woodruff discusses a paper about the fate of coastal wetlands with #sealevelrise in a recent Nature News and Views. Read more....
Dr. Steve Petsch on the new Meghalayan age

Dr. Steve Petsch published a piece in The Conversation on the new Meghalayan age and how it fits with the rest of Earth’s geologic history. Read more here.
Professor Emeritus John Hubert (1930 - 2018) passes away

John Hubert 1930 -2018
UMass Biogeochemistry shares updates from fieldwork in Greenland

Postdoc Will Daniels shares photos and updates from summer fieldwork in Greenland on a project led by Dr.'s Isla Castañeda and Ray Bradley on his blog. Read More...
Student Cong Li and Dr. Haiying Gao offer new view of the Earth's Crust under New England

In a recent paper in Geophysical Research Letters, a team of geophysicists led by doctoral student Cong Li and Dr. Haiying Gao, for the first time, report unexpected, dramatic differences in the thickness of the earth’s crust along the coast of New England. Read More...
Research on Climate Change's effects on the New England coastline funded by NECASC

The NE Climate Adaptation Science Center recently funded two project by the Dept. of Geosciences: Dr.'s Jon Woodruff, Brian Yellen, Tim Cook, received research funding to study climate change's effects on tidal wetlands in the Northeast, while Dr. Rob DeConto received funding to research local sea level rise & vulnerability along its coastline.

more news

Micropaleontology Lab publishes new paper on Western Interior Seaway

Alum Dr. Chris Lowery, Professor Mark Leckie, graduate student Raquel Bryant and several alums from the micropaleontology just published a paper in Earth Science Reviews summarizing 13 million years of oxygenation change in the Western Interior Seaway. Read the article here.
New paper by RiverSmart Communities on flood assessment in Western Massachusetts

RiverSmart Communities collaborators Dr. Benjamin Warner (former post-doc, now at UNM), Dr. John Gartner, and Dr.
Science Consortium Welcomes UMass Amherst, Six Other New Members

Thanks to the efforts of Dr.'s Ray Bradley and Micheal Rawlins, UMass Amherst has joined 116 other North American colleges and universities in the UCAR consortium, which focuses on research and training in Earth system science.UCAR manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research with sponsorship by the National Science Foundation.
Applegate awarded Khan Institute Fellowship

Dr. Toby Applegate, a lecturer in the Geography program, has been awarded a year-long fellowship from Smith College’s Kahn Liberal Arts Institute to contribute to an interdisciplinary project on refugees and forced migration. The fellowship provides both support for ongoing research and an opportunity to participate in a year-long faculty seminar.
DeConto featured in Washington Post article on New York City's fate

A study by Dr. Rob DeConto is being featured in a Washington Post article on Antarctic Ice's role in sea level rise and the fate of New York City.
Boutt named 2018 Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer by GSA

Dr. David Boutt has been named the 2018 Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer by the Geological Society of America's Hydrogeology Division.

More information about the lectureship / series, and the talks Dr. Boutt will be giving, can be found here.
Larsen receives young scientist award

Dr. Isaac Larsen will receive the 2017 Luna B. Leopold Young Scientist Award at the 2017 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, to be held 11–15 December in New Orleans, La. The award recognizes a young scientist for “a significant and outstanding contribution that advances the field of Earth and planetary surface processes.”
UMass Amherst Geography tops the New England-St Lawrence Valley World Geography Bowl for the fourth consecutive year!

The UMass Amherst Geography Club was the top-scoring team for the fourth consecutive year in the World Geography Bowl held at the 2017 New England-St Lawrence Valley (NESTVAL) divisional meeting of the American Association of Geographers. The highest scoring team, geography students Kevin Bean, Carson Caraluzzi, Becca Feidelson, Will Kostick, Simon Perreira, and Le Tran, traveled to Central Connecticut State University for the October 20th competition.
U-Mass Geosciences is well represented at the 2017 GSA Annual Meeting in Seattle this week

Several of our faculty and students are presenting their research at the GSA annual meeting in Seattle this week. Below is a schedule of presentations, sessions chaired, and events hosted by members of our department:
U-Mass Physical Modeling Lab releases new video

Doctoral Candidate Laura Fattarusso produced a short video highlighting the work of the Dr. Michele Cooke's research group at the Geomechanics Lab and their modeling of strike-slip fault evolution. Watch the video here.