EES Update Summer 2020

College of Science and Technology

EES

Earth & Environmental Science UPDATE SUMMER 2020

Chair’s message This academic year, faculty and students traveled across the globe from Indonesia to Antarctica, from volcanos in Washington to the Baltic Sea. Alumni worked hand-in-hand with graduate and undergraduate students on campus in the college’s Owl to Owl Mentor Program, and on research projects linking our research to practical applications. EES is taking flight with drones on campus and studying Pennsylvania streams and California tectonics.

EES has again been recognized for excellence in instruction and educational research. Associate Professor Alexandra Davatzes earned the Lindback Award for distinguished teaching.

Associate Professor Sujith Ravi joined the ranks of tenured faculty and earned an NSF Career Grant for innovation in the field of ecohydrology. In addition, two graduating EES seniors earned the prestigious Temple University Diamond Award: Geology major Kate Lyons, for leading sustainability efforts on campus, and environmental science major Benjamin Burch, for his work on renewable energy ethics here at Temple and NSF-REU research on algae biofuels.

Often our work involves hands-on labs in Beury Hall and research in the field, but despite the COVID-19 restrictions our inquisitive and resilient minds continue their work. In the face of such challenges, we proudly welcome a new group of willing and hardworking alumni who have earned undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees.

Nicholas C. Davatzes Chair and Associate Professor

ees.cst.temple.edu

Muto probes ice melt underneath massive Antarctic glacier For about 10 weeks last fall and winter, Assistant Professor Atsuhiro Muto and 10 other scientists camped on Thwaites Glacier Ice Shelf in West Antarctica as part of the TARSAN (Thwaites Amundsen Regional Survey and Network) project— one of eight projects that are part of a five-year, $25M initiative funded by the US National Science Foundation and the UK Natural Environment Research Council to intensively study Thwaites Glacier.

The glacier holds enough ice to raise the global sea level by 0.65 meters, or about two feet, in total, and is at the center of Antarctic ice-mass loss in the past decade. Changes in the ocean circulation around the Antarctic coast, connected to anthropogenic climate change, is suspected to be the cause. Yet, the lack of data on the topography of the seafloor and the ice base, and detailed knowledge of how the ocean is interacting with the ice, hampers accurate forecast of future sea-level rise.

Current bathymetric maps used by ice-ocean computer models lack good seafloor depth data beneath ice shelves. Muto, a licensed blaster, used small explosions and sledge-hammer swings to create seismic waves that can travel through the ice and the ocean and bounce back to the surface. He and Alex Roccaro, CST ’20, a graduate student, are currently processing the data they collected to be delivered to the wide research community. continues on page 2

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Bloom selected for prestigious Berkeley Lab summer research internship Dellena Bloom, CST ’20, an environmental science major, has been selected for a summer research internship at the prestigious Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California through the U.S. Department of Energy’s highly competitive Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship program (SULI). As part of the Frances Velay Fellowship and CST’s Undergraduate Research Program, Bloom has been conducting research with Associate Professor Sujith Ravi on the environmental impacts of large-scale renewable energy development.

Muto

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The mingling of ocean waters at different depths could have real implications for increased sub-iceshelf melt. “It was surprising how much the ocean floor depth varied, and how quickly,” reports Muto.

“Within one kilometer we observed depth differences of more than 100 meters. The mingling of ocean waters at different depths could have real implications for increased underneath ice melt. Deeper ocean floor troughs could become pathways for warm water to melt glaciers faster.”

Muto’s data will improve the accuracy of computer-model projections of sea-level rise.

Indonesia exchange stresses solar and geothermal energy In May 2019, Associate Professor Sujith Ravi and Nicholas Davatzes, associate professor and chair, spent 10 days in Indonesia discussing their research in solar and geothermal energy at IPB University in Bogor and the ITB Technical University in Bandung.

