Category: Archive

ESSIC turns out in support of Maryland Day

April 30, 2015

Rallied by its faculty, staff, family and friends, the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center presented another highly successful exhibit at the 2015 University of Maryland open house event, Maryland Day. Although not the glorious spring day that often punctuates the annual event, this year’s campaign was ultimately very well attended. As in previous years, the ESSIC exhibit featured its entertaining rain gauge game, which allows participants to simulate the measurement of …

Wind Bursts Strongly Affect El Niño Severity

April 21, 2015

The long-forecasted El Niño event of 2014/15 did not meet expectations. On March 5, 2015, the National Weather Service finally declared a “weak” event arriving several months later than expected, formally dashing predictions that we would see a major event on par with the monster El Niño of 1997/98 that would bring much-needed rain to California and other western states. Now, a team of researchers believes that they know why this year’s event—and others like it—didn’t live up to the …

Local Eats: Rasoi

April 14, 2015

The smell of chlorine will first hit you as you enter the Clarion Inn. No worries, though … as soon as you enter Rasoi, the scent of Indian food will clear your nose. There was always some sort of dumpy restaurant in that hotel … EJ's Seafood, Asian Fusion. The owners of the latter have decided to redesign the space into a more upscale restaurant … enter Rasoi. They're still working on improving the decor, ambiance, service, etc., but I liked the food. I went with a couple of …

Murtugudde appears on Fox5, publishes Op-ed

April 14, 2015

ESSIC / AOSC Professor Raghu Murtugudde recently appeared on Washington D.C. Fox television affiliate Fox5 to discuss the coming of Spring. Murtugudde also recently published a LiveScience Op-ed piece regarding the resources required to adapt to a warming world….

ESSIC/CICS-MD ‘ClimateBits’ part of Weather and Climate Day

April 10, 2015

On Saturday, May 16^th, Climate Central, a Princeton-based science and journalism organization, will team with the National Aquarium and some of Maryland’s leading environmental organizations to launch Weather & Climate Day (W+C Day). The event, which will be held at the National Aquarium’s downtown Baltimore location, hopes to both engage and educate students and their families about climate change and how its effects will influence their futures. Students will …

Newman in the field with Naval Research Laboratory

April 9, 2015

ESSIC Research Associate Thomas Newman was recently in the field with the Naval Research Laboratory as part of their DISTANCE/Sea ice physics projects. Newman spent 18 days in Barrow, AK and worked on in situ site selection and the analysis of the airborne snow radar data. He also participated in the ground campaign which included taking snow pit measurements to see the structure of the snow pack, snow magnaprobe measurements to measure snow depth, and EM31 ground conductivity …

New bills could change environmental policy and EPA procedure

April 8, 2015

Two potential new bills sponsored by Republicans in the House of Representatives could alter how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) makes policy decisions. The Secret Science Reform Act of 2015, which passed the House on March 18, would limit the private sources and data the EPA could use to create regulations. In an effort to prevent the use of flawed research, the bill would require that the science used be “transparent and reproducible.” “We aren't …

High school intern with CICS-MD places at PG science fair

April 8, 2015

High school senior Matthew Bielec, an intern within the ESSIC-administered Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS-MD), recently placed second in the earth and planetary science category at the Prince George’s Area science fair for his work with lightning data. Bielec began his internship in the fall of 2014 as a requirement for a science and technology program at nearby Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt. His interests lie in computer engineering, and …

ESSIC to participate in Maryland Day 2015

March 29, 2015

The onset of springtime brings not only warmer weather, but yet another Maryland Day, an annual University of Maryland event allowing students and families to explore what the campus has to offer across its many academic fields. As the April 25 event approaches, the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center is gearing up for its 15^th year of participation, bringing back old favorites such as The Magic Planet and the rain gage game. The Magic Planet is essentially an …

Dr. Jingfeng Huang

March 24, 2015

Dr. Jingfeng Huang is an Assistant Research Scientist at CMNS-Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center. He graduated from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in 2000 with his Bachelor of Environmental Science and Engineering and a second Bachelor of Enterprise Management. He received his MPhil degree at The University of Hong Kong Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China in 2002. He continued his PhD study on Remote Sensing at The University of Manchester, Manchester, United