E-Newsletter Vol. 16 – 2009

Happy New Year ! The Spring 2009 semester officially begins on Monday, January 26.

This week’s Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar speaker is Dr. R. Alan Plumb from the Program in Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He will present his seminar entitled, “Dynamical Climate Perturbations and Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem” on Wednesday, January 28 at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with Dr. Plumb, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

This week’s Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) speaker is Professor David Tonjes from Stony Brook University’s Department of Technology and Society. His seminar entitled, “The Suffolk County Long-Term Plan Wetlands Management Project at the Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge” will be presented on Friday, January 30 at 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.) in Endeavour Hall 120. To schedule an appointment with Professor Tonjes, please contact the host, Larry Swanson, at 2-8704.

Full schedules for the Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminars and Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) series for the Spring semester are available on-line athttp://atmos.msrc.sunysb.edu/npages/events.html.

The Friends of Flax Pond invites you to their Winter Lecture Series at the Child’s Mansion in Setauket. Lectures take place at 3:00 p.m. on February 8, March 8, and May 3. For details please access http://www.flaxpondfriends.org.

The Friday Weather Discussion will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Meteorology Laboratory, Endeavour Hall 139. Topic to be announced on day of discussion.

Faculty News

Congratulations to Professor Mark Fast and his wife Amy on the birth of their son, Jackson Kendel Fast.

During the break, Professors Brian Colle and Minghua Zhang attended the 89th annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Phoenix, AZ.

Also during the break, Professors Minghua Zhang and Marat Khairoutdinov attended the Center for Multiscale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes meeting in New York City.

This week, Professor Minghua Zhang will travel to Washington, DC, to participate in a grant review panel.

Professor Wuyin Lin will also travel to Washington, DC, this week to participate in a National Science Foundation review panel.

Student News

During the break, ITPA graduate student, Yanjuan Guo, attended the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall meeting in San Francisco, CA, and presented a paper entitled, “Estimating the True Amplitude of the Southern Hemisphere Storm Tracks Using COSMIC Data.”

Also during the break, ITPA graduate student, Xiaming Xia, attended the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Annual General Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, and presented a paper entitled, “Assessing Climate Model Simulations of Storm Track Variability.”

The 9th edition of the International Summer School on Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, organized and hosted by the Center of Excellence for the Forecast of Severe Weather by Remote Sensing and Numerical Modeling at the University of L’Aquila, Italy, will take place from September 7-11. For details, please access http://cetemps.aquila.infn.it/issaos/.

Congratulations to Evan Goldaper, one of 300 semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search. Professor Brian Colle was advisor to Evan on his project entitled, “Understanding Cyclone Predictability Over the Data Sparse Pacific Through an Examination of Temporal and Flow Patterns.” For information on Intel finalists, please access http://www.stonybrook.edu/simons/intel.

The Northeast Undergraduate and Graduate Student Sigma Zi Poster Conference takes place on Saturday, April 18 at SUNY Oswego. Registration is required. Details may be obtained athttp://www.oswego.edu/~bendinsk/sigmaxiconference.html and from the ITPA bulletin board in Endeavour Hall.

Graduating seniors and Master’s students are invited to apply for fellowships offered by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Deadline for applications is February 15. Details are posted on the ITPA bulletin board and may also be accessed at http://cires.colorado.edu/education/cu/fellowships/.

Miscellaneous

We would like to extend a warm welcome to Stefanie Massucci, the new Assistant Dean at SoMAS. Stefanie’s appointment officially began on January 22.

President Kenny is seeking nominations for the Undergraduate Student Recognition Awards to be presented on April 27. Details may be accessed at http://www.stonybrook.edu/uaa/index.shtml.

The Department of Physics at the University of Oxford is seeking a postdoctoral researcher in their Climate Processes Group. Deadline for applications is February 28. For details, please accesshttp://www.atm.ox.ac.uk/group/cp or email Monika Porada at porado@atm.ox.ac.uk. Additional details are also posted on the ITPA bulletin board.

Dewberry in Fairfax, VA, is seeking to recruit a Climate Change Strategist and a Climate Change/Risk Assessment Specialist. Details regarding these positions may be obtained athttp://hostedjobs.openhire.com/epostings/submit.cfm?company_id=15866&version=1.

Mark your calendars for the next Bay Scallop Bowl scheduled for Saturday, February 7th. Volunteers are needed for the following positions: moderator, rules judge, scorekeeper, science judge, timekeeper and runner. If you are able to assist us, please send an email to the volunteer coordinator, Tara Duffy, at bayscallop@yahoo.com. Please include your tee shirt size.

Please don’t forget the ongoing food drive for the Pt. Jefferson Food Pantry. Non-perishable food, diapers and baby formula are urgently needed. Drop-off boxes are located in MASIC (Challenger Hall), the SoMAS mail room (Endeavour Hall) the Sea Grant Institute (Discovery Hall) and the Waste Reduction and Management Institute (Dutchess Hall). In addition, clothing donations for Hope House may be dropped off in the ITPA office (Endeavour Hall 129).

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Monday, January 26, 2009 by George E. Carroll

This week’s Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar speaker is Professor Anantha Aiyyer from the Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University. He will present his seminar entitled, “African Easterly Waves: Origin and Propagation Dynamics” on Wednesday, February 4, at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with Professor Aiyyer, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

This week’s Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) speaker is Professor David Bushek from the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory at Rutgers University. His seminar entitled, “Understanding Host-Parasite Interactions in Estuarine Invertebrates” will be presented on Friday, February 6 at 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.) in Endeavour Hall 120. To schedule an appointment with Professor Bushek, please contact the host, Bassem Allam, at 2-8745.

The Friday Weather Discussion will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Meteorology Laboratory, Endeavour Hall 139. Topic to be announced on day of discussion.

