Month: May 2020

Advice for Nomadic Academics (or, Moving is Hard)

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Jen, Adriane, and Sarah here-

Entering the academic world and starting graduate school often means moving away from your family and loved ones and starting a new adventure. Each program, position, or job often comes with an associated move. We hope to share our successes and failures navigating moves and the burdens that come with them.

Jen [Illinois > Ohio > Tennessee > Florida > Michigan]

I have had four major moves (to new states) and three minor moves (local moves). Each move presented different challenges and experiences. My first move was from my home in Illinois to Ohio University to start my MS. This was about 6 hours from my mom’s house and we simply packed her Highlander and that was it. I had found a furnished (shared) apartment so I didn’t need any furniture and was able to fit everything else into her vehicle. I did not have a car of my own at this time and she drove home the following day after helping me unload the vehicle. 

I did another move within Athens on my own to an unfurnished (shared) apartment. I took a few trips to bring a futon mattress but didn’t really have any other furniture items. A hiccup – probably an issue with most college towns – is that lease signing happens so early! So I had about a 1 month gap between leases and it just so happened I would be at field camp. So I moved all of my apartment into the lab for storage (thanks, Hannah and Alycia!) and then when I returned I moved into my new apartment. At this stage, I was borrowing my mom’s highlander and did the move(s) on my own. I had a small foldable dolly that I had gotten for ~20 bucks at Ace Hardware. Both of these moves were very inexpensive since I had essentially no furniture. I slept on a futon mattress on the floor of my second Athens apartment.

My move to Knoxville, Tennessee took more planning and was more costly. I was able to fill the Highlander (thanks mom!) with most of my belongings from Athens but I had obtained a futon mattress and a few extras like lamps and storage containers. Not everything fit into the Highlander, but Jeb (my partner) was willing to drive down separately with me and was able to fit the rest into his sedan. After we got situated in Knoxville, Jeb went back to Athens and I drove up to Chicago to get some furniture from my mom’s house since I now had an apartment but no furniture. My mom and I rented a cargo van from Enterprise and I drove the van and she drove the Highlander back down to Tennessee. We had the van for about a week so I could also buy a bed and bed frame (woo adult life) and then Nancy (mom) drove it back to Chicago. This totalled ~$700 for gas and van rental for the week. There are certainly cheaper ways to do this but this is what worked out for us at the time. After two years in the apartment, Jeb and I decided to move into a house in Knoxville. We found this house on Craigslist and for the in-town move, his mom drove up with their truck and helped us move everything.

Myself, our two cats, and Jeb on the way up to Michigan from Florida.

The next move was to Gainesville, Florida where I got a postdoc at the Florida Museum of Natural History. I also was accepted to participate in a month-long workshop just before the postdoc was set to begin. So Jeb and I moved a trailer full of our stuff to Gainesville when he dropped me off at the workshop (a ~8.5 hour drive but ~10 in with the trailer). Our Subaru’s battery died on the way down, which was a difficult adventure (thank you nice Georgia man). We then stayed around looking at some local apartments. I eventually got an email from a current grad student there with an available house for very cheap – rented out by old staff and faculty of UF. The house was about 10 miles outside of town (a bit of a hike on my bike) but we couldn’t beat the rental price. The day my workshop was ending, Jeb drove down another trailer and our cats to the house. He had to pack it on his own and it was difficult. He arrived ~2:30 am and we had to start unpacking because we needed an empty trailer to pick up our stored belongings the following morning. This can be summed up by Jeb saying: ‘watch out there’s a bag of knives in the back’. The 6×12 trailers were ~$50 for a few days so we did that for two trips. We used Uhaul for both the trailers and storage – when you rent from them you can get a month of free storage!!! Take advantage of this program!!

Now that I had made it all the way south, it was time to head back to the midwest. We moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan from Gainesville at the end of August 2019. This time we rented a 20 foot U Haul truck with a trailer to pull the Subaru. We got the U Haul 3 days in advance to pack it best we could – yes this was more money but we desperately needed the time to get everything situated. We drove 14 hours the first day with two cats in the cab of the truck and spent the night at a Super 8 that we had selected for the giant parking lot… that was full when we arrived at 11:30 pm. The hotel was a complete crap hole and we slept and got up and drove another 7 hours to Ann Arbor. This one I budgeted out and recorded all of the expenses. Here is the breakdown: U Haul = $1110.56; Gas = $229.85; Food = $14.82; Hotel = $55.05 for a total of $1520.28. We obviously didn’t eat a lot and were very exhausted when we got up to Ann Arbor. Most recently, we did a more local move from Ann Arbor to Chelsea, about 20 minutes west of Ann Arbor. This was unfortunately during the stay at home order. We were able to rent an in town U Haul for about 24 hours. For whatever reason we went with the 10 foot truck, which required three roundtrips and several in our Subaru as well. We did all the packing and unpacking on our own, washed our hands a lot and did our best to be socially distant during the move. The truck cost $136.61 and gas was ~$16 for a total of $152.61. 

