Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: climatology – Page 30

Episode Disclaimer — The views presented in this episode are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent the views of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) or its components.

Dr. Diane DiEuliis, Ph.D. is a Distinguished Research Fellow at National Defense University (NDU — https://www.ndu.edu/), an institution of higher education, funded by the United States Department of Defense, aimed at facilitating high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. Her research areas focus on emerging biological technologies, biodefense, and preparedness for biothreats. Specific topic areas under this broad research portfolio include dual-use life sciences research, synthetic biology, the U.S. bioeconomy, disaster recovery, and behavioral, cognitive, and social science as it relates to important aspects of deterrence. Dr. DiEuliis currently has several research grants in progress, and teaches in foundational professional military education.

Prior to joining NDU, Dr. DiEuliis was Deputy Director for Policy, and served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), Department of Health and Human Services. She coordinated policy and research in support of domestic and international health emergencies, such as Hurricane Sandy, and Ebola outbreaks. She was responsible for implementation of the Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness Act, the National Health Security Strategy, and supported the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE).

From to 2007 to 2011, Dr. DiEuliis was the Assistant Director for Life Sciences and Behavioral and Social Sciences in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President. During her tenure at the White House, she was responsible for developing policy in areas such as biosecurity and biodefense, synthetic biology, social and behavioral science, scientific collections, and biotechnology. Dr. DiEuliis also worked to help coordinate agency response to public health issues such as the H1N1 flu.

Prior to working at OSTP, Dr. DiEuliis was a program director at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where she managed a diverse portfolio of neuroscience research in neurodegenerative diseases. She completed a fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research and completed her postdoctoral research in the NIH Intramural research program, where she focused on cellular and molecular neuroscience.

Dr. DiEuliis is a National Merit Scholar, and has a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. She is the author of over 70 publications.

Continue reading “Dr. Diane DiEuliis — NDU — Preparing National Security Leaders For The Next Generation Of Threats” | >

Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) introduce a polymer-based material with unique properties in the journal Nature Communications. This material allows sunlight to enter, maintains a more comfortable indoor climate without additional energy, and cleans itself like a lotus leaf. The new development could replace glass components in walls and roofs in the future. The research team has successfully tested the material in outdoor tests on the KIT campus.

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Innovation For A Sustainable Global Energy Transformation — Dr. Roland Roesch, Ph.D. — Director, Innovation and Technology Centre, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

Dr. Roland Roesch, Ph.D. is Director, Innovation and Technology Centre (IITC), of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA — https://www.irena.org/) where he oversees the Agency’s work on advising member countries in the area of technology status and roadmaps, energy planning, cost and markets and innovation policy frameworks.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is a leading global intergovernmental agency for energy transformation that serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, supports countries in their energy transitions, and provides state of the art data and analyses on technology, innovation, policy, finance and investment. IRENA drives the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind energy in the pursuit of sustainable development, energy access, and energy security, for economic and social resilience and prosperity and a climate-proof future.

Dr. Roesch currently leads IRENA´s work on RE Innovation, Grids-Assessments and the Strategies Teams for the Power Sector Transformation and for the Gas Sector Transformation. He actively leads the development of IRENA´s work in the fields of ocean energy, blue economy and decarbonizing the shipping sector.

Before becoming Director, Dr. Roesch served as IITC Deputy Director from 2018.

Continue reading “Dr Roland Roesch — Director, Innovation and Technology Centre, International Renewable Energy Agency” | >

“There has been extensive talk about how larger trees respond to the effects of climate change,” said Dr. Thomas Murphy. “But these results show we need to factor in the response of young trees as well, especially if they are being envisioned as an integral part of the solution.”

Can climate change be fought using saturated soils, and what impacts would these soils have on newly planted trees? This is what a recent study published in Forest Ecology and Management hopes to address as a team of researchers from the University of Plymouth investigated how various soil saturation levels could influence the survival rates of newly planted trees meant to combat climate change. This study holds the potential to help scientists, conservationists, and legislators better understand the steps that can be taken to combat climate change without causing further harm to the environment.

The study involved planting acorns in four different soils: totally flooded, high saturation, medium saturation, and low saturation, with the water levels being just over eight-and-a-half inches (220 millimeters) beneath the acorns. In the end, the researchers discovered a zero-survivability rate for the totally flooded acorns while finding increased survivability rates for high saturation, medium saturation, and low saturation at 43 percent, 77 percent, and 83 percent, respectively. For the higher saturated acorns, the researchers also found decreased levels of leaf photosynthesis, root: shoot ratio, and decreased chances of late season shoot growth, as well.

To demonstrate how larger trees responded to soil saturation, a second experiment simultaneously planted English oaks at a separate site, which exhibited increased levels of leaf photosynthesis and shoot growth.

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“This study has given us an historical picture of how the emerging modern reef responded to huge environmental stress,” said Dr. Jody Webster.

What events caused the Great Barrier Reef to become what it is today, specifically over the course of the last six to eight thousand years, or just after the last Ice Age? This is what a recent study published in Quaternary Science Reviews hopes to address as a team of international researchers conducted an in-depth scientific analysis on various aspects of the Great Barrier Reef to ascertain the environmental factors that contributed to the Reef’s present conditions. This study holds the potential to help scientists better understand how reefs evolve over time and the environment’s role in their evolution.

For the study, the researchers drilled almost two dozen coral samples and analyzed them using a variety of methods, including computer tomography, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction to ascertain yearly growth patterns within the coral samples. In the end, they determined that environmental factors, including increased water temperatures, ocean turbulence, and rising sea levels, led to increased nutrients, which contributed to the growth of the Great Barrier Reef, and is consistent with previous studies.

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How can studying an exoplanet’s ozone help astronomers better understand its habitability potential? This is what a recent study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society hopes to address as a team of international researchers investigated how an ozone on the nearest exoplanet to Earth, Proxima Centauri b, could influence its own climate over time. This study holds the potential to help astronomers better understand how an exoplanet’s ozone could influence its formation, evolution, and potential habitability, and could have implications on how astronomers study Earth-like exoplanets throughout the cosmos.

“Imagine a world where ozone affects temperature and wind speed and holds the key to a planet’s very habitability,” said Dr. Assaf Hochman, who is a senior lecturer in the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a co-author on the study. “Our study unveils this intricate connection and underscores the importance of considering interactive ozone and other photochemical species in our quest to understand Earth-like exoplanets.”

For the study, the researchers used a series of computer simulations to ascertain how an active ozone on Proxima Centauri b could influence the exoplanet’s climate and potential habitability. In the end, the researchers discovered that an ozone layer on Proxima Centauri b could greatly influence the temperature and wind circulation patterns throughout its atmosphere. Additionally, they also found altitude also played a high role in the atmospheric temperature and temperature variances, as well. The researchers emphasized how these findings could help future researchers better understand the potential habitability of an exoplanet, noting how a potential ozone layer on Proxima Centauri b could greatly influence its climate.

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If humans build settlements on Mars, how will they feed ourselves? Waiting on deliveries from Earth would take too long and costs would be exorbitant, since getting to the Red Planet is currently a nine-month one-way journey. On top of that, dehydrating foodstuff—the best preservation method for perishables sent to space—removes vital nutrients.

More than likely, Martian settlers will need to grow their own food.

Researchers are now exploring how best to optimize crop yield on Mars using intercropping, a technique perfected by Maya farmers centuries ago that involves growing multiple plants in close proximity to one another. Their findings—published this month in the journal Plos One—could not only benefit the pioneers who end up colonizing the Red Planet, but also farmers here on Earth amid a rapidly changing climate.

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