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‘Trees are time machines’: How a graduate geology course uses tree rings to read Earth's climate history
Geology can take many forms, from the study of rocks and minerals to the living records preserved in trees. At Homer Lake Forest Preserve, graduate students from the ...
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GGIS professor contributes to major open-access volume on human–water systems
After more than a decade of collaborative work, a significant new book advancing the science of water and society has been published with the involvement of Murugesu Sivapalan, professor of geography and geographic information...
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CliMAS faculty rank among world’s most influential – Illinois News Bureau
Twelve scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been named to the 2025 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list. The list recognizes researchers and social...
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Book from ESEC professor looks at treasure trove of scientific data from 19th-century HMS Challenger voyage
The voyage of the HMS Challenger in the 1870s was a sprawling 3-1/2-year expedition to explore the world’s oceans. The scientists aboard the vessel collected 100,000 specimens of sea creatures, discovered 5,000 new species, mapped the ocean floors and took hundreds of measurements of sea...
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ESEC Launching Two New Online Graduate Certificates in Environmental and Engineering Geology
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is expanding its online offerings with two innovative programs, designed to meet the growing demand for advanced skills in environmental and engineering geology.Launching in spring 2026, the graduate certificate programs in...
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Alumni support the upgrade of I-GUIDE Lab
In a discipline devoted to spaces, one of the most significant transformations came recently in Davenport Hall where a little-used room was converted to a new, state-of-the art geospatial laboratory thanks in large part to a generous donation from Candace Penn (BS, ’72, ...
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Illinois wind patterns show signs of change, study finds
Winds across Illinois are beginning to still. A new study led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers has found that average wind speeds across the state have declined over the past three decades—and that the prevailing wind direction is slowly shifting southward. The findings,...
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More than a dry spell: research shows impact of severe weather on climate change mitigation
While rivers are popular magnets for fishing, boating, and kayaking, they are also potential powerhouses in the fight against climate change. Rivers and streams carry inorganic carbon from land to oceans in a process called lateral carbon flux. In recent years, environmental engineers have proposed...
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Weathering the Storm: CliMAS professor Gan Zhang on technology, disruption, and dedication
The world of weather and climate science is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and set against a challenging federal funding environment. In this story, we’ll talk about the changing landscape and how weather and climate data are...
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Meet Sarah Austin: New lecturer in Earth Science and Environmental Change
Sarah Austin didn’t set out to become a geologist. In fact, she jokes that she “messed up” when she first enrolled at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, mistakenly thinking the College of Education and Human Development was the right path to medical school. But one introductory geology course...