Genetics and Speleogenesis

Eos, Vol. 88, No. 37, 11 September 2007 NEWS In Brief PAGE 359 Satellite study of natural gas flaring Global flaring of natural gas remained largely stable from 1995 through 2006, according to the first globally consistent survey of gas flar­ ing, conducted using low­light imaging data from the U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorologi­ cal Satellite Program. Flaring is a widespread method of disposing of natural gas when oil production and processing occurs in remote areas or in areas that lack infrastructure to make use of the gas. The survey results, announced on 30 August, found the amount of annual flaring is in the range of 150 to 170 billion cubic meters ( b c m ) . The survey, commissioned by GEOPHYSICISTS In Memoriam PAGE 359 James Bishop, 52, 30 December 2006, Aeronomy, 1985 James F. Luhr, 53, 1 January 2007, Volca­ nology, Geochemistry and Petrology, 1984 the World Bank's Global Gas Flaring Reduc­ tion Partnership, noted that 170 bcm is equivalent to 5.5% of total annual global production of natural gas and emits 400 mil­ lion tons of carbon dioxide emissions. "This study proves that it is possible to monitor gas flaring from space and make rea­ sonable and independent estimates of the vol­ ume being wasted," said study lead author Christopher Elvidge, a scientist with the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center. For more information, visit the Web site: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTGGFR/ Resources/DMSP_flares_20070530_b­sm.pdf. O c e a n Observatories Initiative moves f o r w a r d An academic partnership led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ( W H O I ) has been awarded a $97.7 million contract by the Joint Oceanographic Institu­ tions to support the development, installa­ Honors John Eichelberger, a volcanologist from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), became program coordinator for the U.S. Geo­ logical Survey's Volcano Hazards Program on 4 September. Eichelberger, former chair of the UAF Department of Geology and Geophysics, has spent the last 34 years analyzing volcanic hazards in Alaska and across the country; over the past few years he helped develop research MEETINGS Genetics and Speleogenesis Time in Karst, Postojna, Slovenia, 14-18 March 2007 PAGE 360 Karst environments are ideal places to study the linkages between biological and geological processes because of the evolu­ tionary record in the DNA of the resident species and because of the remarkable his­ torical record in the rocks and sediments. The trace of time is apparent in karst, yet time is seldom discussed in and of itself by karst scientists. The Karst Research Institute (KRI, part of the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences (ZRC­SAZU)) and the Karst Waters Institute ( K W I , Leesburg, Va.) hosted a meeting to specifically discuss "time in karst." The KWI and the KRI have consistently provided out­ lets for interdisciplinary research efforts. This jointly hosted meeting brought together about 130 scientists from 27 coun­ tries in Postojna, Slovenia. The scientists included 40 w h o were supported by Marie Curie Grants for Young Researchers. The technical sessions focused on the topics paleokarst, historical biogeography, age­ dating methods, the sediment record, the age of karst landscapes, and the age of ani­ mal lineages. A proceedings volume is available elsewhere (www.karstwaters.org/ publications/). One theme that emerged during the meet­ ing was the questioning of the applicability of conceptual models that are routinely used in nonkarst environments to karst environments. In the biological community, speciation is thought to be initiated by the physical separa­ tion of a species into multiple isolated popula­ tions. However, in karst environments, specia­ tion, and initial operation of the coastal and global components of the U.S. National Science Foundation's Ocean Observatories Initiative ( O O I ) . The three academic partners—WHOI, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and Oregon State University's College of Oce­ anic and Atmospheric Sciences—will help with the development of moored buoys, cabled nodes, and autonomous vehicles; this, in turn, will provide researchers with data and allow for the remote control of instruments and the construction of virtual observatories to meet scientific needs. "By exploiting technological advances in the fields of in situ sensors, autonomous vehicles, and cyberinfrastructure, including telecommunications and networking, the OOI will revolutionize the way w e conduct oceanography," said WHOI Acting President Jim Luyten. — R A N D Y SHOWSTACK, Staff Writer collaborations with Russian scientists working on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The USGS also appointed Mark Losleben as the assistant director of the USA­ National Phenology Network. Losleben served as the director of the Mountain Cli­ mate Program at the University of Colora­ do's Mountain Research Station (part of the Long Term Ecological Research Network) before joining the USGS. tion may require dispersal among inter­ connected voids, even though opportunities for dispersal are limited. Within the broader geologic community, periods of glacial maxi­ mums are thought to be periods of limited karst development. At the meeting, however, glaciation was shown to enhance karstifica­ tion. This forces a reinterpretation of the con­ ceptual model of karst development in cold regions. Through the study of karst environ­ ments, bioscientists and geoscientists are able to test the applicability and validity of disci­ pline­specific conceptual models. During the meeting, a time frame of biologi­ cal and geological importance emerged, and this time frame should be the focus of continu­ ing interdisciplinary research efforts. Research results that were presented in the "Age of ani­ mal lineages" session, based on the technique of genetic or molecular clocks, showed that the date of divergence of subsurface species from closely related surface species was 2­5 Ma. In the "Age of karst" and "Age of karst landscapes" sessions, results from studies of speleothems and sediment records were pre­ sented that suggested the most recent 2­5 Ma was one in which hydrologic conditions varied from wet to arid. Such variation could have Eos, Vol. 88, No. 37, 11 September 2007 provided opportunities for