Archived News and Announcements: 2010

Follow Big RAPA with Epic Tracker™ and SEA-IT-LIVE

Epic Tracker image Take a virtual field trip on the Biogeochemical Gradients: Role in Arranging Planktonic Assemblages (BiG RAPA) cruise which left Chile on November 18th, 2010, and arrived at Rapa Nui (Easter Island) on December 14th. This “trip” is brought to you by the SEA-IT-LIVE program, utilizing high-quality video to share the excitement of scientific research as it happens, where it happens, and getting to know the women and men doing the work. To bring you these virtual field trips, C-MORE and SEA-IT-LIVE are collaborating with Archinoetics, the Hawai‘i-based high-tech firm that developed EpicTracker™.

Ocean FEST at the Maui County Fair

Maui County Fair logo graphic Ocean FEST is hosting a fun, FREE workshop for Hawai’i‘s families to explore the ocean through hands-on science activities. Kids aged 9–13 and an accompanying adult will do fun activities to learn about ocean properties, coral reefs and oil spills. They will also get supplies to take home, so they can continue experimenting! The workshop will be held at Baldwin High School Gym, Wailuku, Maui, on Saturday 02 October from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. There is no cost to participate but there will be a charge for parking. Space is limited so please pre-register here by Wednesday 29 September.

SCIENCE & THE MEDIA: Opportunities and challenges in rapidly changing worlds

media workshop image Friday, September 24, 2010 This workshop will teach C-MORE graduate students, postdocs, and faculty how to transform their complex research into clear, compelling messages that work in the media and policy realms. We will combine lecture, discussion, and individual coaching with the opportunity to practice discussing your work one-on-one with local journalists. Learn more about it here, or download the flyer PDF.

Photo of travel grant awardees. Travel grant for C-MORE postdoctoral scholar

C-MORE post-doc Elisha Wood-Charlson attended the inaugural Viruses of Microbes conference at the Pasteur Institut in Paris, France. Her attendance was made possible by a generous travel grant from the Zuccaire Foundation.

Pictured at right are the travel grant awardees from the conference (click on the image to see the full version).

C-MORE intern in action

Sara Thomas, former C-MORE Scholar now at MBARI, blogs about work in the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) lab.

SEA-IT-LIVE: A virtual oceanographic field trip

Epic Track screen grab SEA-IT-LIVE makes accessible the open ocean — the planet‘s largest natural laboratory — by bringing the thrill of shipboard oceanographic research to shore. As one component of C-MORE’s education and outreach mission, SEA-IT-LIVE utilizes high-quality video to share the excitement of scientific research conducted by any team of scientists anywhere, any time. To bring you these virtual field trips, C-MORE and SEA-IT-LIVE are collaborating with Archinoetics, the Hawai‘i-based high-tech firm that developed EpicTracker™, a new product for people on the move who have a fantastic story they want to share in the most exciting way possible. Click on the image above (or click here) to see videos from the June 2010 C-MORE summer course research cruise.

Funding for the C-MORE summer course is provided by the Agouron Institute, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the National Science Foundation (NSF). SEA-IT-LIVE was developed with funding from the UH Sea Grant College Program, UH Mānoa, and NSF.

News from the Director

Photo of setting C-MORE Hale cornerstone. C-MORE Senior Investigator Scott Doney (publications) of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has just published a majestic, authoritative review in Science on “The growing human footprint on coastal and open-ocean biogeochemistry.” This review, part of a series of commissioned reviews from experts in the discipline, covers several important areas of global climate variability that may be relevant to marine microbes, including shifts in acid-base chemistry, reduced subsurface oxygen concentrations, increased nutrient (especially fixed nitrogen) loading of coastal habitats, and increased concentrations of persistent organic pollutants. Everyone who is interested in the health of our planet should have a look at this important paper.

Doney, S.C., 2010: The growing human footprint on coastal and open-ocean biogeochemistry, Science, 328, 1512-1516. See: abstractreprint (subscription) • full text (subscription).

photo of Apex float release Researchers discover source of essential nutrients for mid-ocean algae

C-MORE partners with Ken Johnson and Steve Riser to study nitrate fluxes at Station ALOHA; the findings are published, with co-author Dave Karl, in the journal Nature. Read more about it in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, at Raising Islands, at Science Centric, and in the MBARI news release.

Ocean FEST logo graphic Ocean FEST completes first year, profiled in Malamalama

Since September 2009, over 1100 students, parents, teachers and volunteers in 14 public schools state-wide have participated in the new and highly successful Ocean FEST (Families Exploring Science Together) family science night program. Barbara Bruno, education coordinator for C-MORE and Carlie Wiener, Northwest Hawaiian Islands Research and Outreach Program Specialist at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) are the program founders and lead instructors. Read more about it in the Honolulu Advertiser and in the profile in Malamalama, the magazine of the University of Hawai‘i.

Symposium graphic“The Cellular Sea”

Saturday, June 12, starting at 8:30 am at the William Richardson School of Law, Classroom #2, UH Mānoa; Grieg Steward, moderator. Lunch will be provided, reception to follow. Space is limited, so RSVP to Sharon Sakamoto by Wednesday, July 09. For more information, please visit the syllabus web page or download the flyer PDF.

Update: Videos of presentations from the Saturday 12 June public symposium are available online for viewing.