Faculty News

Congratulations to Professor Daniel Knopf, recipient of this year’s National Science Foundation’s Faculty Career Award entitled, “Chemical Aging of Biomass Burning Aerosol by Heterogeneous and Photosensitized Reactions with Atmospheric Trace Gases.” The five-year career award is the most prestigious grant award given to young faculty by the National Science Foundation. ITPA faculty members, Professors Minghua Zhang and John Mak were past recipients of this award.

Professor Minghua Zhang recently received a new, three-year National Science Foundation grant to improve physical parameterizations in atmospheric general circulation models by using field experimental measurements.

Student News

Please remember to sign the January attendance roster located in the Main Office.

Miscellaneous

The Bay Scallop Bowl takes place on Saturday, February 7, beginning with registration and a continental breakfast at 7:30 a.m. in the Student Activities Center. For more information, please access http://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/~BSB/eventi.html.

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Monday, February 2, 2009 by George E. Carroll

This week’s Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar speaker is Professor Scott M. McLennan from Stony Brook University’s Department of Geosciences. He will present his seminar entitled, “The Sedimentary Rock Cycle on Mars and its Astrobiological Implications,” on Wednesday, February 11, at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with Professor McLennan, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

This week’s Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) speaker is Professor Allan Blumberg from the Center for Maritime Systems, Stevens Institute of Technology, NJ. His seminar entitled, “The Urban Ocean Observatory – Observations and Forecasting in New York and New Jersey Waters” will be presented on Friday, February 13 at 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.) in Endeavour Hall 120. To schedule an appointment with Professor Blumberg, please contact Chet Frost in the Dean’s Office at 2-8781.

All are welcome to attend a “Friends of Flax Pond” seminar by Dr. Carl Safina of the Blue Ocean Institute on Sunday, February 8, at 3:00 p.m. at the Childs Mansion.
For information and directions, please access http://www.flaxpondfriends.org

The Friday Weather Discussion will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Meteorology Laboratory, Endeavour Hall 139. Topic to be announced on day of discussion.

Faculty News

On February 4, Professor Marat Khairoutdinov presented a seminar entitled, “Cloud and Climate Modeling: From Super-parameterization to Large-eddy Simulation of Deep Convection at New York University’s Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences.”

Student News

The National Weather Service is now accepting applications for the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP). SCEP is a paid internship for college students through the National Weather Service (NWS). The NWS teams up with a college or university to allow students the opportunity to gain valuable work experience under the guidance and direction of a university. Deadline for applications is March 5. Additional details are posted on the ITPA bulletin board in Endeavour Hall.

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Earth Sciences Division, in collaboration with the Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology (GEST) Center of the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, is offering a limited number of graduate student research opportunities through its Graduate Student Summer Program (GSSP). GSSP 2009 will take place from June 1 to August 7. For additional information, please access http://gest.umbc.edu/student_opp/gssp_2009.html.

Miscellaneous

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Friday, February 6, 2009 by George E. Carroll

There will be two Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminars this week. On Monday, February 16, at 2:30 p.m., Professor Robin Hogan from the University of Reading, UK, will present a seminar entitled, “Polarization Radar Observations of Dynamics, Microphysics, and Electrification in Convective Clouds.” On Wednesday, February 18, at 12:00 noon, Professor Marvin Geller from Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, will present a seminar entitled, “Solar Influences on the Earth’s Climate.” Both seminars will take place in Endeavour Hall, room 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with either speaker, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

This week’s Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) speaker is Professor Bob Anderson from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. His seminar entitled, “Wind-driven Upwelling in the Southern Ocean and the Deglacial Rise in Atmospheric CO₂,” will be presented on Friday, February 20, at 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.) in Endeavour Hall 120. To schedule an appointment with Professor Anderson, please contact Chet Frost in the Dean’s Office at 2-8781.

Please note: off-campus seminar attendees must obtain a one-day parking permit from the Dean’s Office, Endeavour Hall 145.

The Friday Weather Discussion will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Meteorology Laboratory, Endeavour Hall 139. Topic to be announced on day of discussion.

Faculty News

Professor John Mak will be traveling to China on February 13 to conduct interviews with prospective graduate students.

Miscellaneous

The UUP Individual Development Awards Program is accepting applications to assist employees in developing their full professional potential. Funding may be used for enhancing teaching and research capabilities, and improving professional knowledge and skills. Deadline for applications is March 2. For details, please access http://www.nysuup.lmc.state.ny.us/development/individual.html.

Congratulations to the team from Mt. Sinai High School, winner of the 2009 Bay Scallop Bowl held on February 7. For the complete news story, please accesshttp://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/news/itn09/itn090208a.html. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the volunteers who made the day a success.

Donations are needed for the ongoing food drive for the Pt. Jefferson Food Pantry. Non-perishable food, diapers and baby formula are urgently needed. Drop-off boxes are located in MASIC (Challenger Hall), the SoMAS mail room (Endeavour Hall) the Sea Grant Institute (Discovery Hall) and the Waste Reduction and Management Institute (Dutchess Hall)

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Friday, February 13, 2009 by George E. Carroll

This week’s Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar speaker is Professor V. Faye McNeill from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University. She will present her seminar entitled, “Organic Material in Aqueous Atmospheric Aerosols,” on Wednesday, February 25, at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with Professor McNeill, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

This week’s Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) speaker is Professor Christopher Reddy from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). His seminar entitled, “WHOI – Source,Transport, and Fate of Organic Contaminants in Coastal and Oceanic Waters” will be presented on Friday, February 27, at 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.) in Endeavour Hall 120. To schedule an appointment with Professor Reddy, please contact Chet Frost in the Dean’s Office at 2-8781.

The Friday Weather Discussion will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Meteorology Laboratory, Endeavour Hall 139. Topic to be announced on day of discussion.

Faculty News

Professor Marvin Geller will be in Washington, DC from February 26-28 to attend a meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Future Focus Task Force.

Mark your calendars for the next faculty meeting on Friday, February 27, at 9:30 a.m. in Endeavour Hall 120.

Student News

The deadline to apply for URECA’s summer research program is March 13. This program funds non-graduating Stony Brook students doing faculty-mentored research in all disciplines. For details, please access http://ws.cc.stonybrook.edu/ureca/summer.shtml.