Other things to consider: deposits, some companies require first and last month rent, changing electrical can have a processing fee, setting up internet services has a fee, cleaning supplies, don’t forget a new shower curtain (we did multiple times).

Sarah [North Carolina > Alabama > Tennessee > Florida]

Moving regularly can really have a big impact on you, especially since it’s easy to feel isolated in academia and it’s expensive (especially on a graduate student budget!). Jen covered a lot of the details I would have, with moving truck logistics and costs, so I’ll try and focus on other aspects of moving to consider! 

With each of my major moves to new states, I did so as cheaply as possible, since I was a graduate student/recently graduated graduate student for all of them. I did so by moving in a cargo van or the smallest possible moving truck. This was made easier by not taking a lot of furniture with me when I moved. I went to thrift stores the week I moved to town and purchased things like tables, chairs, bookshelves, etc for cheap and sold them what I could or donated them when I moved again. Usually, I could afford to get all the furniture I needed for under $100-$150, which was way easier and cheaper than it’d be to rent a bigger truck to haul it hours away. 

The major concern when I move is my pets- if you didn’t know, I have a LOT of pets. My partner and I have fostered for a few different animal shelters and we have quite a few of our own and some fosters that ended up just staying with us permanently. So moving can quickly become a hassle, so I’ll give you a breakdown of the things you might need to think about! I’ve never flown with my pet (I have too many and I have pets that most airlines don’t generally allow on board), so I can’t give you advice on that! I always drive with mine! Here’s a picture of all of my critters that I’ve moved with!

Sarah’s pets, from top left to bottom right: Here are my guinea pigs, Iris, Annie, and Cassie (Iris and Cassie were permanent fosters through the Knoxville Guinea Pig Rescue), my dogs Piper and Boon, and bunnies Leo and Josie. Missing from this image are my many other foster bunnies, guinea pigs, and even a gerbil!

Do you have pets that could be not allowed in a rental agreement? I have a pitbull- mix, which can often be discriminated against in rental houses and apartment complexes. While I don’t agree with these policies, I can’t do much to change them. When moving to Tampa, I spent a lot of time trying to find apartments that did not discriminate and I did eventually find a good one. We contacted a real estate office that helped with apartment rentals and they gave us a list of apartments that didn’t have restrictions. A lot of apartments will also discriminate against “exotic pets” (i.e., anything outside of a cat or dog). 

My best advice in this situation is to call and talk to them before you move in. I called a number of apartments and talked to them about my bunnies (I have two-Leo and Josie, 8.5 year old siblings). Most of the apartments were willing to waive that restriction when I explained that my bunnies were litter trained. I was also able to get the pitbull restriction waived when I was in town and made appointments to meet the apartment managers. Piper won them over in a minute with her endless affection!

Do you have more pets than a rental agreement usually allows? This can be a tough one! Again, if you feel comfortable, just call your apartment. I called in advance and explained that while we had two dogs, we also had two small bunnies and a guinea pig, all of whom were litter trained or lived in a hutch and wouldn’t have access to the rest of the apartment. My new apartment said that was fine, while others said no (so I didn’t rent from them).

Do you have money for pet deposits and monthly pet fees? Many places charge pet deposits that can be hundreds of dollars and monthly additions to rent. Make sure you can afford those charges before the move.

Look for vets BEFORE you move! If you can, make sure to find a vet that you think you’ll like before you move. This is *especially important* if you have a pet that isn’t a cat or dog, since not all vets are required to treat critters like bunnies, guinea pigs. This is so important because you never know when an emergency will happen! One of my bunnies had an emergency medical situation when we first moved here, and I had luckily already scoped out an emergency vet that could see bunnies. Call the vet office before hand to make sure they’re accredited (i.e., the AAHA- the American Animal Hospital Association) and to make sure they have someone who can provide help with your pets’ specific conditions, if they have any. It can be really scary not to have a vet identified in an emergency!  Tip: does your local university have a vet school? They may have a clinic you can use!

