Earth and environmental systems science (ESS) research is evidence-based and relies on the analysis and modeling of diverse and multi-scale datasets. The volume of ESS data has risen sharply in recent years, with more data gathered by the minute. This may come as positive news—however, much of this data remains unarchived, difficult to access, and…
Read More
From the climate crisis to water insecurity, high-quality, openly available data are needed to solve global environmental challenges. However, important environmental systems science (ESS) data often remains difficult to access, unarchived, or even unusable. To help improve access to and use of ESS data, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) supported the establishment of the…
Read MoreCongratulations to Research Scientist Neslihan Taş for receiving a 2021 Outstanding Mentor award from Berkeley Lab Workforce Development & Education. This award recognizes those who go above and beyond to teach aspiring STEM professionals. Taş received the award for the Fall 2021 mentor term but is a regular advocate for mentees and the mentoring…
Read More
Extreme weather, floods, drought, and land-use change are impacting nutrient, element, and water cycling within mountainous watersheds that provide 60-90 percent of the world’s freshwater. Changes in precipitation and snowmelt influence the quantity and timing of water in streams and rivers. However, these changes can also affect water quality because they affect the fate and…
Read More
California has the fifth largest economy in the world and is home to one of the largest agricultural regions in the United States. However, the state’s water resources are extremely vulnerable to climate change–in part because much of historical precipitation falls at or near the freezing line, so that small increases in temperature will have…
Read More
Through its leadership of the NGEE-Tropics project, EESA and partners around the world are exploring how tropical ecosystems are changing in response to climate and land-use change. This type of leadership, according to an August 16 editorial in Nature, is more important than ever. Dense tropical forests cover only about 8% of Earth’s land…
Read More
Fabio Ciulla, who received his B.S and M.S in physics from the University of Rome La Sapienza and his Ph.D. from Northeastern University, is a postdoc fellow in the Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division. Ciulla has researched both natural and social sciences, including modeling the spread of epidemics and studying how information diffuses in social…
Read More
Wildfires are increasing in severity and frequency worldwide. A new report called Spreading like Wildfire: The Rising Threat of Extraordinary Landscape Fires indicates that wildfires are responsible for significant economic, environmental, and sociopolitical damage (UNEP, GRID-Arendal, 2021). They also contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions – thereby further fueling climate change. Researchers need to…
Read More
EESA Staff Scientist Robinson Negron-Juarez will travel to Iquitos, Peru, in July to accept an Honoris Causa from the National University of the Peruvian Amazon (Universidad Nacional de la Amazonia Peruana, UNAP). Negron-Juarez joined EESA in 2013 and contributes to the NGEE-Tropics project led by EESA and to EESA’s wildfire Element. Through his research he…
Read More
Burning more than 1,000 square kilometers of tundra on Alaska’s North Slope, the 2007 Anaktuvuk river wildfire is one of the largest fires to occur within Arctic ecosystems. Berkeley Lab scientist Nick Bouskill led a study that used data from this disturbance event to predict ecosystem recovery as fires advance in a changing climate. (Credit:…
Read More