Miscellaneous

Save the Date: The Setauket Firehouse will be accepting unwanted medications for disposal on Saturday, April 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Expired, unwanted prescription and over the counter medications will be collected for proper disposal. For more information, please contact Barbara Branca in the New York Sea Grant Institute at 632-6956.

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Friday, February 20, 2009 by George E. Carroll

This week’s Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar speaker is Professor Lareef Zubair from the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University. He will present his seminar entitled, “The Use of Climate Information in the Tropics: Learning from Practices,” on Wednesday, March 4, at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with Professor Zubair, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

This week’s Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) speaker is Professor Jack Kaye from the Earth Science Division of NASA Headquarters. His seminar entitled, “NASA Observations and their Use in Study of Earth System Science” will be presented on Friday, March 6, at 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.) in Endeavour Hall 120. To schedule an appointment with Professor Kaye, please contact Chet Frost in the Dean’s Office at 2-8781.

The Friday Weather Discussion will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Meteorology Laboratory, Endeavour Hall 139. Topic to be announced on day of discussion.

Faculty News

Congratulations to Professor Daniel Knopf who was awarded a National Science Foundation Early Career Development Award for his proposal, “Chemical Aging of Biomass Burning Aerosol by Heterogeneous and Photosensitized Reactions with Atmospheric Trace Gases.” The full news story may be accessed at http://www.msrc.sunysb.edu/news/itn09/itn090220.html

From March 1-5, Professor Minghua Zhang will be attending a joint conference of the Atmospheric Modeling Working Group (AMWG) and Atmospheric Chemistry Climate Working Group of the Community system Climate Model (CCSM) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO. The AMWG meeting will define the next version of the Community Atmospheric Model (CAM4) to be released to the community later this year, which will be used for the next IPCC climate change simulations. An agenda of the AMWG meeting can be found athttp://www.ccsm.ucar.edu/csm/working_groups/Atmosphere/Agendas/030209.agenda.pdf.

Student News

Congratulations to Tom Di Liberto, recipient of a poster award at the American Meteorological Society’s 8th Symposium on the Urban Environment which took place in Phoenix in January.

The Advanced Study Program (ASP) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) announces a colloquium entitled, “Marine Ecosystems and Climate: Modeling and Analysis of Observed Variability,” scheduled to take place from August 2-14, 2009. This program will fund travel and living expenses for graduate student participants. Deadline for applications is March 31. For more information, please access http://www.asp.ucar.edu/colloquium/2009/CGD/index.php or see poster on the ITPA bulletin board in Endeavour Hall.

The ASP Program also announces a joint summer colloquium, “Exploring the Atmosphere: Observational Instruments and Techniques,” with the NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL), and the Departments of Atmospheric Science at the University of Wyoming (UWyo) and the University of Colorado State University (CSU). The colloquium takes place in Boulder, CO from May 31 to June 12, 2009. Deadline for applications is March 9. For details, please see the ITPA bulletin board or access http://www.asp.ucar.edu/colloquium/2009/EOL/index.php.

Miscellaneous

On March 30 – 31, 2009, the Metropolitan Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, in conjunction with the Environmental Sciences Section of the New York Academy of Sciences, will host a two-day conference, “Against the Deluge: Storm Surge Barriers to Protect New York City,” to evaluate the concept of storm surge barriers to protect the New York metropolitan region from severe coastal flooding. The conference will examine the technical feasibility and desirability of protecting the inner city and nearby New Jersey with three storm surge barriers located at narrow points in the waterways surrounding the city. The objective of the conference is to begin to develop the scientific and engineering information base needed to evaluate the barrier concept and perhaps point the way to its further development. The conference will be held at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University in Brooklyn. Speakers include experts on coastal defenses from the Netherlands and the UK, and climate scientists from Stony Brook University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences will be represented on the program Larry Swanson, Malcolm Bowman, Brian Colle, and Douglas Hill. The conference will also feature conceptual designs of the barriers prepared by four major engineering firms: Parsons Brinckerhoff, Camp Dresser & McKee, Arcadis and Halcrow. Details of the conference, including the list of speakers, daily schedule, abstracts of the individual presentations, and registration information can be found at http://www.nyas.org/events/eventDetail.asp?eventID=14023&date=3/30/2009

On February 17, Mayor Bloomberg, speaking at the NYC Department of Environmental Protection’s Rockaway Sewage Treatment Plant, released the first report prepared by the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC), which focused on climate change and related risks to Metropolitan New York. This is the first of several reports which will be delivered by the NPCC to the Mayor, the City Council and the Office of Operations over the next few months. The reports will cover climate threats, risks, minimum protection levels and adaptation strategies, with a time horizon to the year 2080. Oceanographer Malcolm Bowman of SoMAS, a member of the NPCC, contributed to the first report. Further information can be found at http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2009/2009-02-18-092.asp.

Congratulations to Professor Veerabhadran “Ram” Ramanathan, co-recipient of the Tyler Prize for Masters of Air and Ice. For the complete news story, please access
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/tyler-prize-for-masters-of-air-and-ice/?hp

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Friday, February 27, 2009 by George E. Carroll

This week’s Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar speaker is Professor Dong Huang from the Atmospheric Sciences Division at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He will present his seminar entitled, “A Synergy of Microwave Cloud Tomography and Scanning Radar: Moving Toward a 3D View of Clouds,” on Wednesday, March 11, at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with Professor Huang, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

This week’s Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) speaker is Dr. Gordon Colvin from the National Saltwater Angler Registry Team, NOAA Fisheries Service. His seminar entitled, “NOAA’s Marine Recreational Information Program Initiative,” will be presented on Friday, March 13, at 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.) in Endeavour Hall 120. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Colvin, please contact Chet Frost in the Dean’s Office at 2-8781.