Have at least a month of supplies stored, just in case. This is super important because critters don’t always tolerate change well! Make sure to have enough food, litter, and other needed supplies so that you can keep their lives a bit steadier while you move to a new place. Sometimes, you may need to take a few days to figure out where to get supplies in your new town (or, like in my case, 2017 Hurricane Irma came just a few weeks after we moved to Florida and we needed to have a bit extra on hand!)

Make sure to be extra patient with your pet. Moving is tough and it’s a lot harder when you don’t know what’s going on. Make sure to praise your pet, give them extra attention and treats. Consider giving them a new, special toy to distract them. Be patient if they forget their manners and use the bathroom inside- sometimes, stress can make your pets react weirdly. With my dogs, we had to move them to a separate room when we were loading the truck so they didn’t see it, which kept them calmer. If you know your pet is nervous, ask your vet if there’s a good medication option to help them get through the car ride.

Adriane [Virginia > Ohio > Virginia >Massachusetts > New York]

Jen and Sarah have already given you great advice above related to pets and moving fees, so I’ll keep this brief and provide some additional advice. First of all, I hate moving. My family moved a lot when I was younger, and as a consequence I feel like I don’t really have a ‘family home’ when I think back to my childhood. So when I move, the feelings of anxiety and unsteady home life come flooding back. Here, I’ll give you some insight into how I deal with moving. 

When I moved to Massachusetts, it was just my husband and I. We had rented a U-Haul truck with a car trailer. My husband drove the truck towing his car, and I drove our Jeep with our two cats crated in the back. We did the drive from Virginia to Massachusetts in one day; it took 14 hours and it was HELL. We were all tired, but luckily our hotel in MA was nice. I had researched hotels near our new apartment extensively, as I knew we needed one with a large parking lot, a free breakfast (that’s always my requirement for a hotel; if I’m paying to stay with you, feed me), and of course they had to be pet friendly. We stayed at a Howard Johnson with two queen beds, which I hoped the cats slept on their own bed. No, they slept with us (ok, it *was* super cute). The next day, we drove to our new apartment and moved in. We had trouble moving in our couch (our apartment was on the third floor, with a narrow stairwell), but lucky for us a neighbor helped (we became and still are to this day good friends). 

Spice, my Maine Coon cat, in her crate during the move. Her face captures all of our feelings about moving.

I really came to love our Massachusetts apartment, which really became our community and home. Therefore, when I got the postdoc offer from Binghamton University in New York, my excitement soon turned to anxiety when I realized this would require another move. However, in my offer package, the university would cover moving costs up to $3,000. I took full advantage of this. I hired a moving company for our moving day, and we were able to move 3.5 hours away from Amherst, MA to Binghamton, NY in one day. Whew! The cost came to a bit over $2,900 but under $3,000. If I can help it, I will never move again without hiring movers. Just be aware, with moving reimbursements from universities, especially public universities, the state may require an invoice or bill of lading. I did not realize this when I moved, my moving company has been unresponsive when I try to get in touch with them, and therefore I’m still waiting for my moving reimbursement from New York state today.  

As mentioned, I become super stressed when I move. Here’s some things I did before our move to NY from MA that helped with the stress:

  1. I tried to pack a box or two every day for a month before we moved. This allowed me to organize stuff and carefully pack all my valuable things (read: fossils). 
  2. I carefully labeled boxes with their contents, and grouped boxes with similar contents together. This way, when we moved, the movers kept together all the kitchen stuff, office boxes, etc. It made unpacking easier as well. 
  3. I Googled Binghamton (where we were moving to) and made a mental list of things I wanted to try, do, and places to visit when we got there. I find that if I have something positive and fun to look forward to, this reduces my anxiety greatly. I also feel more comfortable visiting or moving to a place the more I know about it beforehand. 
  4. I visited my favorite shops and stores in Amherst, and brought those foods, wine, and beer with us to our new home. It was nice to have these things with us in New York, as they were small comforts and gave us, oddly, a sense of peace.
  5. I talked about my anxieties about my moving anxieties with my husband, and cried a lot. I have a thing where I stop talking about things that bother me, which will just increases my anxiety about an issue and causes me to cut myself off from those around me. It’s super unhealthy, I know, but I made a conscious effort to reach out and share my fears with my partner about moving. This helped my mood immensely, although it didn’t totally dissipate the anxiety. If you are like me, I would also strongly suggest visiting a therapist to share and work through anxieties about moving (I probably should have). 

