Research News
June 9, 2017
Digging into the Knowledge Gap of Dust
Utah State University and iUTAH researcher Janice Brahney has been in the news for her contributions to research on impact of dust on freshwater ecosystems.
A media release provided by the Utah State University writer Traci Hillyard said, “Dust may be as old as dirt, but in that dust is valuable information. Atmospheric dust is important because it consists mostly of tiny particles of soil, which contain nutrients, metals, clays and carbonates making dust a significant vector of biologically important compounds. According to current research, dust has a significant impact on the biological productivity in oceans, forests and freshwater lakes, which has the potential to increase carbon storage across these varied landscapes. Dust is what Janice Brahney, assistant professor of watershed science in the Utah State University Quinney College of Natural Resources really digs. Brahney’s research focuses on the impact of that dust on freshwater ecosystems.
‘The atmospheric transport of material is at present a large unmeasured component of critical biogeochemical cycles, like that of phosphorus,’ says Brahney. ‘These nutrients deposited with dust have significant effects on lake ecosystem function including productivity, species composition and carbon cycling.’ The shores of the Great Salt Lake, along with other playas and desert environments, are the leading contributors of dust in Utah.
‘Atmospheric dust arises from these low-elevation basins and is then deposited in mountain environments that act as natural barriers to transport,’ continues Brahney, who is interested in finding out how dust deposition impacts the nutrient availability and biology of affected lakes and rivers.”
The full study is available here.
Press: Utah State Today
May 25, 2017
Weather Patterns' Influence on Frost Timing
University of Utah and iUTAH researcher Court Strong has been in the news for his contributions to research on weather patterns.
A media release provided by the University of Utah’s science writer Paul Gabrielsen said, “The frost-free season in North America is approximately 10 days longer now than it was a century ago. In a new study, published in Nature Communications, researchers from the University of Utah and the U.S. Geological Survey parse the factors contributing to the timing of frost in the United States. Atmospheric circulation patterns, they found, were the dominant influence on frost timing, although the trend of globally warming temperatures played a part as well.
‘The frost-free season has been lengthening over the past century, and now we understand the changes in atmospheric circulation that are extremely strong in frost timing, even stronger than global warming,’ says University of Utah atmospheric sciences professor Court Strong.
Weather and climate are complex systems, with many factors affecting what the particular weather conditions might be in a certain place at a certain time. Previous research, says Gregory McCabe, of the USGS in Denver has focused on the role of large-scale phenomena like El Niño. ‘I don’t think anyone has broken it down to look at the circulations patterns specific to the timing of frost,’ McCabe says.”
Press: Popular Science | EurekaAlert! | Science Daily | Phys.org | Weather Underground | KUER Radio | KUSU Radio | UNews
May 24, 2017
Partnerships Key to Water Data Management Statewide
Courtney Flint, iUTAH team leader, and a professor of sociology at Utah State University, recently published an op-ed piece in The Salt Lake Tribune. In it, she discusses iUTAH’s collaborations with state agencies, Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, and municipalities from Salt Lake, Cache, and Heber Valleys. She starts the piece by pointing out “A recent article and an editorial in The Salt Lake Tribune have cast doubt on the ability of Utah state agencies to accurately measure water use.
Our interactions with state agency staff suggest that they are interested in improving the availability of water use data, but have been limited mostly by state legislative funding allocations and restrictions on their authority to require submission of timely and accurate data.
As water resource researchers with iUTAH, a federally funded water project led by Utah State University researchers in collaboration with partners around the state, we would be the first to join others in saying that the better we know how water is distributed and used, the better we can help our state manage its water resources and achieve future water sustainability. Yet it is often municipalities, water districts and irrigation companies that actually make many of the critical water infrastructure development and distribution decisions.”
May 23, 2017
News Media Seek Sociologist's View on EPA Move Reducing Scientific Oversight
iUTAH researcher Courtney Flint was at the center of a “barrage of emails and calls from news reporters worldwide seeking her opinion of news that she would no longer be on a scientific board that advises the Environmental Protection Agency.”
A media release provided by Utah State University writer Janelle Hyatt said “Flint, a natural resource sociologist and professor in the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology, has been on the Board of Scientific Counselors of the EPA since 2014. In this position, she and her fellow scientists, who are among the top academic experts in the country, review the science upon which EPA regulations are developed and implemented.
Newly appointed EPA administrator Scott Pruitt recently announced that it would not be extending terms for some members of the 18-person board because of budget cuts and the fact that the EPA, according to a spokesman, wants to include more input from industry representatives who 'understand the impact of regulations.'
The EPA’s action has garnered wide attention for what the Washington Post calls 'the latest in a series of moves that could benefit industries whose pollution the government regulates.' As one of the five scientists targeted, Flint’s comments have been reported by the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Guardian. She’s given interviews to the Associated Press, Bloomberg, weather.com, ABC, CBC Radio Canada, Frontline, CNN and others.”
For more on Flint’s interviews, covered in over 95 news media outlets across the globe, visit one of the press links below.
Press: New York Times | Washington Post | The Guardian | CNN | SFGate |The Denver Post | The Telegraph | The Atlantic | New Republic | The Herald Journal | Utah State Today
May 4, 2017
Snowmelt Raises Great Salt Lake
iUTAH researchers Scott Jones and Simon Wang were asked how much recent snowfalls might contribute to raising the Great Salt Lake. Here’s what they had to say to reporter Leia Larsen, in an excerpt from the April 21 article in the Standard Examiner:
“Snowpack levels in the river basins feeding Utah’s largest terminal lake hit between 157 percent and 172 percent of normal by March. The snowy winter followed four years of drought. Water levels in the Great Salt Lake dropped to near-record lows while raising concerns about impacts on air quality, migrating birds and the future of lake-based businesses. As of last week, the Great Salt Lake’s south arm sat at nearly 4,195 feet, nearly a foot higher than the same time last year. Meanwhile, the top of Logan Canyon — part of the Bear River Basin — had 9.5 feet of snow and the equivalent of around five feet of water, a positive sign that the lake could continue to rise.
‘What does the Great Salt Lake mean? It’s kind of an indicator of what’s going on around it,’ said Scott Jones, a professor of environmental soil physics at Utah State University, during a recent snow survey. ‘We have wet years and dry years, and the Great Salt Lake shows to some degree when those happen.’
USU’s Utah Climate Center has taken historical data of the lake levels along with tree-ring data to model the lake’s fluctuating levels going back hundreds of years. Combing that with historical coral data from the Pacific, they’re able to make predictions on when the lake will rise and fall. That helps water managers prepare for future years of drought and surplus. ‘By predicting lake level, you’re predicting climate,’ said Simon Wang with the Utah Climate Center.”
The article also included Great Salt Lake water level and predictions for the future, and even a photo of iUTAH’s ‘Gradients Along Mountain to Urban Transitions’ GAMUT climate station located in the T.W. Daniel Experimental Forest above Logan Canyon.
Press: Standard Examiner | Snow Survey Podcast
