Events
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UTIG Seminar Series: Cornelia Rasmussen, UTIG
Start:May 1, 2020 at 10:30 am
End:
May 1, 2020 at 12:00 pm
Location:
Zoom Meeting
Contact:
Constantino Panagopulos, costa@ig.utexas.edu, 512-574-7376
Speaker: Cornelia Rasmussen, Postdoctoral Fellow, UTIG
Host: Chris Lowery
Title: Colorado Plateau Coring Project (CPCP): A continuous, globally exportable chronostratigraphy of non-marine Triassic environmental change from Western North America
Abstract: Developing exportable chronostratigraphic frameworks is crucial to test first-order hypotheses about the correlation and duration of major evolutionary and paleoenvironmental events in Earth history. The early Mesozoic strata in western North America preserves a critical non-marine archive of low-paleolatitude biotic and environmental change. Outcrop-based geochronologic age constraints are difficult to put in an accurate stratigraphic framework because lateral facies changes and discontinuous outcrops allow for multiple interpretations. Past and future drilling initiatives on the Colorado Plateau seek to remedy this situation and test hypothesis about such as if a biotic turnover event recorded by vertebrate and palynomorph fossils in the Chinle Formation at Petrified Forest National Park coincided with the Manicouagan impact event.
UTIG Brown Bag: Rob Domeyko
Start:May 5, 2020 at 12:00 pm
End:
May 5, 2020 at 1:00 pm
Location:
Zoom Meeting
Contact:
Naoma McCall, nmccall@utexas.edu
Informal weekly presentations by UTIG students and researchers. Bring your lunch!
Speaker: Rob Domeyko, Graduate Research Assistant, UTIG
Title: Elusive Ice-age Coral Hunters: Vanuatu Edition
Habitability Seminar: Victoria Meadows, University of Washington
Start:May 6, 2020 at 1:30 pm
End:
May 6, 2020 at 2:30 pm
Location:
Zoom Meeting
Contact:
Cornelia Rasmussen, crasmussen@utexas.edu
A seminar from the Center for Planetary Systems Habitability
Watch the recorded talk (UT Zoom sign-in required)
Title: Terrestrial Exoplanet Characterization and the Search for Life
Speaker: Professor Victoria Meadows, University of Washington
Hot Science At Home "Fire Ants and Zombie Ants"
Start:May 15, 2020 at 7:00 pm
End:
May 15, 2020 at 7:40 pm
Location:
Online
Contact:
Didey Montoya, didey@austin.utexas.edu, 5124714211
View Event
Join us for a Hot Science – Cool Talks event from the comfort of your home with Dr. Rob Plowes!
The red imported fire ant is an invasive species in Texas that can produce life-threatening allergic reactions in people, has major costs to agriculture, and causes severe impacts to native fauna. Dr. Rob Plowes researches one of the fire ant’s deadliest enemies – tiny flies, which actually turn ants into zombie-like living incubators for their offspring!
Enjoy the science and then participate in a live Q&A session with Dr. Plowes.
Habitability Seminar: Carole Lakrout and Nicola Tisato, JSG
Start:May 27, 2020 at 10:30 am
End:
May 27, 2020 at 11:30 am
Location:
Zoom Meeting
Contact:
Cornelia Rasmussen, crasmussen@utexas.edu
A seminar from the Center for Planetary Systems Habitability
Watch the recorded talk (UT Zoom sign-in required)
Title: The Biotic Influence on Speleothem Morphology
Speaker: Carole Lakrout, Undergraduate Student, Jackson School of Geosciences and Nicola Tisato, Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences
Abstract: Studying life and life-mediated deposits in caves can provide information about habitability and mineral-life interactions in extreme environments and other planets. Asperge and Breezeway are examples of caves containing mineral deposits (helictites) whose formation is orchestrated by life. Such helictites grow in an area with little water, no light, and on a substrate that is rich in heavy-metals. Two specific helictites morphologies from Breezeway are of interest for our research: acicular and tubular. The former are made of aragonite, and their formation can be explained abiotically. Tubular morphologies are composed of calcite and present a central hole that challenges an abiotic genesis hypothesis. Similar to Asperge cave, we hypothesize that the tubular helictites from Breezeway formed biotically as well.
