Express News: archive
Honours grad fords stream between water science and policy
"I was looking for a summer job on campus and got one in the hydrology lab in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences."
MeltDown: Is our planet in Crisis?
The U of A’s own Dr. Ian Stirling and expert glaciologist Dr. Martin Sharp will be joined by award-winning filmmaker James Balog to share what they’ve learned at a free public presentation and forum on June 12.
Regeneration of Little Ice Age bryophytes emerging from a polar glacier with implications of totipotency in extreme environments
Across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, widespread ice retreat during the 20th century has sharply accelerated since 2004.
Melting Glaciers Cause One-Third of Sea-Level Rise
The world's glaciers lost 260 gigatons of water each year between 2003 and 2009, making these rivers of ice responsible for almost a third of sea-level rise in that time, new research finds. Martin Sharp and former EAS graduate students Alex Gardner and Anthony Arendt are co-authors on the paper.
Billion-year-old underground oasis
A reservoir of water at ~2.4 kilometers below the surface in the Canadian Shield turned out to be the oldest free water ever found so far. Dr. Long Li, is part of the team made this discovery.
Bioavailability of zinc in marine systems through time
Two geomicrobiologists in our department are part of a research team that successfully challenged a long-accepted theory about the chemical composition of the ancient oceans.
Professor Emeritus Dr. Jiri Krupicka celebrates his 100th birthday!
Congratulations to Professor Emeritus Dr. Krupicka on his 100th birthday!
The spacingTime Continuum – Inaugural Whyte Ave Edition
There's just something inexplicably cool (to me) about seeing a photo of a horse drawn carriage filled with a moustachioed brass band circa 1907 lounging outside of the building where you drink your coffee and check your emails each morning.
New: Whitecourt Meteorite Crater Exhibit
The revised Whitecourt Meteorite Crater exhibit is now on display in the Mineralogy and Petrology Museum, ESB B-08, and features a scale model of the impact crater and the largest known meteorite from Whitecourt.
EAS Impressions
This month, we are pleased to present an interview with Eilidh Richards, who published the results of her undergraduate thesis in the international science journal, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. Her supervisor was Dr. Lindsey Leighton, and it is worth noting that publishing undergraduate research is an unusual accomplishment.
The top 12 research stories of 2012
Here are the stories of our researchers and their results that ranked highest among the most-read UAlberta News headlines of 2012.
The Changing Face of the North
The North is melting. But as the world’s northernmost research university, the U of A is at the forefront of understanding these changes — from polar bears to glaciers.
A scholar and a steward of the North
It was 1965 when U of A professor emeritus John England first set boots down on the tundra of Canada’s far north. He says the opportunity changed his life.
Edmonton researcher's meteorite study shines a light on the red planet
A University of Alberta researcher is unlocking some of the secrets of Mars by studying a meteorite that plummeted into the Moroccan desert 15 months ago after making a 225-million-kilometre journey from the red planet.
Middleton Medal awarded to Dr. Brian Jones
Brian Jones was recently awarded the Middleton Medal for Sedimentology by the Canadian Sedimentology Research Group.
Royal Society of Canada honours U of A standouts
“This award is a grateful reminder of the enormous opportunity that I have been given to cross the entire Canadian Arctic Archipelago—bay by bay, fiord by fiord—exploring so many profoundly beautiful places while sharing this experience with close friends and colleagues,” said England.
Centennial Web Site
Our Centennial website displays early photographs, a chronology of events, selected biographies, group photographs and more. Please enjoy browsing through the historical materials from our archives.
Photographs from the early years of the Department of Geology
This exhibition of photographs is on display at the Royal Alberta Museum for the month of September, 2012. It provides an impression of the personnel and activities in the early years of the department.
Meteorite holds clue to life's left-handedness
A University of Alberta researcher says a meteorite that came down in British Columbia 12 years ago now reveals that a key molecular component present in all life on Earth may not have originated on this planet.
U of A researchers find earliest evidence of mobile life
University of Alberta scientists say they have uncovered the fossilized trails of an ancient slug that proves complex life evolved 30 million years earlier than established by previous discoveries.
Congratulations!
Faculty of Science won "The Best Hole Presentation" at this year's Chancellor's cup. The Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences featured their Centennial Celebration with Geology activities.
UAlberta honorary degrees announced
The University of Alberta will honour 11 inspiring individuals with honorary degrees this May and June.Reception: June 7, 2012 in ESB 1-23 at 9:00am
Narrowing the search for life on Mars
U of A geologist and meteorite expert Chris Herd was part of a team that identified a previously undiscovered source of carbon in several Martian meteorites.
Exploring Campus: Paleontology and Mineralogy and Petrology Museums
Behind the modern looking glass exterior of the University of Alberta's Earth and Atmospheric Sciences building, down in the basement, lie two university treasures: The Paleontology museum and the Mineralogy and Petrology museum.
Induction of Dr. John A. Allan into the University of Alberta Curator Hall of Fame
Speech by Dr. Martin Sharp at the University of Alberta Museums Celebration, for the induction of Dr. John A. Allan into the University of Alberta Curator Hall of Fame, March 20, 2012
Science Sunday
Breakfast Television broadcasts from the University of Alberta where Science Sunday will be held. Includes interview with U of A researcher Murray Gingras.