As part of the Flax Pond Winter Lecture Series, Dr. Richard Kurtz will present a seminar entitled, ” Diamondback Terrapin: the Diamonds in our Marsh,” on Sunday, March 8 at 3:00 p.m. at the Childs Mansion. For more information, please access http://www.flaxpondfriends.org/winter.html or contact Nancy Grant at (631) 767-6287.

The Friday Weather Discussion will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Meteorology Laboratory, Endeavour Hall 139. Topic to be announced on day of discussion.

Faculty News

Professor Demian Chapman is coordinating this year’s Graduate Student Weekend, scheduled for March 27 through 29. For the complete schedule, please access Grad_Student_Weekend_2009.pdf.

Student News

Please remember to sign the February attendance roster located in the Main Office.

Miscellaneous

Save the Date: In connection with the 2009 Graduate Student Weekend, the SoMAS International Potluck Dinner will take place on Friday, March 27, at 6:00 p.m. in Endeavour Hall 120. For additional information, please see the sign-up sheets posted outside of the mail room in Endeavour Hall, or contact Gina Gartin at 2-8009.

Communications Manager, Leslie Taylor, has relocated from Discovery Hall to Endeavour Hall, room 133.

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Friday, March 6, 2009 by George E. Carroll

This week’s Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar speaker is Professor Ying Fan Reinfelder from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Rutgers University. She will present her seminar entitled, “Groundwater May Be a Key Player in the Global Water Cycle,” on Wednesday, March 18, at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with Professor Reinfelder, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

This week’s Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) speaker is Dr. Farooq Azam from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego. His seminar entitled, “The Role Played by Marine Bacteria and Viruses in the Oceanic Carbon Cycle Through Their Control of Organic Matter Decomposition,” will be presented on Friday, March 20, at 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.) in Endeavour Hall 120. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Azam, please contact Chet Frost in the Dean’s Office at 2-8781.

The Friday Weather Discussion will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Meteorology Laboratory, Endeavour Hall 139. Topic to be announced on day of discussion.

Faculty News

Professor Minghua Zhang received a new four-year grant from NASA’s Modeling and Analysis Program to improve the simulation of low clouds in atmospheric general circulation models.

On March 19, Professor Brian Colle will be attending the “Cat 3 Hurricane in the Northeast: Willis/Princeton Insurers’ Summit” at Princeton, NJ. He will present an invited talk entitled, “The Modeling and Climatology of Storm Surges in the New York City Region.” The goal of the meeting is to describe the latest science on nor-easters, storm surge, and urban flood risk framed for executive management, modeling professionals, and catastrophe and reinsurance managers.

Professor Marat Khairoutdinov will be attending the Workshop on Clouds and Turbulence at Imperial college in London, UK on March 23-25.

Student News

From March 13-15, twelve students from Stony Brook’s Meteorology Club attended the Northeast Storms Conference in Springfield, MA. The students presented a poster describing their annual club activities and also attended sessions on cyclonic and convective storms over the Northeast. They also got to chat with Dr. Josh Wurman, the invited speaker from the University of Oklahoma, who is in the Discovery Channel series, “Storm Chasers.”

SoMAS softball and soccer teams are now forming for the Spring season. Students, faculty and staff are welcome to participate. If you are interested, please contact Tom Di Liberto for soccer information (tdiliber@ic.sunysb.edu) and Owen Doherty for information regarding softball (odoherty@ic.sunysb.edu).

This year’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URECA) celebration takes place on April 29 at the Student Activities Center. For information, please accesshttp://ws.cc.stonybrook.edu/ureca/news.shtml.

Miscellaneous

We need your help with the annual SoMAS International Potluck Dinner scheduled for Friday, March 27, at 6:00 p.m. in Endeavour Hall 120. For more information, please see the sign-up sheets posted outside of the mail room in Endeavour Hall.

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Friday, March 13, 2009 by George E. Carroll

This week’s Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar speaker is Professor Hailong Liu from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He will present his seminar entitled, “The Ocean’s Role in Developing Double ITCZ in Equatorial Pacific Ocean in CCSM3,” on Wednesday, March 25, at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with Professor Liu, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

This week’s Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) speaker is Dr. Larry Mayer from the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Maine. His seminar entitled, “A Phase Change in the Sun: Photodissolution of Marine and Terrestrial Organic Matter,” will be presented on Friday, March 27, at 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.) in Endeavour Hall 120. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Mayer, please contact Chet Frost in the Dean’s Office at 2-8781.

The Friday Weather Discussion will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Meteorology Laboratory, Endeavour Hall 139. Topic to be announced on day of discussion.

Faculty News

Final exams will take place from May 13 through 19. Faculty requiring alternate seating must notify Carol Dovi (2-8681) in the Educational Programs Office before April 3.

On March 30, Professor Brian Colle will be attending a conference in New York City, “Against the Deluge: Storm Surge Barriers to Protect New York City.” He will be presenting a talk on modeling storm surges for the New York Metro area.

Professor Marat Khairoutdinov will be attending the Workshop on Clouds and Turbulence at Imperial college in London, UK on March 23-25.

Professor Marvin Geller will be attending a meeting of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Scientific Organizations on March 23-24 in Washington, DC.

Congratulations to Professor Anne McElroy, recipient of the Graduate School’s “Dean’s Award for Excellence in Service to Graduate Education.” Professor McElroy will receive her award at the Graduate School’s annual awards ceremony on May 20 at 4:00 p.m. in the Student Activities Center.

Student News

Congratulations to Tara Duffy, recipient of the Graduate School’s Madeline Fusco Fellowship. Tara will also be recognized at the Graduate School’s awards ceremony on May 20.

Miscellaneous

The SoMAS International Potluck Dinner takes place on Friday, March 27, at 6:00 p.m. in Endeavour Hall 120. For more information, please see the sign-up sheets posted outside of the mail room in Endeavour Hall.

Congratulations to Bob and Josie Aller on the birth of their first grandchild, Stella Rose.

The Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia is recruiting for an entry-level faculty position in the area of dynamics and/or atmospheric process studies. For more information, please accesshttp://www.hr.unsw.edu.au/services/recruitment/jobs/13020903.html

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Friday, March 20, 2009 by George E. Carroll

This week’s Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar speaker is Professor Lance Bosart from the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, State University at Albany. Professor Bosart is this year’s Robert D. Cess Distinguished Seminar speaker. He will present his seminar entitled, “Modern Weather Forecasting: Scientific Opportunities and Operational Challenges,” on Wednesday, April 1, at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with Professor Bosart, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

This week’s Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) speaker is Dr. Stephan Munch from Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. His seminar entitled, “Structural Uncertainty in Population Forecasting: Problems and Progress,” will be presented on Friday, April 3, at 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.) in Endeavour Hall 120. To schedule an appointment to meet with Dr. Munch, please contact Chet Frost in the Dean’s Office at 2-8781.

A Consortium for Inter-Disciplinary Environmental Research (CIDER) seminar on “Climate Change Impacts on Species” will take place on Monday, March 30, at 4:00 p.m. in Endeavour Hall 120. Dr. Catherine Graham from Stony Brook University’s Department of Ecology and Evolution will present a talk entitled, “Range Shifts of Species Under Climate Change: Conservation Implications,” and Dr. H. Resit Akcakaya, also from Stony Brook’s Department of Ecology and Evolution, will present a talk entitled, “Predicting Species Extinction Risks Under Climate Change.” All are welcome to attend.

As part of the Stony Brook Southampton Lecture Series, Professor Darcy Lonsdale will present a seminar entitled, “Antarctica: Our Experience at the Bottom of the World,” on Friday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m. The lecture takes place on the Southampton campus in Duke/Chancellors Hall. All are welcome to attend the lecture and the reception. For additional information, please contact Margaret Grigonis at 2-5046.

The Friday Weather Discussion will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Meteorology Laboratory, Endeavour Hall 139. Topic to be announced on day of discussion.

Faculty News

The mid-semester faculty meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, April 1, at 9:00 a.m. in Endeavour Hall 120. Please send suggested topics for discussion to David Conover atdconover@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

On March 30, Professor Brian Colle will be attending a conference in New York City, “Against the Deluge: Storm Surge Barriers to Protect New York City.” He will be presenting a talk on modeling storm surges for the New York Metro area.

On March 30, Professor Minghua Zhang will be traveling to Louisville, TN to attend the Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program’s Science Team meeting.

Student News

We are currently soliciting applications for the Petra M. Udelhofen Memorial Scholarship. Details may be accessed at http://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/education/undergrad_petra.html.

Miscellaneous

Congratulations to the SoMAS Website Committee: Daniel Knopf, Joe Warren, George Carroll, Leslie Taylor, Anne McElroy, Glenn Lopez, Owen Doherty and Tara Duffy. Thanks to their tremendous efforts, the new SoMAS website is now up and running athttp://www.somas.stonybrook.edu.

Thank you to all those who participated in the SoMAS International Potluck Dinner. Your food and beverage donations were greatly appreciated. We would also like to thank the set-up and clean-up crews, and special thanks to Peter Alpert for entertaining us. Great job, everyone !

The University’s 22nd Annual Spring Pride Patrol takes place on April 17 to coincide with Earth Day/Earthstock. To sign up for Pride Patrol, please contact Christine Quinn in the Office of Conference and Special Events at 2-6320. Information regarding Earthstock may be obtained athttp://ws.cc.stonybrook.edu/sb/earthstock/

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Friday, March 27, 2009 by George E. Carroll

Due to Spring recess, there will be no Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar, Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC), or Friday Weather Discussion this week. Enjoy the break !

Faculty News

This week, Professor Minghua Zhang will be in Washington DC to attend two meetings: the Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI) Gates Symposium, and the Department of Energy (DOE) Climate Change and Prediction Program (CCPP) Science Team Meeting.

On April 7, Professor Marat Khairoutdinov will be presenting a seminar entitled, “Cloud-resolving modeling: From super-parameterization in GCM to LES of deep convection,” at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University.

As a reminder, the deadline to order textbooks for Fall 2009 is April 15. You may order online athttp://www.sunysb.bkstore.com.

Student News

We are currently soliciting applications for the Petra M. Udelhofen Memorial Scholarship. Details may be accessed at http://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/education/undergrad_petra.html.

Miscellaneous

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Friday, April 3, 2009 by George E. Carroll

This week’s Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar speaker is Professor Dennis Kent from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University. He will present his seminar entitled, “Equatorial Convergence of India and Changes in Early Cenozoic Climate,” on Wednesday, April 15, at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with Professor Kent, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

Due to Earthstock events on Friday, there will be no Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium.

A Consortium for Inter-Disciplinary Environmental Research (CIDER) seminar on “Marine Conservation” will take place on Monday, April 13, at 4:00 p.m. in Endeavour Hall 120. Dr. Ellen Pikitch from Stony Brook University’s Institute for Ocean Conservation Science (OCS) will present a talk entitled, “The Gathering Wave of Ocean Extinction,” and Dr. Carl Safina from Stony Brook’s Blue Ocean Institute, will present a talk entitled, “In the Same Net: Biodiversity, Ethics, and the Human Spirit.”

All are welcome to attend a seminar at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) on Friday, April 17, at 11:00 a.m. Dr. Chongai Kuang from the University of Minnesota will present a seminar entitled, “Atmospheric Nucleation: Mechanisms, Measurements, and Dynamics,” in the conference room of Building 815E. Photo ID is required for entrance to the BNL site. For more information, please contact Judy Williams at judywms@bnl.gov.

The Friday Weather Discussion will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Meteorology Laboratory, Endeavour Hall 139. Topic to be announced on day of discussion.

Faculty News

This week, Professor Brian Colle will be visiting the University of Illinois to present a seminar on “Snowbands Within the Comma Head of Extratropical Cyclones.”

Following is a newsletter item contributed by Professor Malcolm Bowman.

