Olivia Trani

A first-timer’s guide to the 2020 General Assembly

Olivia Trani December 18, 2019

EGU and its surroundings! Credit: EGU/Foto Pfluegl

Will this be your first time at an EGU General Assembly? With thousands of participants from all over the world (more than 16,000 in 2019) in a massive venue, the conference can be a confusing and, at times, overwhelming place. To help you find your way, we have compiled an introductory handbook filled with history, presentation pointers, travel tips and a few facts about Vienna and its surroundin ...[Read More]

Taking the pulse of an extreme landscape

Olivia Trani December 17, 2019

With the help of an EGU Science Journalism Fellowship, science journalist Katherine Kornei was able to follow a research team in Taiwan studying the dynamic landscape of Taroko National Park and its landslides. On the EGU blog Kornei reflects on the expedition. Image courtesy of Katherine Kornei.

Welcome to Taroko National Park. Would you like to borrow a safety helmet? In this precipitously steep landscape, covering one’s head is strongly encouraged. Rockfalls and landslides, triggered by frequent seismic activity and torrential rainfall, are mainstays in Taiwan’s preeminent national park. Evidence of this mass-wasting is everywhere: roadways are littered with fallen rocks, boulders choke ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Rain on the Namib Desert

Olivia Trani December 16, 2019

Rain in the Namib Desert. Credit: Christoph Schmidt (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

Pictured here is the arid Namib Desert on a not-so-arid day. The desert is known for its extremely dry conditions and abundance of sunshine, but this photo, taken by Christoph Schmidt, chair of geomorphology at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, gives us a rare glimpse of a rainy day. The Namib Desert spans about 81,000 square kilometres in southwest Africa, stretching throughout the entire co ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Setting trees aflame to understand the carbon balance of fires

Olivia Trani December 9, 2019

Smoke clears after an experimental wildfire in Australian eucalyptus forest. Credit: Stefan Doerr (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Smoke clears after an experimental wildfire in Australian eucalyptus forest carried out for carbon balance estimations of wildfires. We meticulously measured the carbon in all leaves, twigs, logs and bark in a forest block about 35km east of Manjimup and then they set it on fire with help from the Dept. of Parks and Wildlife, [Western Australia]. We the counted the carbon all over again including ...[Read More]