Distinguished climate expert Berrien Moore to speak at UTSA

FEBRUARY 5, 2020 — The Academy Fellows Speaker Series at UTSA resumes this week after the winter break with a special guest, climate expert Berrien Moore III. 

The lecture will take place on Thursday, Feb. 6 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the John Peace Library, Assembly Room (JPL 4.04.22) on Main Campus. The event is free and open to all: UTSA students, faculty, staff and the greater San Antonio community. 

Moore is the dean of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences, the Chesapeake Energy Corp. Chair in Climate Studies, and the director of the National Weather Center at the University of Oklahoma. Moore is an internationally recognized Earth scientist who has been honored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Our goal is to forge new collaborations and alliances, further intellectual discourse and bring different perspectives...to UTSA.”

—BERNARD ARULANANDAM, Vice President for Research, Economic Development and Knowledge Enterprise

He has published extensively on the global carbon cycle, biogeochemistry, remote sensing, environmental and space policy, and mathematics. He served as the founding executive director of Climate Central, a think tank dedicated to providing objective and understandable information about climate change. NASA in 2016 selected the Geostationary Carbon Cycle Observatory as the Second Earth Venture Mission, where Moore was the architect and principal investigator on the Geostationary Carbon Cycle Observatory (GeoCarb) mission. He is an elected fellow of the American Meteorological Society and the International Academy of Astronautics.

His talk, Geostationary Carbon Cycle Observatory: Unraveling the Carbon-Weather-Climate System, will highlight the changes in methane and carbon dioxide; the structure of the GeoCarb, the roles of the GeoCarb observations, and the emerging Global Carbon Observing System. 

The second NASA Earth Venture Mission, GeoCarb Mission, will provide measurements of the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), carbon monoxide (CO), and solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) from Geostationary Orbit (GEO) at 103 degrees west. It is known that the concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by nearly 50% from its pre-industrial value (circa 1750) and methane concentration has tripled. The fundamental roadblock to advancing knowledge of the carbon cycle is uncertainty about land-atmosphere CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes, and how they vary in the Carbon-Weather-Climate System. GeoCarb will be unique in flying in a geostationary orbit and providing persistent measurements of CO₂, CH₄, CO, and SIF, allowing it to contribute significantly to resolving actual anthropogenic carbon emissions as well as illuminating biotic processes that control land-atmosphere CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes at urban to regional to continental scales. This will provide the foundation for essential improvements in modeled biogeochemical processes in Earth System Models as well as monitor the response of the biosphere to disturbance, such as land-use change and weather and climate events. This is essential to improve understanding of the Carbon-Weather-Climate System. 

Presented by the Presidential Task Force on Research Excellence, The Academy Fellows Speaker Series aims to bring renowned academy fellows to present their internationally recognized scholarly work and innovation to the campus community. In turn, faculty, staff and students can engage and share their research passion and expertise. The series began in spring 2019 to mark UTSA’s 50th anniversary.

Becoming a member of a national or international academy solidifies a researcher’s scholarly and professional accomplishments, celebrating not only their achievements but also their institution. Speakers represent a variety of disciplines that intersect with research specialties across the UTSA knowledge enterprise.

“By bringing national academy members to discuss their research specialties and career paths, our goal is to forge new collaborations and alliances, further intellectual discourse and bring different perspectives on familiar and new topics to the UTSA community,” said Bernard Arulanandam, vice president for research, economic development and knowledge enterprise at UTSA. “We encourage everyone to come and support this critical series.” 

The next Academy Fellows speaker will be Vicki L. Ruiz, distinguished professor emerita of history and Chicano/Latino studies at the University of California, Irvine. Ruiz will visit UTSA March 23–24.

— Sarah Hada

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