Seminars

TBD 

GMU Geology Faculty will give lightning talks introducing themselves, their labs, and current projects 

August 29, 2024, 4:30-5:45 pm 

Exploratory Hall 1309 and via Zoom (for link, email bhupp@gmu.edu) 

Co-hosted with George Mason Office of Research  

Jack Kaye, NASA 

Earth Science to Action: How NASA Views the Earth from Space, Air, and Ground to Advance Science and Inform Decisions 

September 4 2024, 1:00-2:30pm 

Johnson Center Cinema 

Host: Jagadish Shukla 

The Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact at George Mason University invites you to attend NASA, Earth, and Space – an event featuring Dr. Jack Kaye, associate director for research of the Earth Science Division within NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, and a panel of faculty who are currently working on NASA-endorsed projects. The event will be held from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, September 4, in the JC Cinema. 

Dr. Kaye will share what is currently happening in space exploration and discuss future possibilities. George Mason researchers will then showcase their exemplary NASA-funded research and highlight their work, discuss outcomes, detail the impact of their research, and explain how others can collaborate or successfully apply for funding. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask Dr. Kaye and panelists questions following their remarks. 

Dr. Ben Kligman 

Smithsonian Institute, Museum of Natural History 

Title: Searching for the hidden origins of living tetrapods in Triassic equatorial Pangaea 

September 5th, 2024, 4:30-5:45 pm 

Exploratory Hall 1309 and via Zoom (for link, email bhupp@gmu.edu) 

[No Seminar this Week]

Dr. Patrick Fulton 

Cornell University, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department 

Title: TBD 

September 12th, 2024, 4:30-5:45 pm 

Exploratory Hall 1309 and via Zoom (for link, email bhupp@gmu.edu)  

Vivien Gornitz, Columbia University 

Recent troubling cryosphere trends, sea level rise, and New York City coastal resiliency projects 

September 18 2024, 1:30pm 

Planetary Hall 224 and via Zoom (for link, email lortizur@gmu.edu) 

Host: Luis Ortiz 

TBD 

Viviana Maggioni, George Mason University 

Can Satellites Help Us Study Precipitation Patterns and Trends? 

September 25 2024, 1:30pm 

Planetary Hall 224 and via Zoom (for link, email lortizur@gmu.edu) 

Host: Luis Ortiz 

Precipitation is an essential component of Earth’s hydrologic cycle, one that influences soil moisture, vegetation growth, and streamflow. Investigating rainfall variability in space and time is crucial for sustainable water resources management, for characterizing extremes and their socioeconomic impacts, and for policymaking. This seminar presents the challenges and opportunities of satellite-based observations for studying historical precipitation patterns and trends. Satellites offer a unique perspective to look at water quantity and distribution globally everywhere anytime. Nevertheless, in order to efficiently use satellite-based observations, we need to improve the inherent coarse resolution of satellite-based observations down to finer scales and their accuracy. To address the first limitation, the seminar will present novel approaches to downscale atmospheric and hydrological variables. The gain of this shift is both practical and conceptual: not only the wealth of information generated at the finer scale vastly benefits decision-making processes, but it also allows for the study of physical processes that remain invisible at coarser scales. Estimating precipitation can be complicated by several factors, including complex orography and lack of ground references, among others. Therefore, evaluating the quality and reliability of precipitation data, before analyzing their trends and patterns, is fundamental. A comprehensive assessment of high-resolution satellite-based and model reanalysis precipitation estimates is conducted in some of the most complex regions in the world such as High Mountain Asia and West Africa 

Dr. Terry Wilson 

Ohio State University, School of Earth Sciences 

Title: TBD 

September 26th, 2024, 4:30-5:45 pm 

Exploratory Hall 1309 and via Zoom (for link, email bhupp@gmu.edu) 

Kathie Dello, North Carolina State University

Title TBD

October 2 2024, 1:30pm Planetary Hall 224 and via Zoom (for link, email lortizur@gmu.edu)