We used high-resolution imagery to seek biotic films, study textures, and chemical elements. SEM images reveal that small calcite “flakes” cover larger calcite crystals and small filaments create bridges between the calcite “flakes” and the calcite crystal. We suggest that such filaments are extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which is a remnant of microbial life activity.
On acicular samples, we mostly observe pristine aragonite needles. However, on a few acicular samples, we observe what appears to be EPS. We suggest that such an EPS might represent the initial stages of the microbial colonization of an abiotic speleothem.
This research furthers the understanding that life exists in extreme environments and can create complex mineral deposits. Understanding how life can thrive in these conditions is a starting point for the study of life on other planets. Given that caves are present on Mars and other planetary bodies, we suggest a potential way to search for past or present evidence of life in the geological record.
UTIG Seminar Series: Meredith Kelly, Dartmouth CollegeNovember, 14 2025Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMLocation: PRC 196/ROC 1.603 Speaker: Meredith Kelly, Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College Host: Nathan Bangs Research Theme: Climate & Polar; Role of the tropics in past climate changes |
Bureau of Economic Geology Seminar SeriesNovember, 14 2025Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PMLocation: BEG VR Room 1.116C Approaches to writing manuscripts and a short overview of ranking of publications presented In Person by Dr. Robert Loucks, Dr. Bill Ambrose, Dr. Peter Eichhubl |
Hot Science - Cool Talks: Birds are Smarter!November, 14 2025Time: 5:30 AM - 8:30 AMLocation: Welch Hall 2.224 and Grand Hallway What can birds teach us about intelligence? They may have “bird brains,” but they can solve problems, use tools, and even share culture. In the next Hot Science – Cool Talks, Dr. Carlos Botero explores how intelligence evolves and how bird brain scans are helping scientists understand it better. With surprising examples of clever bird behavior, this talk will change how you see our feathered friends forever. |
UTIG Seminar Series: Xian Wu, UT DallasNovember, 21 2025Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMLocation: PRC 196/ROC 1.603 Speaker: Xian Wu, Assistant Professor, Department of Sustainable Earth Systems Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas Host: Yuko Okumura Title: Tropical Pacific decadal prediction: the role of volcanic forcing and ocean initialization Abstract: Decadal climate predictions for the next 1 to 10 years provide critical information for climate adaptation and resilience planning, bridging the gap between well-established seasonal forecasts and centennial projections. As an initial condition–boundary condition problem, decadal predictions rely on both oceanic initial states and external radiative forcings. However, decadal prediction skill remains very low in the tropical Pacific, where ocean-atmosphere processes act as powerful drivers of global climate variations. Here, I will address whether this low prediction skill in the tropical Pacific arises from forecast system deficiencies or intrinsic limits of climate predictability. I will show that the tropical Pacific decadal prediction skill is unexpectedly degraded by the inclusion of historical volcanic aerosol forcing in the prediction system, due to poor model fidelity in simulating volcanic responses. In contrast, the no-volcano prediction system exhibits high skill, arising from the initial-condition memory associated with oceanic Rossby wave adjustment in the tropical Pacific. Furthermore, I will demonstrate the influence of other ocean basins on tropical Pacific decadal prediction through regional ocean initialization experiments. These findings improve our understanding of prediction system behavior in the tropical Pacific, which is crucial for advancing Earth system predictions. |
Bureau of Economic Geology Seminar SeriesNovember, 21 2025Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PMSediment-hosted metal deposits in rift basins, geodynamic modeling presented on Zoom by Dr. Anne Glerum GFZ, Helmgoltz Centre for Geosciences Germany |
Fall break / ThanksgivingNovember, 24 2025Time: 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM |
DeFord Lecture | Thomas HarterDecember, 04 2025Time: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PMLocation: Boyd Auditorium (JGB 2.324) |
UTIG Seminar Series: James Thompson, BEGDecember, 05 2025Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMLocation: PRC 196/ROC 1.603 Speaker: James Thompson, Research Assistant Professor, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin Host: Danielle Touma Research Theme: Climate & MGGST; Remote sensing and geospatial techniques to understand thermodynamics of terrestrial processes and consequent impacts |
Bureau of Economic Geology Seminar SeriesDecember, 05 2025Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PMLocation: BEG VR Room 1.116C Microstructural analysis of sedimentary and volcanic rocks presented In Person by Dr. Robert Reed Research Scientist Associate V, BEG |