Professors Brian Colle, Malcolm Bowman, Larry Swanson and Doug Hill presented papers at the American Society of Civil Engineers/NY Academy of Sciences sponsored conference “Against the Deluge: Storm Surge Barriers to Protect New York City”, held at the Polytechnic Institute of NYU in Brooklyn Heights, Monday and Tuesday 30-31 March. Doug was
the convener of the conference. Brian spoke on climatology and forecasting New York City surges; Malcolm talked about the hydrologic feasibility of storm surge barriers, and Larry covered environmental considerations.

Four representatives of American, Dutch and British engineering firms presented impressive conceptual designs of storm surge barriers at the Upper East River, Arthur Kill, Verrazano Narrows and the Sandy Hook- Rockaway transect. As an example, one of the firms, ARCADIS, an international design, consulting, engineering and management services company, presented what a storm surge barrier aimed at protecting the central New York and New Jersey Metropolitan Region from severe coastal flooding might look like. The barrier would be situated in the Verrazano Narrows, connecting the Upper New York Bay with the Atlantic Ocean. (Photo:http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090401/343043 )

The barrier would be 4800 feet in length. A large sliding sector gate of 860 feet allows the biggest ships to pass the barrier during normal weather and can be closed during a storm surge. The barrier allows sufficient tidal flow in the New York Harbor Bay via the sliding gate and 18 lifting gates, which is important from an ecological point of view.

As a consequence of climate change and rising sea levels, New York might become more vulnerable to flooding. Parts of the New York and New Jersey Metropolitan Area (20 million inhabitants) are below the maximum water level of a probable storm surge, resulting from North East storms and hurricanes. Such a surge would cause significant damage to real estate and economic activities in New York.

Although the area is not below sea level, the risk of human casualties is also present, as tunnels and the subway systems may flood. The proposed barrier in the Verrazano Narrows, combined with two other barriers at the East River and the Arthur Kill would minimize the danger of a storm surge entering from the Atlantic Ocean into the Upper New York Bay. The costs of the Verrazano Barrier, roughly estimated at 6.5 billion dollars, may prove economically preferable to accepting the chance of flooding.

Video Link: A video illustrating ARCADIS’ idea of a storm surge barrier is found at (it takes a good time to download. Go make a cup of coffee……):
http://www.dpi.nl/nl/download/projects/QXJjYWRpc193YXRlcmtlcmluZw [taken from ARCADIS press release].

Student News

The annual Robert L. de Zafra Student Symposium has been scheduled for Friday, May 9, at 9:00 a.m. in Endeavour Hall 120. Graduate students will report progress on their research over the past year, and faculty members are encouraged to provide feedback. All ITPA students are required to attend, however, first-year students are not required to make presentations.

We are currently soliciting applications for the Petra M. Udelhofen Memorial Scholarship. Details may be accessed at http://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/education/undergrad_petra.html.

Miscellaneous

The University’s 22nd Annual Spring Pride Patrol takes place on April 17 to coincide with Earth Day/Earthstock. To sign up for Pride Patrol, please contact Christine Quinn in the Office of Conference and Special Events at 2-6320. Information regarding Earthstock may be obtained athttp://ws.cc.stonybrook.edu/sb/earthstock/

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Monday, April 13, 2009 by George E. Carroll

This week’s Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar speaker is Dr. Kevin Pearce from Marine Engineering and Offshore Operations, BlueWater Wind in Hoboken, NJ. He will present his seminar entitled, “Offshore Wind Power,” on Wednesday, April 22, at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with Dr. Pearce, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

This week’s Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) speaker is Professor Adam Kustka from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University. His seminar entitled, “Iron Uptake by Diatoms: Consensus and Controversies (and why we care!)” will be presented on Friday, April 24, at 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.) in Endeavour Hall 120. To schedule an appointment with Professor Kustka, please contact Chet Frost in the Dean’s Office at 2-8781.

The Friday Weather Discussion will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Meteorology Laboratory, Endeavour Hall 139. Topic to be announced on day of discussion.

Faculty News

This week, Professor John Mak will be in Vienna to present a talk on ice cores at the Geophysical Union General Assembly.

Student News

All are welcome to attend the annual Robert L. de Zafra Student Symposium has been scheduled for Friday, May 8, at 9:00 a.m. in Endeavour Hall 120. ITPA graduate students will report progress on their research over the past year, and faculty members are encouraged to provide feedback. All ITPA students are required to attend, however, first-year students are not required to make presentations.

Applications are being accepted for the Petra M. Udelhofen Memorial Scholarship. Details may be accessed at http://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/education/undergrad_petra.html Deadline for applications is May 6.

Miscellaneous

The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) Convocation ceremony takes place on Friday, May 22 at 8:30 a.m. in the SoMAS courtyard. Tickets are limited. For further information, please contact Carol Dovi in the Educational Programs Office at 632-8681.

Dean David Conover has announced that SoMAS now has a new logo. If you would like the new letterhead template, please contact Chet Frost at 2-8781.

President Shirley Strum Kenny is soliciting nominations for 2010 honorary degrees. For additional information, please contact the Chair of the Honorary Degree Committee, Dr. Lawrence Martin, at 2-7035.

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Friday, April 17, 2009 by George E. Carroll

This week’s Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar speaker is Professor Benjamin Cook from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. He will present his seminar entitled, “Amplification of the North American Dust Bowl Drought Through Human Induced Land Degradation,” on Wednesday, April 29, at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with Professor Cook, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

This week’s Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) speaker is Professor Karen Wishner from the University of Rhode Island. Her seminar entitled, “Assets: Zooplankton in Oxygen Minimum Zones,” will be presented on Friday, May 1, at 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.) in Endeavour Hall 120. To schedule an appointment with Professor Wishner, please contact Chet Frost in the Dean’s Office at 2-8781.

