Dr. Kenneth Bowman, head of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and Dr. Gerald North, a professor of atmospheric sciences and oceanography, were quoted at length in an article in Tuesday’s (July 22) Dallas Morning News. As air conditioners kick into high gear and bottles of water become a pedestrian’s best friend, the article examines the factors that make Texas summers some of the hottest in the nation. Bowman has done wide-ranging research on the troposphere and stratosphere, and North’s research focuses on overall climate trends; both men are considered leaders in their fields. See associated story “Scorching heat a matter of latitude for North Texas”.

The College of Geosciences has launched a new website for the Department of Atmospheric Sciences that offers users a number of new features and streamlines access to information. The site is located at http://atmo.tamu.edu/ .

By Keith Randall

Attention residents of Houston, Los Angeles, Mexico City and anywhere else that has ongoing air pollution troubles: you could also be facing soot problems that could affect everything from your weather to your health, and the situation may get worse, according to a study from a Texas A&M University group published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Geography Department Associate Professor Christian Brannstrom and Assistant Professor Wendy Jepson are collaborating with researchers from Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth and Oxford University in the United Kingdom in a groundbreaking initiative to study the ecological and socio-economic impacts of wind farms in Texas.

Six seminars in the geosciences will be offered to incoming freshmen this fall semester through the University’s new First-Year Seminar program. These one-credit seminars are open only to first year freshmen. Each will use a learning community setting to focus on a particular research area or topic of current interest.

Dr. Richard Orville, professor of atmospheric sciences and one of the world’s foremost experts on lightning, was quoted extensively in an article in Sunday's (June 13) Bryan/College Station Eagle. In the wake of a recent lighting strike of a 16-year-old Bryan High student on a local golf course, the article examined lightning detection systems and where and how they are being used in the community. Orville has done extensive research in the physics of lightning and was instrumental in developing and implementing the National Lightning Detection Network. See associated story B-CS guards against lightning danger.