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Off-site Research
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| Summer research
While first year proteges work on their research projects at Boulder area laboratories, returning proteges have the option of conducting off-site research. If a returning protege wants to pursue a research topic that cannot be supported by a partnering lab in Boulder, then SOARS assists the protege in identifying alternative laboratories for his/her summer research. Projects must be carefully planned and fit within the summer research and study goals of the protege. Off-site proteges are still paired with mentors, and come to Boulder for Leadership Training in May and the Protege Colloquium in August. To discuss the possibility of taking part in off-site research please contact Raj Pandya. |
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In 2006, second year protégé, Nicole Ngo, conducted her research at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) . With her scientific mentor Dr. Hoagland, she researched
aquaculture and potential employment growth in the US.
She participated in the writing workshop and practice talks offered to all protégés through a remote access grid and came to Boulder to give her presentation at the Colloquium SOARS holds at the end of each summer experience.
> Read Nicole's reflections on WHOI and recommendations for protégés who are considering doing off-site research. |
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In 2005, SOARS protégé Casey Thornbrugh spent the summer on the Navajo Reserve assessing the sand dune mobility from 1980 through 2004 on the Moenkopi Plateau of the Navajo Nation. His research was motivated by concerns about how climate change affects Indigenous communities across the globe. Many residents of the Navajo Nation on the southern Colorado Plateau are concerned that the future climate of the region will be warmer and drier than was observed in the 20th century. The results of Casey's study provide a better understanding of the climatic conditions over the last 25 years over the Moenkopi Plateau, and show how these conditions relate to increased sand dune mobility. This work shows that the index can be used for other areas on the Navajo Nation, to identify locations at risk and help in planning efforts to mitigate effects from climate change. |
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Research Expeditions and field campaigns
The atmosphere and other components of the Earth system know no boundaries. Field projects reflect this global nature of science, as well as the complexity of the scientific puzzles that must be solved. Major experiments may deploy dozens to hundreds of researchers from a wide spectrum of academic disciplines, in addition to drawing upon the resources and personnel of many national and international institutions. Such field projects utilize a host of sensors and equipment to bring back large quantities of data. Some results emerge quickly, while others take years of analysis to uncover. Computer models that depict the atmosphere at work draw heavily on the knowledge gleaned from field programs. |
| In March 2006, SOARS Protégés Julien Wang and Marco Orozco joined NCAR scientists on the MIRAGE project in Veracruz, Mexico. The first goal of the MIRAGE program is to characterize the chemical/physical transformations and the ultimate fate of pollutants exported from urban areas. The second goal is to assess the current and future impacts of these exported pollutants on regional and global air quality, ecosystems, and climate. The MIRAGE-Mex field campaign is designed to examine the chemical and physical transformations of gases and aerosols in the polluted outflow from Mexico City. The campaign coordinates and integrates observations from ground stations, aircraft, and satellites, and provides a rich data base for improving regional and global models of the transport and transformations of aging urban pollutants. MIRAGE-Mex is organized by the National Center for Atmospheric Research- Atmospheric Chemistry Division (NCAR-ACD) on behalf of the atmospheric sciences community. |
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MIRAGE is part of MILAGRO, a larger set of coordinated field campaigns that together enable investigation of megacity outflow chemistry on a variety of scales.
During her summer research in Boulder in 2006, Julien continued working on data collected during the field campaign.
> Read Julien's account of her field campaign experience. |
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