A Consortium for Inter-Disciplinary Environmental Research (CIDER) seminar on “Environmental Contaminants and Human Health” will take place on Monday, April 27, at 4:00 p.m. in Endeavour Hall 120. Distinguished Professor Arthur Grollman from Stony Brook University’s Department of Pharmacological Sciences will present a talk entitled, “Danubian Nephropathy: Unraveling the Mystery of an Environmental Disease,” and Professor Martin Schoonen from Stony Brook’s Department of Geosciences, will present a talk entitled, “Earth Materials, Radicals, and Health.” For additional information, please contact Karen Warren at 2-3162.

There will be no Friday Weather Discussion on May 1.

Faculty News

Congratulations to the following SoMAS faculty members who were honored at Stony Brook’s Artists, Authors, and Editors reception at the Wang Center on April 21.

Professor J. Kirk Cochran, Co-Editor, U-Th Series Nuclides in Aquatic Systems
Professor Brian Colle, Co-Editor, Weather and Forecasting
Professor Ellen Pikitch, Co-Editor, Sharks of the Open Ocean
Professor Minghua Zhang, Co-Editor, Journal of Advances in Earth System Modeling

On Friday evening, May 1, Professor Brian Colle will give a presentation in Amagansett, NY on “Climatology and Modeling of Storm Surges in New York’s Coastal Waters.”

Professor Brian Colle and graduate students Michael Erickson, Tom DiLiberto, and John Murray will be attending the TriState Weather Conference in Danbury, CT on Saturday April 25, 2009 and will be making the following presentations:

• John Murray, “A spatial Climatology of Convection in the Northeast U.S.”
• Tom DiLiberto, “High resolution WRF and ADCIRC simulations of Hurricane Gloria for the New York City Metropolitan Region”
• Michael Erickson, “Potential Improvements to Precipitation and Hydrological Forecasts using Mesoscale Ensemble Weather Predictions”
• Brian Colle, “New York City Storm Surges: Climatology and an Analysis of the Wind and Cyclone Evolution”

Student News

Kelly Lombardo will defend her thesis presentation on Tuesday, April 29 in Endeavour 113.

We are currently accepting applications for the Petra M. Udelhofen Memorial Scholarship. This $500 cash scholarship may be used for tuition, fees, books, or other educational expenses. Deadline for applications is May 6. Details may be accessed athttp://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/education/undergrad_petra.html

Miscellaneous

Mark your calendars for this year’s Vax to Flax race on Saturday, May 9. Vax to Flax is a five-mile race starting in the Endeavour Hall parking lot and ending at Flax Pond. You may run, walk, rollerblade, bike or walk to Flax Pond from SoMAS. All are welcome to attend the barbecue at Flax Pond at the end of the race. This event is a SoMAS tradition and family friendly. Children and dogs are welcome too ! Volunteers are needed for various tasks. For information, please contact Juliet Kinney at jwkinney@ic.sunysb.edu.

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Friday, April 24, 2009 by George E. Carroll

This week’s Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar speaker is Professor Radley Horton from the Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University. He will present his seminar entitled, “21st Century Sea Level Rise Projections: Methods and Uncertainties,” on Wednesday, May 6, at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Light refreshments will be served. To schedule an appointment to meet with Professor Horton, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391.

The final Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) for the Spring 2009 semester takes place this week. Professor Mark Bain from the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell University will present a seminar entitled, “Environmental Restoration in a Crowd: A Pier and an Estuary in New York City.” His seminar takes place on Friday, May 8, at 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.) in Endeavour Hall 120. To schedule an appointment with Professor Bain, please contact Chet Frost in the Dean’s Office at 2-8781.

As part of the Flax Pond Winter Lecture Series, all are invited to attend “Exploring Flax Pond,” on Sunday, May 3 at 3:00 p.m. at the Childs Mansion. There will be a “Bird Walk for Adults,” led by John Turner and Anthony Graves from the Town of Brookhaven, and a “Seashore Safari for Kids,” led by Larissa Graham from New York Sea Grant. For more information, please access http://www.flaxpondfriends.org/winter.html or contact Nancy Grant at (631) 767-6287.

There will be no Friday Weather Discussion on May 8.

Faculty News

The ITPA retreat has been scheduled for Thursday, May 21, at 9:00 a.m. in Endeavour Hall 113.

Student News

All are welcome to attend the annual Robert L. de Zafra Student Symposium on Friday, May 8, at 9:00 a.m. in Endeavour Hall 120. ITPA graduate students will report progress on their research over the past year, and faculty members are encouraged to provide feedback. All ITPA students are required to attend, however, first-year students are not required to make presentations.

Please remember to sign the attendance rosters in the Dean’s Office for both April and May. The May rosters are now available to allow graduate students to sign before leaving for the summer.

The deadline for applications for the Petra M. Udelhofen Memorial Scholarship is Wednesday, May 6. This $500 cash scholarship may be used for tuition, fees, books, or other educational expenses. Details may be accessed at http://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/education/undergrad_petra.html.

Miscellaneous

Save-a-Pet in Port Jefferson Station is in need of the following supplies: antibacterial dishwashing liquid, canned dog and cat food, kitty litter, garbage bags, laundry detergent, paper plates and paper towels. If you would like to donate, please drop items off at the ITPA office, Endeavour 129.

The Vax to Flax race on takes place on Saturday, May 9. Vax to Flax is a five-mile race starting in the Endeavour Hall parking lot and ending at Flax Pond. You may run, walk, rollerblade, bike or walk to Flax Pond from SoMAS. All are welcome to attend the barbecue at Flax Pond at the end of the race. This event is a SoMAS tradition and family friendly. Children and dogs are welcome too ! Volunteers are needed for various tasks. For information, please contact Juliet Kinney atjwkinney@ic.sunysb.edu.

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Monday, May 4, 2009 by George E. Carroll

The final Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminar for the Spring semester takes place on Wednesday, May 12, at 12:00 noon in Endeavour Hall 120. Professor Xiaolin Li from Stony Brook University’s Department of Applied Math and Statistics will present a seminar entitled, “FronTier and Applications to Scientific and Engineering Problems.” To schedule an appointment to meet with Professor Li, please contact Professor Sultan Hameed at 2-8391. The schedule for Fall 2009 TAOS seminars will be available in mid-August.