International Ocean Discovery Program Early Career Workshop

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Adriane here-

Earlier this year before the world went into lock down, I had the opportunity to participate in an early career researcher (ECR) workshop through the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). The workshop was focused on how to write a scientific drilling proposal with colleagues and friends.

The workshop was held at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades New York, just north of New York City. At Lamont, scientists and staff manage U.S. scientific support services for IODP, the major collaborative program which, among several other things, allows scientists to live and work at sea for two months drilling and studying sediment cores. The workshop was specifically for early career researchers, which is loosely defined as a researcher who has gained their Ph.D. but has not achieved tenure (that critical phase in a professor’s career where they receive a permanent residence at their college or university).

The Gary C. Comer building on Lamont’s campus, where the IODP ECR workshop was held.

This workshop, which first ran a few years back, was conceived between Time Scavengers’ own Dr. Andrew Fraass and his close colleague, Dr. Chris Lowery. They, along with their colleagues, built the workshop and it has run every 2-3 years since its conception. What is so neat about the workshop is that it is also run and organized by other ECRs, with the help of more senior scientists.

The first day of the workshop focused on introducing the attendees to aspects of IODP. These included presentations on the past and future of scientific ocean drilling and the IODP proposal writing process. We also did participant introductions, where we stood up and had 1 minute to talk about ourselves, our research, etc. using only images on one slide. We, the participants, were also broken out into groups later in the day by themes we identified ourselves as (for example, I indicated I was in the Biosphere group because I work with fossil and am interested in evolutionary questions). From these breakout groups, we then identified 5 places in the Pacific Ocean we would like to target for drilling. Later that night, the workshop organizers held a networking reception for us at a nearby building on campus. The networking event was incredibly cool (they fed us dinner, and it was really great food) and useful (I had the opportunity to meet and speak with other ECRs who have similar interests as myself).

My introductory slide. The upper left box contained our image, name, and association; the upper right box contained a research image (I cheated and included two) and our research interests in three words or less, the bottom left box contained our research expertise and any contact information, the bottom right box contained a mediocre skill we have (again I cheated and used this to plug this website).

The second day of the workshop, we arrived and discussed how to obtain data for a drilling proposal. Just to give some insight into what goes into a drilling proposal, this is a 15+ page document in which scientists write out their hypotheses, where they want to drill on the seafloor, preliminary data that says something to support the hypotheses outlined, and what we call site survey data. Site surveys are when scientists take smaller ships out with an apparatus pulled behind the ship. These apparatuses use sonar to map the features of the bottom of the seafloor, but also the properties of the sediment below the seafloor. The changing densities of the different sediments appear as ‘reflectors’, allowing an MRI-like preliminary investigation of the sediments in which the scientists want to drill into. An entire presentation was dedicated to obtaining older site survey data. We also heard presentations about the different drill ships and drilling platforms implemented by IODP. The second part of the day was again spent working in groups. This time, however, we split ourselves into different groups depending on what area of the Pacific Ocean we were interested in working on. I put myself with the group interested in drilling the southeast Pacific, off the southern coast of New Zealand. Here, we began to come up with hypotheses for our proposals and begin to write those down.

Example of a seismic image from a seismic site survey. The very strong, prominent lines in here are called ‘reflectors’. This image shows the location of a proposed drill location, named SATL-56A. From this seismic image, we can interpret that the top layers of ocean sediments are very flat. The seafloor, which is recognized based on its more ‘spotty’ appearance and lack of horizontal lines, is very prominent here (the top of which is indicated by the green reflector line). These images are essential to include in a drilling proposal so everyone has an idea about what might be expected when drilling.

The third and fourth days of the workshop included limited presentations, with more time dedicated to letting the groups work on their proposals. One of the main outcomes of the workshop is to have participants walk away with an idea of how to write a drilling proposal, but also to have the basic groundwork in place for a proposal with a group of people who share similar interests. So ample time was given for the participants to refine their hypotheses, find some preliminary data about their drilling locations from online databases, and build a presentation to present to the entire workshop. On the afternoon of the fourth day, the teams presented their ideas to everyone, including more senior scientists who have submitted drilling proposals in the past and have worked on panels to evaluate others’ drilling proposals.

