This Halloween, we turn our gaze from fictional haunts to the chilling, rigorous world of paleoclimatology. The paper by Hartmann et al. (2025), published on Climate of the Past, focuses on the implementation of external forcings in a regional climate model around the 1257 CE Samalas volcanic eruption. This paper can be quite the unsettling …[Read More]
Welcome to GeoTalk, Elizabeth! Could you introduce yourself and your background? I’m a genderfluid glaciologist living between previously glaciated, currently glaciated, and flood-prone landscapes. I am a postdoctoral researcher at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. I did my bachelor’s in physics at the University of California, Los Angeles, and my Ph.D. in glacial geophysics at …[Read More]
From 1525, when the first human trafficking ship departed Africa, to September 22, 1862, when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, more than 300 years passed. This was enough time for the exploitation of humans and the earth to leave a permanent mark, one so profound it is now visible in the geological record. Not only …[Read More]
Recently, we had a big name in fire ecology visiting our institute. He had come, among other things, to look for records of a certain fire-adapted shrub in my university’s herbarium. While myself and a colleague helped him go through the stacks of pressed and archived specimens, I asked him why there were so little …[Read More]
Hello Lorne – welcome to GeoTalk! Could you introduce yourself and your background to our readers? I’m Dr. Lorne Farovitch, a deaf transdisciplinary biomedical researcher and multilingual signer, fluent in more than five sign languages. I’m passionate about advancing health equity for deaf communities worldwide through community-driven research! As the founder and Executive Director of …[Read More]
August 15, 1950, marked India’s fourth year of Independence. The young nation’s mood was optimistic. People all over India were celebrating the country’s newfound freedom. Known as the land of the rising Sun, the jubilant people of the northeastern part of the country were about to conclude the celebrations and retire for the day. In …[Read More]
This year marks the 35th anniversary of a discovery that redefined our understanding of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and captivated the world. It’s a story of serendipity, fierce legal battles, groundbreaking science, and an unexpected journey into pop culture. Discovered in South Dakota in 1990 by fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson, Sue is not just any dinosaur …[Read More]
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been here a while, and it isn’t going anywhere, not any time soon. It has become an integral part of many lives and businesses. When I speak of AI, I am not referring to GenAI (generative AI) that writes your emails for you: Think about the algorithms that suggest what movie …[Read More]
Mangrove forests, rare tidal woodlands at the interface of land and sea, are extraordinary ecosystems that bridge freshwater and marine environments. These forests support rich biodiversity and invaluable nursery habitat for fish and crustaceans, while also providing food, shelter, and cultural resources to millions of coastal communities. Think of mangroves as sea walls: their dense, …[Read More]
As the Early Warnings for All (EW4ALL) initiative gathers pace with its 1st Multi-Stakeholder Forum last month in Geneva, we have welcomed a recognition by experts of the importance of tailoring early warning systems to local needs. The ambition to ensure everyone on Earth is protected by a multi-hazard early warning system by 2027 is …[Read More]