Faculty News

On May 12-13, Professor Brian will be attending the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Unidata Policy Meeting in Arlington, VA.

As a reminder, the ITPA retreat takes place on Thursday, May 21, at 9:00 a.m. in Endeavour Hall 113.

Student News

David Novak will defend his dissertation, “An Investigation and Dynamical Processes of Solitary Precipitation Bands Within the Comma-Head of Northeast United States Cyclones,” on Monday, May 11, at 11:00 a.m. in Endeavour 120. All are welcome to attend.

Please don’t forget to sign the April and May attendance rosters located in the Dean’s Office. The May rosters are now available to allow graduate students to sign before leaving for the summer.

Miscellaneous

SoMAS Professor Emeritus Charles Wurster will be receiving a honorary Doctorate in Science degree on Thursday, May 21, at 2:00 p.m. in the Staller Center. At 4:00 p.m., there will be a reception in Endeavour 120 to honor him. A number of other celebratory events have been planned. For complete details, please contact Professor Malcolm Bowman at 2-8669.

Save-a-Pet in Port Jefferson Station is in need of the following supplies: antibacterial dishwashing liquid, canned dog and cat food, kitty litter, garbage bags, laundry detergent, paper plates and paper towels. If you would like to donate, please drop items off at the ITPA office, Endeavour 129.

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Page last modified on Friday, May 8, 2009 by George E. Carroll

The Fall 2009 schedules for the Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAOS) seminars and the Oceans and Atmospheres Colloquium (OAC) series will be available in mid-August athttp://www.somas.stonybrook.edu. Click on “seminars and events.”

All are welcome to attend the following seminars at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL):

• On Thursday, May 28, Jerry North from Texas A & M will present a seminar entitled, “Theory Application of the Energy Balance Models.”
• On Friday, May 29, Christine Chiu from NASA will present a seminar entitled, “Learning About Cloud Optical Properties from Ground-Based Zenith Radiance Measurements.”
• On Tuesday, June 2, Alessandro Zardini from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, will present a seminar entitled, “Evaporation of Organic and Mixed Inorganic/Organic Aerosol Particles.”
• On Friday, June 12, Drew Shindell from NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies will present a seminar entitled, “Climate Sensitivity to Forcing Location (and Implications for Historical and Future Climate).”

Seminars take place at 11:00 a.m. in the conference room of Building 815E. A photo ID is required for entrance to the BNL site.

Faculty News

The next SoMAS faculty meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 26, at 2:00 p.m. in Endeavour Hall 120. Please send agenda items to David Conover at dconover@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

As a reminder, the ITPA retreat takes place on Thursday, May 21, at 9:00 a.m. in Endeavour Hall 113.

From May 25-27, Professor Minghua Zhang will be attending the American Geophysical Union (AGU) General Meeting in Toronto, Canada. Later that week, he will be participating in a Department of Energy (DOE) review panel in Washington DC. The week of June 8, he will be attending a joint conference of GCSS and CFMIP in Vancouver, for which he is coordinating an international project evaluating cloud feedback simulations in climate models. The week of June 15, he will travel to Colorado to attend the annual meeting of the Community Climate System Model CCSM.

Professor Marat Khairoutdinov will be attending the Center for Multiscale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes NSF Site Review at Colorado State University from May 18-20.
On May 25-27, he will be attending the American Geophysical Union (AGU) General Meeting in Toronto, Canada.

Professor Brian Colle will be attending the annual meeting for Editors of the American Meteorological Society journals in Boston, Massachusetts. During the week of June 1, he and graduate student, Michael Erickson, will be attending and presenting at the American Meteorological Society’s (AMS) Weather Analysis and Forecasting and Numerical Prediction Conferences in Omaha, Nebraska.

From June 8 -12, Professor Edmund Chang and graduate student, Xiaoming Xia, will attend the AMS 17th Conference on Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics held in Stowe,
Vermont, and will make the following presentations:

• Chang, E., and W. Lin: “Why is the Atlantic Storm Track Stronger than its Pacific Counterpart?”
• Guo, Y., X. Xia, and E. Chang: “How Strong are the Southern Hemisphere Storm Tracks?”
• Xia, X., and E. Chang: “Understanding GCM Predicted Storm Track Changes Under Global Warming.”

In July, Professor Edmund Chang will attend the meeting “MOCA-09” (Joint Assembly of the IAMAS, IAPSO, and IACS) in Montreal, Canada. He will make two presentations; an invited talk entitled, “Explosive Cyclogenesis Over Western Pacific: Upstream Precursors and Downstream Impacts,” and a contributed talk, co-authored with Wuyin Lin, entitled, “What Forces the Northern Hemisphere Winter Stationary Waves?”

Student News

Congratulations to Brandilyn Peters, recipient of the 2009 Petra M. Udelhofen Memorial Scholarship. Brandilyn will receive a certificate and $500 for her Fall tuition.

Miscellaneous

SoMAS Professor Emeritus Charles Wurster will be receiving a honorary Doctorate in Science degree on Thursday, May 21, at 2:00 p.m. in the Staller Center. At 4:00 p.m., there will be a reception in Endeavour 120 to honor him. A number of other celebratory events have been planned. For complete details, please contact Professor Malcolm Bowman at 2-8669.

The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) Convocation ceremony takes place on Friday, May 22 at 8:30 in the SoMAS courtyard. Tickets are limited. For information, please contact the Educational Programs Office at 2-8681.

The Vax to Flax race has been rescheduled to Saturday, May 16. For further information, please contact Juliet Kinney at jwkinney@ic.sunysb.edu.

Save-a-Pet in Port Jefferson Station is in need of the following supplies: antibacterial dishwashing liquid, canned dog and cat food, kitty litter, garbage bags, laundry detergent, paper plates and paper towels. If you would like to donate, please drop items off at the ITPA office, Endeavour 129.

Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to submit entries for the weekly ITPA E-newsletter. Please send your submissions to Gina Gartin at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.