Ravi outlined the benefits of co-locating solar photovoltaics with crops to support decentralized energy production and economic growth. “Solar energy is the world’s fastest growing energy technology, but it requires a lot of land,” says Ravi, who this year was awarded a prestigious NSF Early CAREER Award to consider the global implications of this concept.

“My research demonstrates that solar panels can successfully be integrated with crops in existing agricultural fields. Some plants, like coffee, can flourish underneath the panels. Since many Indonesians rely primarily on diesel generators, replacing them with solar panels would improve living standards and even power schools and hospitals.”

With the trip funded by a TU internationalization grant, Davatzes also described the department’s academic programs and his research into geothermal energy’s role in providing clean baseload electricity. The two professors also visited the nearby Wayang Windu geothermal power station, Indonesia’s largest power station.

The visit was part of a larger effort lead by Ravi, who recently received tenure, to build collaborations with Indonesian partners and develop test sites.

Students present or publish numerous conference abstracts Even though the COVID-19 shutdown resulted in the cancellation of some local and national geological meetings/conferences, EES undergraduate and graduate students either first- or co-authored more than 20 conference presentations, all of which were published as abstracts.

Among these conferences were the joint regional Geological Society of America meeting and the Geobiology Symposium at the University of Pennsylvania.

Graduating Student Award Winners • Benjamin Burch, CST ‘20, an environmental science major, TU Diamond Award and the Natan Luehrmann-Cowen Memorial Award presented to an academically outstanding CST junior or senior

• Kate Lyons, CST ’20, a geology major, TU Diamond Award and Departmental Geology Award

• Tyler Wong, CST ’20, a geology major, Helen Leschock Molnar and Jeffrey G. Molnar, CST ’76, Award given to an outstanding graduating senior majoring in either chemistry or geology

Kate Lyons, CST ’20

EES faculty, students and alums network on geothermal research in U.S. West EES faculty, students and alumni are all heavily involved in geothermal research to help develop clean, geothermally driven electricity in both California and the Pacific Northwest.

“Unlike intermittent energy generation from solar or wind, geothermal can provide consistent baseload energy and match demand,” says Nicholas Davatzes, chair and associate professor.

In California, EES is partnering with Warner Mountain Energy company, supported by the California Energy Commission, to assess the geothermal potential in the state’s northeast corner. Last June, as predicted, an exploratory well found boiling water 3,600 feet deep. This year one of Davatzes graduate students, will be working with the U.S. Geological Survey to map magnetic field anomalies that could further identify potential drilling sites.

In northern Washington State, Davatzes is investigating the geothermal potential of Mt. Baker in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and support from the U.S. Department of Energy and two EES alums, Michael Swyer, CST ’11, a geologist with Salt Lake City-based CYRQ Energy and Drew Spake, CST ’19, a geologist now employed by ORMAT. Last fall, Davatzes ran geophysical logs and acquired core material from a 1,500-foot-deep exploration site. Besides the two Temple alumni, he was assisted by current graduate student Morgan Sawyer and undergraduate geology major Breeann Stowe, who is studying the core. “We’re currently preparing a report about the resource potential,” Davatzes says. “It could be promising.”

Alexandra Davatzes helps lead development of virtual field camps In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) Designing Remote Field Experiences group was established to provide alternatives to field experiences, including field camp.

Associate Professor Alexandra Davatzes is co-chairing the Developing a Community-Based Virtual Field Camp Working Group. She is coordinating 45 U.S. and European faculty members to create virtual field experiences in online formats that will be made available for field camp. “This will allow our current seniors to complete their capstone field camp experiences without a year-long graduation delay,” she says.

