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22 April 2013
Remembering to be small: Accretionary Wedge #56
As geologists, we spend a lot of time looking for the big picture. We want to know how a mountain range formed, or where tectonic plates were millions of years ago, or what global repercussions an eruption could have, or what effect the melting of an ice sheet could have on sea level around the world. We think about time in boggling spans that far exceed anything we could experience in a single lifetime – millions, even billions of years. And we are always trying to tell far-reaching stories to explain the history of our planet, using words and figures and photos.
22 April 2011
Earth science on Earth Day
Although Earth Day was originally an environmental movement (the brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson, and his response to seeing the aftereffects of the Santa Barbara oil spill), over the years it has been adopted by a number of Earth science organizations as well. Since it’s a Friday (and almost the end of the semester), I’m not creative enough to come up with my own Earth Day topic, but I did want to highlight what Earth science groups are doing today. Unfortunately, the list seems to be pretty thin (there are a lot of local groups sponsoring events, but not some of the larger organizations you might expect.
22 April 2010
Earth Day Edition: Where on (Google) Earth # 200!
Perhaps I was a little quick jumping on the answer for Callan’s first WoGE, but I couldn’t resist…a time-lapse series of shots of the Spirit Lake logjam was an excellent (and timely) choice, since the anniversary of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption is coming up (May 18th!). The logjam that’s shifting its position in Callan’s pictures was created when trees, downed by the eruption’s lateral blast, were washed into …
21 April 2008
Happy Earth Day! Now cover your ears.
Here’s a little bit of singable prose in honor of Earth Day, National Poetry Month, and Accretionary Wedge #8. (A disclaimer: I am definitely not a poet. Read or sing aloud at your own risk.) To the tune of “The Major General’s Song”: I am the very model of a young environmentalist,I’ve signed enough petitions to wear out the tendons in my wrist,I know the ways to turn my house …
Jessica Ball is a volcanologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, researching volcanic hydrothermal systems and stability, and doing science communication for the California Volcano Observatory. She previously worked at the Geological Society of America's Washington DC Policy Office, learning about the intersection of Earth science and legislative affairs. Her Mendenhall postdoc and PhD focused on how water affects the stability of volcanoes, and involved both field investigations and numerical modeling applications. Her blogging covers a range of topics, from her experiences in academic geosciences to science outreach and communication to her field and lab work in volcanology.