ESD Communications Digest - December 2011 Edition

This digest provides you a summary of communication highlights from around the division that were added or updated during the course of the month.

Gas Reservoirs as GCS Sites

A demonstration project on the southeastern tip of Australia has helped to verify that depleted natural gas reservoirs can be repurposed for geologic carbon sequestration and have enough CO2 storage capacity to make a significant contribution to reducing global emissions.

Engineering Bacteria for New Biofuels

ESD’s Harry Beller and other LBNL scientists investigate the generation of methyl ketones, a class of compounds that can be synthesized from plant-derived sugars by engineered microbes, for potential application to biofuel production.

Investigating Far-Away Microbes

Nara Damdinsuren, a PhD. candidate in her native Mongolia, has recently been working with ESD’s Tamas Torok on using genetic screens to catalog microbes from the Khaara River, which flows through the mountainous nation of Mongolia.

ESD Communications Digest - November 2011 Edition

This digest provides you a summary of communication highlights from around the division that were added or updated during the course of the month.

Climate Change to Wind to Wildfires

ESD’s Norm Miller and other scientists have recently conducted research on how climate change could increase the danger of wind-driven wildfires—and extend the season of greatest risk for such fires.

DSSS: The Asbestos/Carbon Nanotube Analogy: Will there be an epidemic of nanodiseases in 2030?

ESD welcomes Dr. Agnes Kane (Brown University), who will present "The Asbestos/Carbon Nanotube Analogy: Will there be an epidemic of nanodiseases in 2030?" December 9 at 10:30am in the Building 50 Auditorium.

Vivi's Safety Corner

Vivi's safety corner is a monthly synopsis of noteworthy safety developments and reminders for the Earth Sciences Division personnel.

ESD at the AGU Fall Meeting, Mon–Fri, Dec. 5–9, 2011

At this year’s AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, ESD will man a booth, have scientists available to talk about their work, and have an HR representative on hand to meet with people pursuing work in Earth sciences.

Torn Finds Emissions Goals Achievable

In a recently published article in Science, ESD’s Margaret Torn and others find that California’s 2050 carbon-emission-reduction goals are achievable using available technologies— assuming the widespread electrification of transportation and other sectors.