species to migrate into the subsurface karst during wet conditions and to diverge from the ancestral surface species during arid con­ ditions. Even though the biological and geological records independently pointed to the 2­5 Ma time frame, no studies were presented in which the biological and geo­ logical records were integrated at the same site or even from sites in close proximity to each other. Thus, given the karst communi­ ties' goal of linking the evolutionary pro­ cesses to geologic events, the karst scien­ tists need to conduct integrated studies LETTERS Challenges to Fostering Interdisciplinary Graduate Education PAGE 360 C. Susan Weiler's article ("Meeting Ph.D. graduates' needs in a changing global envi­ ronment," Eos, 55(13), 149, 151) calling for more care and attention to interdisciplinary graduate education illuminated an impor­ tant and neglected issue. Weiler makes the excellent point that for society to manage complex natural systems effectively, it is imperative that w e establish stronger con­ nections between science and public pol­ icy. However, as a nation, the United States lacks the institutional research culture to foster this. Nor are w e training sufficient numbers of professionals with the skills to make these connections; and when the small number of truly interdisciplinary sci­ entists emerge annually into the workforce, there are few positions that fit them. I echo Weiler's call for increased interdis­ ciplinary collaboration, and the necessary training to support this increase. However, there are some fundamental obstacles her article does not explore. The tenure track process in most elite universities is strongly oriented toward dis­. ciplinary niches. This limits not only the prospects of graduates from interdisciplin­ ary programs being hired by academic institutions, but also the level of support that interdisciplinary programs receive from their own faculty. Partly feeding these prob­ lems is the institutional inertia of major grant­making organizations in science and engineering: They often call for interdisci­ ABOUT A G U AGU Launches New E­Commerce Web Site PAGE 361 During the week of 10 September 2007, AGU unveils a new e­commerce Web site (http:// www.aip.org/AGU). The site is an upgraded version of the one that members and nonmem­ bers have used to renew membership or join AGU, subscribe to journals, purchase books, or make a contribution. The new site, which is the result of collaboration between AGU and the American Institute of Physics, is another step in improving service to AGU constituents. Most of the changes being implemented stem from suggestions made by AGU members. The biggest change is combining options that were previously separate—such as renewing membership, subscribing to jour­ nals, purchasing books, donating to AGU, and registering for meetings—into a single trans­ action. The new site eliminates the need to first renew membership or join AGU before registering for an AGU meeting in a separate transaction. Nevertheless, making separate transactions remains an option for members who use different funds for different purposes, such as dues and meeting registration. Another change allows members to choose their own log­in name and pass­ word to gain access to this improved site as well as to other members­only areas of the AGU W e b site. Once the new log­in name and password have been selected, the change will be effective almost imme­ diately for existing members. For new members, there will be a waiting period of one business day before the log­in name and password can be used to access mem­ ber services or subscriptions. Additional features of the new site allow • subscribing to one or more AGU sec­ tion newsletters outside of a member's pri­ mary affiliation; • searching for books by title, keyword, author, scientific category, or ISBN; where geologic events and species diver­ gences can both be dated. —CAROL M. WlCKS, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia; E­mail: wicksc@missouri.edu; DAVID C. CULVER, Biology Department, American University,Washington, D. C. plinary proposals, but such proposals typi­ cally do not receive interdisciplinary review. Bureaucratic kingdoms within our universities are jealously defended against interdisciplinary initiatives. The kinds of classes Weiler calls for, to build effective communication, interpersonal, and leader­ ship skills, already exist in most institu­ tions. However, the typical graduate sci­ ence course gives minimal curricular weight to these classes. The result is that neither is there logistical space for them in the academic year nor are students encour­ aged to build such options into their indi­ vidual programs. Interdisciplinary research, and training to support it, are indeed essential if w e are to "address issues at the interface of science and society," as Weiler says in her Eos arti­ cle. Success in this endeavor, though, will require a more radical restructuring of the scientific establishment inside and out of academia, far beyond what Weiler suggests. —BEAUDRY KOCK, Massachusetts Institute of Tech­ nology­US. Geological Survey Science Impact Col­ laborative, Cambridge, Mass.; E­mail: bkock@mit.edu • saving items in a cart for purchase for a future log­in (members only); and • using promotional codes to receive special discounts on AGU books during sales events. The improved site also retains many of the earlier features. Members can still update their addresses and scientific affilia­ tions using the site as well as pay dues, pur­ chase books, add journal subscriptions, and make contributions to various AGU funds. The site remains a live e­commerce site with transactions processed immedi­ ately, which allows fast access to services. I invite you to visit the site, which AGU is confident will facilitate transactions for mem­ bers and nonmembers alike. I also urge mem­ bers to check their profiles to ensure the accu­ racy of all information, including address, contact information, date of birth, education, employment, and scientific interests. The accu­ racy of contact and demographic information is crucial for AGU to provide appropriate ser­ vices and programs. Providing demographic information usually is voluntary, and AGU's strict privacy policy (http://www.agu.org/pubs/ privacy.html) ensures that such information remains confidential. —KARINE S. BLAUFUSS.Group Manager, Marketing and Membership, AGU