Newly Funded Grants Steve Chemtob • Experimental Investigations of the Formation, Stability, and Detectability of Mixed-Valence Iron Smectites on Mars, NASA Timothy Myers • Collaborative Research into the Paleoecology of Jurassic Terrestrial Landscapes, National Science Foundation Sujith Ravi • Combined land use of solar energy and agriculture for socioeconomic and environmental co-benefits, NSF CAREER Dennis Terry • An Inter-disciplinary Approach to Constraining Paleogeomorphic Responses to the Eocene-Oligocene Hothouse to Icehouse Transition, NSF • Document Significant Fossil Localities within the Sharps Formation, Badlands National Park, National Park Service Laura Toran • CZ RCN: Research Coordination in Carbonate Critical Zones, NSF • I-95 Girard Avenue Interchange Stormwater Project, AECOM/PennDOT • Workshop: How Does Infrastructure Shape Equity and Well-Being Across the Urban-Rural Gradient, NSF • Stormwater nitrogen management: Evaluating the intersection between stormwater management practice (SMP) design, nitrogen speciation, and performance, Pennsylvania Sea Grant

FACULTY NOTES Alexandra Davatzes, associate professor, won the Temple University Lindback Teaching Award for the 2019-20 academic year.

Dennis Terry, professor, and graduate student John Gallucci, CST ’20, funded by the Department of the Interior, discovered the first evidence of soft tissue preservation in vertebrate fossils from strata in Badlands National Park.

Nolan Barrette, CST ’20, and Alex Roccaro, CST ‘20, graduating master’s students, (Advisor: Atsuhiro Muto) conducted an active-source seismic survey of tunnel channels in central Wisconsin.

Laura Toran, professor, and Sarah Beganskas, CST ‘20, postdoctoral fellow, launched a citizen science stream temperature monitoring program in four area watersheds, contributing to studies of urban land use.

Ilya Buynevich, associate professor, conducted research workshops at six universities and institutes in Lithuania and Latvia, funded by the Baltic-American Freedom Foundation, followed by fieldwork in Estonia focused on geological archives of storms.

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Introductory drone class launched Professor Laura Toran launched a onecredit, introductory drone course to teach students how to fly drones and learn about drone safety and ethics, and requirements for becoming a certified drone pilot.

The 40-student class included students from across the College of Science and Technology, as well as students from the colleges of Engineering and of Liberal Arts.

In groups of 6, Toran managed to teach all 40 students how to fly a drone prior to the COVID-19 pandemic forced the class to continue online.

Her student’s presentations reflected the potential drones represent. Students wrote reports on professional drone studies that surveyed an otherwise inaccessible quarry; mapped abandoned oil wells; and detected soil depressions at an old cemetery that indicated burial sites.

EES researchers explore drone technology Drones are revolutionizing the ways geologists conduct surveys. “We can access geological formations that, on foot, we could never access,” says Professor Laura Toran, “and, drones are radically speeding up the time it takes to conduct surveys.”

Within the past year, both Toran and Associate Professor Alexandra Davatzes began using Mavic Pro drones to both conduct research and to explore using drones in new ways.

Purchased with funds from a William Penn Foundation grant, Toran’s drone is equipped with thermal and imaging cameras. She and her lab have been using it to map variations in stream temperatures and to map plant health in stormwater basins by periodically photographing plants to chronicle their growth, height and presence.

Davatzes bought her drone as part of a National Science Foundation-funded program titled the “Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier” and a Temple VPR Presidential Humanities and Arts Program Collaborative Award. Focusing on integrating cognitive science and intelligent systems to enhance geoscience practice, she is working with a team of roboticists and cognitive sciences, including: Thomas Shipley, a TU professor of psychology; roboticist M. Ani Hsieh, a research associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania; and Basil Tikoff, professor of geology at the University of Wisconsin. The team has been flying drones in areas deformed by southern California’s San Andreas fault, including along a steep cliff face.

“We’re trying to integrate our knowledge of geology, robotics and cognitive science to think critically about how we can best automate drones to help geologists do field work, particularly in inaccessible or very large areas,” Davatzes says of the three-year study. “Do we just use drones the same way we normally do field work, by walking around, or, utilizing artificial intelligence, can we use them in innovative and better ways so that, for instance, they could automatically detect faults?”