Author: Travis Swaim

ESSIC Assistant Research Scientist Christopher Hain played a key role in transitioning a drought detection tool from the research phase to NOAA operations. Developed by NOAA and its partners, the Evaporation Stress Index (ESI) provides drought warnings weeks ahead of other currently available indicators. In the late 1990s the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began developing ESI under Martha Anderson, a research scientist at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. In 2008 Hain began …

ESSIC Assistant Research Professor and AAAS Leshner Leadership Fellow, Melissa Kenney, was the lead author of a recently published guest editorial for the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.  Entitled, “Engagement 2.0: increasing our collective impact,” Kenney and her three Leshner Fellow co-authors, delve into how environmental researchers can bilaterally engage policy makers and community members in the exchange of information to more effectively develop …

Monday, 3 October 2016

Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites-Maryland (CICS-MD) Director, Hugo Berbery, was named Deputy Director of the overarching Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS) Consortium. The new position was created in part due to the demands being placed upon CICS Executive Director, Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm, who was appointed Interim Director of the University of Maryland (UMD) Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) in April 2016.

The Cooperative

In an article for The Economic Times, ESSIC/AOSC professor Raghu Murtugudde is quoted in reference to a study done by the University of Maryland and the Indian National Center for Ocean Information Studies about Atlantic Ocean temperatures and rainfall in India. The article focuses on scientist’s inability to truly predict monsoon rains over the last decade. This year’s monsoon, as of September 21, only produced excess rainfall in central India by 3 percent and left other areas …

The University of Maryland introduced the first undergraduate public policy degree inside the capital beltway. The new major is housed in the School of Public Policy and will accept all incoming freshmen interested in the program. It’s not a limited enrollment program and accepts current students with enough time to add the major. This new major focuses on decision-making skills to create effective policy solutions aimed at solving complex problems. It brings together knowledge from …

ESSIC Assistant Research Professor Dr. Melissa Kenney was featured in a Science news article about her involvement as a climate scientist in the AAAS Leshner Leadership Institute. The article featured Kenney and other AAAS fellows discussing public opinion on climate change and community engagement in research and decision-making. Kenney explained her work with students this summer to review existing reports and documents to synthesize the challenges faced by Chesapeake Bay community …

A recent article published on Climate Change News quoted ESSIC Assistant Research Scientist Ariana Sutton-Grier regarding global mangrove ecosystems. The article focused on the environmental and economic affects of decreasing coastal ecosystems in Kenya. Sutton-Grier explained, "By the end of the century we could easily have no mangroves left."…

By: Melissa Kenney

As much as you want to find a great research opportunity, the professor or project lead wants to find a great student to work on their project. Many of these projects are things that the professor has spent a great deal of time thinking about and scoping; thus, the kind of student that they want to find to work on their project is one that is smart and incredibly passionate about their research and their study. They are looking for students that are team players, but highly independent and