All in all, this was a great workshop that really allowed for folks to learn more about the IODP program, where and how to find important resources, and how to begin writing these major drilling proposals. These events are particularly important for scientists from marginalized backgrounds and first-generation scientists. For me (a first-generation scientist), making connections with others is sometimes very difficult, as I have terrible imposter syndrome (when you feel like you don’t belong in a community and that you will be found out as an imposter) and am hyper aware that I was raised quite differently than most of my peers. Being in such a setting, with other scientists, forced to work together, is terrifying but also good because I had the opportunity to talk to and work with people I would not normally work with. For example, I had wonderful discussions with microbiologists and professors whose work focuses more on tectonics, people from two research areas which I hardly interacted with previously.

Examining the Morphology of Brachiopods to determine how the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction and Silurian Recovery affected long-term evolutionary trends

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Effects of mass extinction and recovery dynamics on long-term evolutionary trends: a morphological study of Strophomenida (Brachiopoda) across the Late Ordovician mass extinction

by Judith A. Sclafani, Curtis R. Congreve, Andrew Z. Krug, and Mark E. Patzkowsky

Summarized by Soraya Alfred. Soraya Alfred is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Geology with a minor in Geographic Information Systems. She is a senior and intends to further her education by attending graduate school and then working in a Geology-related field. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with friends and doing yoga.

What data were used? The distinct morphology of the shells of 61 species of Strophomenida (a type of extinct brachiopods) and 45 ancestor nodes, obtained from an evolutionary (phylogenetic) analysis.

Methods: Morphometric (shape differences) analysis was done through the use of principal coordinate analysis (PCO), which was used to plot the character data from the time- scaled phylogeny in morphospace. Morphospace is a type of graph used to represent the different morphologies of organisms, with different axes representing variables that define the characteristics of an organism. Twenty morphospace plots were made for the twenty set time-intervals between the early Ordovician and Devonian.

Results: When the morphospace at the time of the Ordovician mass extinction was examined, the data showed that the geometric center of the taxa that survived the extinction is similar to that of the genera that went extinct during the mass extinction. This implied that there were no specific morphologic characteristics that were targeted during the extinction event and, hence, was random. On the other hand, examination of the morphospace of the survivors of the Ordovician extinction, compared to the morphospace of the new genera that appeared in the Silurian showed that the center of mass shifted. This meant that the new taxa that emerged after the extinction filled a different region in morphospace, suggesting that origination was selective towards certain features. 

Figure showing the 20 morphospace plots for different time intervals. Members of Strophomenida occupy little morphospace in the lower Ordovician, but increase their area in morphospace during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event in the Darriwilian. After the mass extinction, new taxa that emerge in the Sillurian occupy the upper left half of morphospace which was previously unoccupied. The taxa that originated in the Devonian slowly become extinct into the Devonian.

Why is this study important? The Strophomenida order of brachiopods had a large geographic range, as well as a long geologic existence, making it ideal to study the repercussions of a mass extinction. As such, the results of this study can be applied to different lineages that were affected during the extinction in order to see how such events affect evolutionary history.

The big picture: Due to the fact that extinction happened randomly to taxa, a large amount of phylogenetic diversity was maintained, which made it possible for a great amount of diversification during the Silurian recovery. This diversification, however, resulted in less variability of morphology, which caused a morphological bottleneck. It is not possible to tell whether these changes were advantageous in an evolutionary sense or not, and so more has to be done to examine the true ecological effect of the Ordovician mass extinction. It was only through the examination of the characteristics of both the extinction and recovery period that we can begin to fully understand the evolutionary history of Strophomenida and similar patterns in other invertebrate taxa point to understand if this pattern was isolated or happened across multiple groups.

Citation: Sclafani, J. A., Congreve, C. R., Krug, A. Z., & Patzkowsky, M. E. (2018). Effects of mass extinction and recovery dynamics on long-term evolutionary trends: A morphological study of strophomenida (brachiopoda) across the late ordovician mass extinction. Paleobiology, 44(4), 603. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edo&AN=133394289&site=eds-live

Dr. James C. Lamsdell, Paleobiologist and Podcaster

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Frozen waterfalls in Ithaca, NY while visiting the Paleontological Research Institute for Darwin Day in 2019.