Symposium graphic “Observations and Predictions in a Changing Ocean”

Saturday, June 05, starting at 8:30 am at the William Richardson School of Law, Classroom #2, UH Mānoa; Dave Karl, moderator. Lunch will be provided, reception to follow. Space is limited, so RSVP to Sharon Sakamoto by Wednesday, July 02. For more information, please visit the syllabus web page or download the flyer PDF.

UH to honor three for contributions

The University of Hawai’i is awarding honorary degrees to family and child advocate Patti Lyons; and to philanthropists Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel Corp., and his wife, Betty, whose foundation donated $10 million for Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education. Read more about it in Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

photo of researcher deploying rosette Doney, et al.’s “Ocean Acidification…” is a May ‘09 “new hot paper”

“Ocean Acidification: The Other CO2 Problem”, as published in the journal Annual Review of Marine Science in 2009, has been identified by Thomson Reuters Essential Science IndicatorsSM as a featured New Hot Paper in the field of Geosciences; this means it is one of the most-cited papers in its discipline published during the past two years. Congratulations, Scott!

Read the interview with lead author Scott Doney.

Congratulations to Penny Chisholm!

Photo of Sallie Chisholm.C-MORE Co-PI Sallie W. Chisholm, AKA “Penny” (MIT), was awarded the very prestigious Alexander Agassiz Medal at a special ceremony on 25 April 2010 during the annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. This is a great honor — perhaps the greatest in the field of oceanography. Past recipients include many of the giants of the field: Defant, Gran, Sverdrup, Deacon, Revelle, Redfield, Steele, Ewing, Munk, Stommel, Broecker, Wyrtki, and Prince Albert I of Monaco, to name a few. Penny’s citation recognizes her pioneering studies of Procholorococcus, the dominant phototroph on our planet. This is a well earned achievement, and we offer our heartfelt congratulations!

photo of Spring 2010 C-MORE scholars. Spring 2010 C-MORE Scholars Symposium

Friday, May 7 form 9 am to Noon in the Marine Sciences Bldg, Rm 100, on the UH Mānoa Campus. Please join us as the Spring 2010 C-MORE Scholars present on their undergraduate research experience. Refreshments will be served.

photo of researcher deploying rosette Station ALOHA at the fore of acidification research

Since 1988, scientists have been measuring ocean chemistry — including carbon dioxide — at Station ALOHA, a day's sail from Honolulu. As increased levels of this greenhouse gas are absorbed by the ocean, seawater becomes more acidic; this is expected to have profound effects on marine ecosystems. A paper on these results published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) will receive the 2009 Cozzarelli Prize, one of the nation’s top honors for a single paper.

Read more about it in the Honolulu Weekly, and read the SOEST press release (PDF) about the Cozzarelli Prize. Photo courtesy of Christopher Pala, Honolulu Weekly; click on it to see the full version.

photo of SSV Robert Seamans Cruise opportunity on tall ship

C-MORE is taking applications from teachers, scientists and UH students to sail on the SSV Robert Seamans on May 29 and to participate in a follow-up workshop. Application due on 20 April 2010. Teachers, please download this PDF for more information. Scientists and UH students, please download this PDF for more information.

photo of Jackie Padilla-Gamino C-MORE educator wins Tester Symposium

Jackie Padilla-Gamiño, a C-MORE educator and PhD student in the UH Oceanography Department, received the best paper award at the 35th Tester Symposium held in Hawai‘i (March 17–19, 2010). Read more about it on the C-MORE Education & Outreach page. Congratulations, Jackie!

Gordon Research Conference and Graduate Research Seminar

This meeting on "Oceans & Human Health” will be held 13-18 June 2010 at the Univ. of New England, Biddeford, ME. Applications must be submitted by 23 May 2010. Please click here for details about the meeting and how to apply.

GEMS funding available

Grants for Education in Microbial Science (GEMS) are mini-grants (up to $1500) to promote microbial science literacy. Next deadline: Tuesday 01 June.

Congratulations!

• A group of Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) scientists from UH and Montana State will receive the 2009 Cozzarelli Prize from the National Academy of Sciences for the best scientific paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in the areas of physcical sciences and mathematics. Read about it in the Honolulu Advertiser.

• Science paper “Unicellular Cyanobacterial Distributions Broaden the Oceanic N2 Fixation Domain” by Moisander et al. on 25 Feb 2010.

• Nature paper “Metabolic streamlining in an open-ocean nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium” by Tripp et al on 04 Mar 2010.

C-MORE Hale cornerstone set Photo of setting C-MORE Hale cornerstone.

On 19 January 2010, at about 0900 hrs, the cornerstone for the construction of C-MORE Hale was put into place by one of the project’s masons. Placement of the ceremonial cornerstone is a Masonic tradition that dates back to pre-steel building construction, when each major step in the construction of a stone building was celebrated. The cornerstone is the first stone (or in our case, the first polished architectural aggregate block) placed above ground level. This photo captures the careful, level placement of the first stone of the northeast wall by Kimo, with Eric Grabowski recording the event. This benchmark in building construction is ahead of schedule: C-MORE Hale is now scheduled for completion on or about 22 October 2010.

Ecological Dissertations in the Aquatic Sciences (Eco-DAS) IX

The Eco-DAS IX symposium will be held in October 2010. Applications are invited from new PhDs (PhD received between 1 June 2009 and 1 June 2011). The application deadline is 31 March 2010. To learn more about the symposium, click here. Download the advertisement PDF.

Zehr elected AAM Fellow

Jon Zehr was recently elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. An interview with Zehr appears in the Dec. 2009 issue of the Academy’s News and Views (PDF).

 

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