Journey to the Moon: from Apollo to Artemis and why the Moon rocks -- Dr. Juliane Gross

Monday, December 14, 2020, 7:30PM to 8:30PM

Dr. Juliane Gross is an associate professor for planetary sciences at Rutgers University, NJ and currently the Deputy Curator for Apollo samples at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. Her research focuses on investigating the formation and evolution of planetary bodies using extra-terrestrial samples that were returned to Earth either by nature (as meteorites) or by humans (by astronauts or by space crafts). In her talk she took us on a journey to our nearest planetary neighbor and explore the Moon with us from Apollo to Artemis. She discussed how Moon rocks can be used for scientific studies of solar system exploration, and how they can help us to better understand our past and our future.

The Arctic Fire Regime - Current Status, Future Implications, and Your Role as a Citizen(-Scientist) -- Dr. Jessica McCarty

Monday, January 11, 2021, 7:30PM to 8:30PM

For more than a decade, climate modeling results have predicted an “invasion” of fires to Arctic regions. While fires in the Arctic are not new, tundra fires are increasing with a potential for a new novel Arctic fire regime. In the past three years, extreme fire outbreaks in Fennoscandia in 2018, Alaska in 2019, and the Russian Federation in 2020, have originated in the Boreal zone but expanded to the Arctic. Increasing fire activity in the Arctic and the Boreal are linked to climate-driven warming and drying, but also human activities. In this talk, we will review the impact of climate change, human ignition sources, aboveground fuels, permafrost thaw, and drying of peat on increased fire activity in the Arctic. We will also discuss international cooperation via the Arctic Council, and the role of the U.S. as an Arctic country, and a call to citizens and citizen-scientists to understand and advocate for managing the emerging Arctic fire regime.

What lies beneath: Exploring the hydrosphere beneath the Antarctic ice sheet -- Dr. Matthew Siegfried

Monday, February 8, 2021, 7:30PM to 8:30PM

Dr. Siegfried is a glaciologist at the Colorado School of Mines who uses satellite remote sensing techniques in combination with field-based and airborne geophysical methods to understand physical processes of Earth’s glaciers and ice sheets. He runs the Mines Glaciology Laboratory, where the team collects and synthesizes ground-, air-, and space-based datasets in an effort to span the spatial (centimeters to 100s of km) and temporal (minutes to centuries) on which these processes occur. He is particularly interested in processes at the ice-bed interface, which lies hidden beneath 10s to 1000s of meters of ice at the intersection between glaciology, hydrology, geology, microbiology, and oceanography. He strives to work with a diverse set of researchers to create a unique perspective on the role of subglacial processes within the larger global Earth system. As a polar scientist, Dr. Siegfried is also committed to maintaining an open discussion of the changing cryosphere, having collaborated with institutions ranging from local elementary schools to the U.S. State Department in an effort to facilitate our conversation about the local, regional, and global impacts of changes at the Earth’s poles. Dr. Siegfried is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Geophysics at Colorado School of Mines and is affiliated faculty with the Hydrologic Science and Engineering Program and the Humanitarian Engineering Program.

Eating Insects… on Purpose: Moving Towards Sustainable Foods, by Dr. Emily Moscato

Monday, March 8, 2021, 7:30PM to 8:30PM

Dr. Emily Moscato is Associate Professor of Food Marketing at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. She focuses her research on consumer well-being with particular interest in social and environmental food sustainability and using alternative data-gathering methods for collecting consumer insights and motivating change. Her examination of topics such as innovating for the climate crisis, food savoring, food labeling, aging consumers, and photography in action research has led her to investigate sites such as editable insects, food foraging groups, the meaning of "natural" in family food practices, the Red Hat Society, Japan's food culture, and design thinking for food well-being. She has published in top academic journals including Journal of Business Research, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, and Appetite.

The American Chestnut Tree, Conservation and Restoration, by Dr. Daniel O'Keefe

Monday, April 12, 2021, 7:30PM to 8:30PM

Dr. O’Keefe is a retired research biologist. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation and is a volunteer at the Tyler Arboretum, where he works on conservation and breeding of the tree that was almost completely eliminatedin the early 20th century by the chestnut blight fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica).