Department of Environmental Sciences

Environmental Sciences students Amy Ferguson and Brynn Cook won top awards for posters at the 2017 Robert J. Huskey Graduate Research Exhibition. Amy’s poster “Making the case for nature-based solutions to coastal erosion in Virginia’s coastal bays” tied for 1st Place in Division 1 – Natural Sciences Poster Presentation. Brynn’s poster won 1st Place in Division 2 – Natural Sciences Poster Presentation. The R.J. Huskey exhibition showcases the work done by graduate students at the University of Virginia.

Professor Vivian Thomson was interviewed on NPR about her new book, Climate of Capitulation. Read more and listen to the interview here.

Environmental Sciences graduate student Kate LeCroy was featured in a UVA Today article on her research. Along with Professor T’ai Roulston and citizen scientists from the Virginia Master Naturalist Program, Kate is collecting population data on mason (and other) bees using wooden “bee hotels”. Read more in the article here.

Recent work from researchers at several LTER sites has synthesized the current understanding of ecological impacts of man-made coastal armoring. The study looked at diverse systems, including constructed oyster reefs at the Virginia Coast Reserve LTER. Former UVA Environmental Sciences student Kyle Emery (now a PhD student at UC Santa Barbara) is a coauthor on the study and is quoted in an article on the knowledge gaps it identified.

The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Museum in association with the Environmental Sciences Department opens the exhibit “Defending the Ocean with Art” on Friday August 25th at 4pm (reception at 5pm) in the Brown Library of Clark Hall. On view are twenty-one sculptures and prints by contemporary indigenous artists that celebrate the central importance of the ocean to human life and responds to its current threats. Plastic debris and abandoned fishing nets are trapping and killing a rich array of marine life, eventually drifting to the bottom of the sea, suffocating the seabed and coral reefs.