Host: James Kinte

TBD 

Title: TBD 

October 3rd, 2024, 4:30-5:45 pm 

Exploratory Hall 1309 and via Zoom (for link, email bhupp@gmu.edu) 

Meredith Parish, George Mason University

Title: TBD

October 9 2024, 1:30pm Planetary Hall 224 and via Zoom (for link, email lortizur@gmu.edu)

Host: Xiaojing Du

TBD

Dr. Brian Jicha 

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Geoscience 

Title: New dating options: 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of non-traditional minerals 

October 10th, 2024, 4:30-5:45 pm 

Exploratory Hall 1309 and via Zoom (for link, email bhupp@gmu.edu) 

Gil Compo, University of Colorado, Boulder 

TBD 

October 16 2024, 1:30pm 

Planetary Hall 224 and via Zoom (for link, email lortizur@gmu.edu) 

Host: Tim Delsole 

TBD 

Dr. Elizabeth Sibert 

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Geology & Geophysics 

Title: A microfossil history from the bottom of the sea: sharks, fish, mass extinctions, and 85 million years of global change 

October 17th, 2024, 4:30-5:45 pm 

Exploratory Hall 1309 and via Zoom (for link, email bhupp@gmu.edu) 

Yan-Ning Kuo, Cornell University 

TBD 

October 23 2024, 1:30pm 

Planetary Hall 224 and via Zoom (for link, email lortizur@gmu.edu) 

Host: Erik Swenson 

TBD 

TBD 

Title: TBD 

October 3rd, 2024, 4:30-5:45 pm 

Exploratory Hall 1309 and via Zoom (for link, email bhupp@gmu.edu) 

Annarita Mariotti, NOAA Climate Program Office 

TBD 

October 30 2024, 1:30pm 

Planetary Hall 224 and via Zoom (for link, email lortizur@gmu.edu) 

Host: James Kinter 

TBD 

Dr. Kimberly Foecke 

George Mason University, Department of Sociology & Anthropology 

Title: TBD 

October 31st, 2024, 4:30-5:45 pm 

Exploratory Hall 1309 and via Zoom (for link, email bhupp@gmu.edu) 

Bärbel Hönisch, Columbia University 

Title: The ocean record of atmospheric CO2 and seawater acidity 

November 6, 1:30pm 

Planetary Hall 224 and via Zoom (for link, email lortizur@gmu.edu) 

Host: Brittany Hupp 

Michel Speiser, International Centre for Earth Simulation 

TBD 

November 14 2024, 1:30pm 

Planetary Hall 224 and via Zoom (for link, email lortizur@gmu.edu) 

Host: Jagadesh Shukla 

TBD 

Dr. Yihang Fang 

Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences 

Title: TBD 

November 14th, 2024, 4:30-5:45 pm 

Exploratory Hall 1309 and via Zoom (for link, email bhupp@gmu.edu) 

Keith Dixon, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory 

TBD 

November 20 2024, 1:30pm 

Planetary Hall 224 and via Zoom (for link, email lortizur@gmu.edu) 

Host: Luis Ortiz 

TBD 

Dr. Alexandra Villa 

University of Wisconsin-Madison & MARUM University of Bremen 

Title: TBD 

November 21st, 2024, 4:30-5:45 pm 

Exploratory Hall 1309 and via Zoom (for link, email bhupp@gmu.edu) 

Alicia Bentley, National Centers for Environmental Prediction 

TBD 

December 4 2024, 1:30pm 

Planetary Hall 224 and via Zoom (for link, email lortizur@gmu.edu) 

Host: Austin Reed 

TBD 

Dr. Sumit Mishra 

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Institute of Geology 

Title: The genesis of manganese deposits in Jalisco, Mexico: Geological insights and mineralogical signatures 

December 5th, 2024, 4:30-5:45 pm 

Exploratory Hall 1309 and via Zoom (for link, email bhupp@gmu.edu)