I first became interested in science without ever realising that it was science the interested me. My parents used to show my brother and I nature documentaries on TV, and I found the natural world fascinating. I wanted to find out more about it and began reading everything I could. I thought dinosaurs were fantastic from an early age (I still have a full collection of the Dinosaur! Magazine series in my parents’ loft, including all the trading cards) and this developed into a broader interest in palaeontology through membership to Rockwatch. The thing I love most about being a scientist is the detective work. The act of discovery – finding things out that noone has seen or realised before, gathering evidence and coming to your conclusions, constructing a story to tell others about what you’ve found – is very exciting.

Holding a horseshoe crab while visiting Delaware in 2017.

My research is varied, ranging from the description of species of ancient sea scorpions and horseshoe crabs to studying patterns of extinction across different habitats during biotic crises. At its core, my work seeks to understand what drives the evolution of new animal forms and how animals evolve to successfully invade new environments, such as moving into freshwater from the oceans or when arthropods first moved on to land. This work explores the fundamental mechanisms by which evolution operates and can tell us how past species have adapted to environmental changes. Understanding how organisms have adapted to new environments in the past can help us interpret how organisms today are likely to respond to our current climate change.

Doing fieldwork in the Devonian if West Virginia in 2018.

Most of my work focuses on fossil arthropods, particularly eurypterids (sea scorpions) and xiphosurids (horseshoe crabs), aquatic relatives of arachnids (spiders, ticks, scorpions, etc.). My data comes directly from the fossils, and so I have built almost all my datasets completely from scratch. I gather most of it from museum collections – there are so many fossils that have never been described, and many eurypterid species have not been looked at since their original description over a hundred years ago. Museum collections are an invaluable scientific resource and critical to the continued success of all natural sciences. I also communicate science regularly with two of my colleagues, Amanda Falk and Curtis Congreve, on our podcast Palaeo After Dark. The podcast is more of an informal reading group discussion, and stemmed from our desire to keep talking to each other regularly about science as we moved off to do different jobs in different parts of the country. We only have a couple of goals; show that scientists are people with interests beyond science, and to not talk about our own research. We tend to be a bit too technical for general audiences, but I know people that have our discussions on while they are stuck working alone in the lab for company, and it’s nice to know that we can provide that sort of support for people.

For anyone who wants to be a scientist (and believe me, anyone can be a scientist), my main advice is to stay curious. If you can, read about things that interest you. The more you read, the more you will find that interests you.

Follow Dr. Lamsdell’s updates on his website by clicking here or on Twitter @FossilDetective.

Fossil hunting—On Mars!

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Did you see this in the news? NASA is starting a new Mars mission, and this one has a very exciting goal: to find evidence of past life! And to study the habitability of Mars for past life and for humans in the future. 

A new rover, called Mars 2020 until a name is selected (update: Mars Perseverance Rover), will be sent to Mars this summer, with an arrival on Mars February 18, 2021. The rover will explore the Jezero crater for about one Martian year, equal to 687 Earth days. Jezero crater was chosen for study because there is evidence that this crater once contained a lake. 

Elevation map of Jezero Crater. Dark blue and purple are deeper areas, yellow is the highest. The circled area is the area of the mission. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/JHU-APL/ESA. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23511

Two rivers, on the left side of the picture, flowed into a crater. A flood like broke through the crater wall and allowed water to drain out of the crater (upper right). Inside of the crater is a former delta formed as sediments were deposited as the rivers entered the lakes and deposited sediment.  

Artist’s concept of the delta formed within the ancient lake. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona, https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22907

Spectral analyses of the deltas and fans have revealed the presence of carbonates and hydrated silicas.

Spectral analyses of the detlas and fans have revealed the presence of carbonates and hydrated silicas.

Carbonate is a chemical composed of carbon, oxygen, and a metal or hydrogen. For example, chalk, seashells, and egg shells are all made of calcium carbonate crystals (CaCO3). Carbonates need liquid water and an atmosphere with carbon dioxide to form. On Earth, carbonate rocks may be formed by the accumulation of tiny fossil shells, but carbonates can form abiotically (without life). Limestone, a carbonate rock, is a good preserver of body fossils and trace fossils. Silica, a combination of silicon and oxygen, forms in water. Chert and flint are examples of silica rocks. Chert is also formed by the accumulation of tiny shells, but these are made from silica, not carbonate.

