Thanks to a $498,999 grant from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), David Boutt and colleagues will build advanced integrated hydrologic models that will allow be used to predict with spatial precision how the region’s water budget will change in the coming years. Read the UMass news release for more information about the project.

Julie Brigham-Grette and Robert DeConto are among the scientists who contributed to the International Climate Crisis Initiative’s State of the Cryosphere 2024 report, released to coincide with the COP29 climate conference being held in Baku. Read the piece in NBC News.

In a new paper published in the journal AGU Advances, Matthew Winnick and Brian Saccardi quantified carbon dioxide emissions from inland waters to 22 million U.S. lakes, rivers and reservoirs. This was the first time the approach was used to achieve this result. Read more in the paper online.

On October 26th Ray Bradley delivered the keynote address at the New England – St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society Fall 2024 Conference at Westfield State University in Westfield Massachusetts. The talk was on “The New Normal: climate that we’ll have to get used to”. More information on the conference can be found here.

Julie Brigham-Grette has been chosen to serve as the next U.S. co-lead of the Climate Expert Group for the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), directed by the Arctic Council. The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum that promotes cooperation and interaction among Arctic states, Indigenous Peoples, and other Arctic inhabitants. Read more in the UMass College of Natural Sciences announcement.

Brendan Moran, David Boutt, and colleagues recently published a study that leveraged a hydrological isotope tracer analysis to investigate connections between water movement, its age, and deposits of lithium in an extremely dry region in South America. They concluded that it is important to protect the various water conduits—streams, rivers, seeps in order to manage systems in the region and other similar environments around the world. See more in the PLOS Water paper and UMass news release.

The 52nd Arctic Workshop will be held on the UMass-Amherst campus Wednesday through Saturday March 13-16, 2024. The schedule:

Wednesday March 13 – evening Ice Breaker and Welcome
Thursday and Friday March 14-15 – talks and poster sessions
Friday Night – March 15 – Workshop Dinner and Keynote Speaker
Saturday March 16th – Morning talks ending at noon.
Saturday March 16th —Optional afternoon local Quaternary field trip and boxed lunch.

Click here for registration information.

The international office of the Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) project, a core initiative of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) was recently established at UMass. CliC will facilitate new and emerging science initiatives, coordinate outreach to the international climate-science community and engage the general public in understanding the implications of ongoing changes in climate and the cryosphere. Read about the project in the UMass Amherst news release.

Rob DeConto has been selected to receive the lifetime honorific of Provost Professor. The 2023 Provost Professors were selected from a competitive group of nominations by the Provost Professor Selection Committee. The title will be conferred at the Faculty Awards Dinner on Monday, May 8. Read more about newest and previous Provost Professors.