Growth Spurt at a Bolivian Volcano Is Fertile Ground for Study
Martyn Unsworth, a geophysicist at the University of Alberta, is using radio waves to search for magma beneath a Bolivian volcano that has been inflating for more than 20 years. More details in the New York Times, February 14, 2012.
Finding Bitumen
A University of Alberta geologist is hoping a one-of-a-kind imaging system will satisfy two needs of oilsands producers: to find more energy and to return mining sites to a natural state.
Diamond Mind
Graham Pearson, the U of A’s foremost expert in diamond research, uses unique "fingerprints" to determine the origins of the world’s favourite gemstone.
U of A responds to community
Economic development in Alberta has received a boost from the University of Alberta, with a new community planning program that will help to fill a critical need in the province, while building a better future for Albertans, says Robert J. Summers, acting director of the recently established Community Planning Program.
Scientists confirm rocks fell from Mars
They came from Mars, not in peace, but in pieces. Scientists are confirming that 15 pounds of rock collected recently in Morocco fell to Earth from Mars during a meteorite shower last July.
Keeping pace in the race to the field
“We define field research quite broadly, from the classic view of a biologist out in the High Arctic or the rainforests of Brazil, to searching library science archives, to investigating archeological sites,” says director Jeff Kavanaugh. “We’re looking to support all aspects of off-campus research.”
Winter Weather Expert: Gerhard Reuter
It sounds like science fiction, but he can change the weather. He’s actually been involved in crews that have flown through clouds in South Africa and seeded them with beads of dry ice, which can regulate the amount of precipitation that falls.
Top 100 Stories of 2011 (Discover Magazine)
#77: Amber Reveals Origins of Feathers?
"That's got to be a hair," University of Alberta paleobiologist Alex Wolfe thought when he saw a thin strand in a piece of 80-million-year-old amber.
A rock garden landscape
for student learning on campus
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences department is in the middle of installing the second phase of the new geosciences rock garden located outside Biological Sciences.
Who or what takes the blame?
For decades researchers have tried to pinpoint the cause of the massive loss of large-bodied Ice Age mammals, megafauna, about 10,000 years ago. The debate has largely focused on whether a particular mechanism was evident: was it humans and hunting? Climate and environmental change? ...
Let there be life
The research team, led by U of A geomicrobiologist Kurt Konhauser, made their find by investigating a link between atmospheric oxygen levels and rising concentrations of chromium in the rock of ancient seabeds.
Dinosaur feathers found in Alberta
Scientists have unearthed the most diverse set of fossilized dinosaur feathers beautifully preserved in Alberta amber.[ Video ]
Trapping time in amber
U of A paleontology graduate student Ryan McKellar discovered a wide range of feathers trapped in amber in collections at the Royal Tyrrell Museum and in the private collection of the Leuck family in Medicine Hat.
Antibiotic resistance found in ancient bacteria
"The ancient DNA found in the permafrost shows that these microbes have been battling for survival against natural antibiotics for at least 30,000 years and represents evidence for the evolutionary back-story of the challenges of modern antibacterial resistance," said Duane Froese.
Museum unveils new Cambrian exhibit
The University of Alberta's Paleontology Museum newest exhibit explores three themes: the Cambrian Explosion, the Burgess Shale, and Trilobites. Numerous specimens from the University of Alberta's Invertebrate Paleontology Collection are highlighted.
B.C. landfall yields treasure for U of A team
A University of Alberta researcher has discovered an unprecedented variety of organic material in meteorites that landed in northern British Columbia.
Study finds Canada's Arctic glaciers and ice caps losing water at an alarming rate
The work of PhD graduate Alex Gardner has revealed some alarming evidence that Canada's Arctic glaciers and ice caps have lost nearly as much water as there is in Lake Erie.
The Bones in the Basement
The museum exhibits just a fraction of the thousands of fossils in the paleontology collections on campus, used extensively for research and teaching. The museum is a joint venture between the Departments of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Biological Sciences.
Killam winner tests depth of still waters in classroom
"The U of A has been a great place to work. We have all the research facilities that we need; it is hard to find anywhere else that has the same level and calibre of equipment and technical staff to help run the machines"
Science Sunday: Join us! March 6, 2011
Discover science through fun, hands-on activities with the University of Alberta Museums. Make a fossil, learn about animal tracks, explore meteorite impact craters, unearth how anteaters eat and so much more!
U of A Scientists Play Major Role in Overturning Legislation in Brazil
Thousands of hectares of tropical dry forests in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais are now safe from logging thanks to research efforts by University of Alberta Faculty of Science researchers led by Dr Arturo Sánchez-Azofeifa.
Test shows dinosaurs survived mass extinction by 700,000 years
The U of A team, led by Larry Heaman from the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, put the femur bone of a sauropod through an elaborate testing procedure and found it’s only 64.8 million years old.
Killam recipient shines in discipline with no home
Almost three years ago, an Air Canada jet flying over the Rocky Mountains from Victoria to Toronto was suddenly lifted and dropped about 20 metres, causing passengers who weren’t belted in to hit the roof of the plane.