Any fossils that are left on Mars from its warmer, wetter periods would likely be found in carbonate and silica deposits. Scientists expect that these fossils would be microorganisms (single celled organisms). 

In addition to searching for fossils, Mars 2020, Perseverance will also: 

  • Determine past climates that may have allowed ancient life to exist
  • Study the geology of Mars, including the processes that affected and altered Mars’s surface, as well as looking for rocks that formed in water and what they might reveal about past life
  • Help prepare for human explorers by studying radiation levels on Mars’s surface and chemicals common in martian soil that are known to be harmful to humans. 

This may be a very exciting mission, but the wait will be long! The search for fossils will be the last part of the mission. But we’ll keep you posted!

For more information, visit NASA’s about this mission: Mars 2020 Mission and Mars Perseverance Rover.

Junior Rangers: Experiencing the National Parks during Quarantine

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Isaac here –

While schools across the nation close their halls of learning, millions of Americans are considering how they will continue their children’s education while under quarantine. Why not experience the National Parks from your own home with the Junior Rangers Program? Developed by the National Park Service, the Junior Rangers Program broadens students’ educational experience at national parks across the nation through activity workbooks, ranger presentations, and visitor centers. After completing a specified number of activities in their workbooks, participants can present their studies to a ranger, who will then award them with a Junior Ranger badge. While many national parks design their own specific program, several Junior Ranger badges may be earned from home, including the Junior Paleontologist, Junior Archaeologist, and others. Several national parks, such as Aztec National Park, also provide their workbooks online which, once completed, may be mailed to the specified office. Once you earn your Junior Ranger badge, do not forget to visit a relevant national or state park to learn more about your area of interest!

Links for further investigation:

Thomas Henry Culhane Ph.D. and Enas Culhane, Community Scientists, Activists, and Teachers

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What is your favorite part about being a scientist and how did you get interested in science?

We love the problem solving interplay that occurs when we are able to exchange techniques for Do-it-Yourself construction of appropriate technologies with  communities facing environmental and climatic challenges. We became interested in exploring the synergies between human and non-human communities after our personal experiences of disruptions in environmental and social services as the results of minor and major natural disasters (earthquakes and hurricanes, wars and occupations and economic deprivation) in our homelands and during our travels.

What do you do?

We focus on harnessing local resources, using biomimicry and permaculture design and finding ways to cooperate with microbial and other biological systems  to improve and develop  sustainable lifestyles. In particular, we “life-test” food-energy-water and zero waste “nexus” technologies for closing the loop between “food-waste” and “toilet waste” and other “organic residuals” using self-built  biodigesters and hydroponic systems to produce fuel, food and fertilizer and create healthy soil ecosystems. The heart of our work is outreach and education so that we “teach a woman to fish” rather than “give a man a fish” and empower everybody to participate in the much needed zero-waste  “circular economy”.

Enas Culhane, Dr. T.H. Culhane and Suleiman Halasah introducing the “Solar CITIES Pickle Barrel Biodigester” in a workshop at Talitha Kumi Environmental Education Center in Beit Djala, Bethlehem, Palestine.

How does your research contribute to the understanding of climate change and to the betterment of society in general?

Modelling and creating an attitude of  self reliance and local resilience and a more accountable relationship between consumption patterns  and self-provisioning capacity helps society adapt to and mitigate the changes in climate and the losses of productive land and water ecosystems that are a consequence of the bad practices promulgated in the Anthropocene.

What are your data and how do you obtain them?

We teach a new course at the University of South Florida called “Envisioning Sustainability” that uses VR/AR and game development software and hardware and visual storytelling to help students develop interactive “5D” models/simulations and digital assets  that show the application of best practice technologies to their own homes/neighborhoods and areas of interest. These data can then be shared on-line and act as immersive meeting spaces for testing ideas before attempting to implement them in the field.

What advice do you have for aspiring scientists?

Our best advice for aspiring scientists is to humbly consider yourself a small but important part of a much larger “ecology of mind” and an unbroken thread in history’s “Great Conversation” and Co-Evolutionary Process  and strive to contribute your observations, insights and epiphanies in a cooperative open source manner for the betterment of all (human and non-human).

Dr. Culhane is the Director of the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Concentration in the Patel College of Global Sustainability at the University of South Florida. Both he and Enas Culhane are community scientists, activists, and teachers. To learn more about their work, visit their website, blog, and Facebook group.