New publication by David Dukes (MS, Geology 2018) in Journal of Geophysical Research (American Geophysical Union/Wiley) investigated the applicability of a novel tracer technique—the use of multiple rare earth elements (REE)—to quantify aeolian sediment transport and to identify sources and sinks of sediments in fire-affected landscapes. David’s study presents a first step toward developing a valuable tool to monitor the ecogeomorphic response of these landscapes to changing climate, disturbance, and management scenarios. Congrats David !

David is currently a PhD student at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/2017JG004284

Dukes, D., H. Gonzales, S. Ravi, D. Grandstaff,  J. Li, J. Sankey, G. Wang, and S. Van Pelt (2018), Quantifying post-fire aeolian sediment transport using rare earth element tracers,  J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosciences, doi:10.1002/2017JG004284. [American Geophysical Union & Wiley, IF: 3.4]

American Geophysical Union Fall meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 2017.

• Choi, C., J. Macknick and S. Ravi, Opportunities for co-location of solar PV with agriculture for cost reductions and carbon, water, and energy footprint mitigation in the tropics, American Geophysical Union Fall meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 2017.
• Cagle, A., C. S. Choi, S. Ravi , J. Macknick, and R. Bickhart, Impacts of Solar PV Arrays on Physicochemical Properties of Soil, American Geophysical Union Fall meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 2017.
• Wang, G., J. Li, S. Ravi, D. Dukes, H. Gonzales, J. Sankey and S. van Pelt, Effects of Fire on the Plant-Soil Interactions in Northern Chihuahuan Desert, American Geophysical Union Fall meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 2017.

Invited speaker at Drylands, Deserts and Desertification 2017:

Combating Desertification and Dryland Management-Theory and Practice November 6-9, 2017, UNCCD, Sde Boker, Israel
http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/desertification/Pages/default.aspx

Graduate student Chong Seok Choi conducting research in Bogor, Indonesia on the opportunities to incorporate micro-scale renewable (solar) energy into existing cropping systems. The project goal is develop colocated crop-solar PV systems to maximize the efficiency of agricultural land along with providing several co-benefits (rural electrification, employment generation, energy for processing agricultural commodities locally)

Ravi, S. Solar-Agriculture colocation: Synergies and Tradeoffs, The 6th IPB talks on Complexity and Sustainability Sciences: Renewable Energy and Agriculture , Bogor, Indonesia, August 2017. (INVITED Speaker and panelist).

Graduate student Chong Seok Choi and undergraduate researcher Alex Cagle at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s solar energy test site near Golden, Colorado. They are conducting field experiments to investigate the environmental impacts (on soil properties and hydrological processes) of large solar energy infrastructures. (funded by DoE)

In summer 2017, Sujith Ravi was an invited visiting professor at the Intitute of Desert Control Science & Engineering, IMAU, Huhhot, Inner Mongolia.

“Ravi et al. revisit the idea that plants self-organize to find water by studying the interactions of water, soil, and vegetation in Namibian fairy circles “- Witman, S. (2017),

Witman, S. (2017), Mysterious “fairy circles” continue to enchant scientists, Eos, 98, https://doi.org/10.1029/2017EO071017. Published on 05 April 2017.

Commentary by the JGR Editor Dr. Dork Sahagian, The magic of fairy circles: Built or created? http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017JG003855/full

https://eos.org/research-spotlights/mysterious-fairy-circles-continue-to-enchant-scientists

Ravi, S., L. Wang, K. Kaseke, and I. Buynevich, Ecohydrological interactions within “fairy circles” in the Namib Desert: Revisiting the self-organization hypothesis, Journal of Geophysical Research, 122, doi:10.1002/2016JG003604.  [American Geophysical Union & Wiley, IF: 3.32]

• In News:  USA TODAY, PHYS.ORG,  Science Daily, EOS.ORG (AGU), IndyStar, Science News Online, Daily Mail, WorldNews (WN), ScienceTimes, Temple University News,  University Herald
• Featured in the cover, Research spotlight in EOS, and Commentary by AGU Editor Dr. Dork Sahagian

van Pelt et al. 2017 in Geoderma (Elsevier) examine the particulate matter emissions (air quality impacts) from desert surfaces subjected to different disturbances including fire, grazing, trampling, and tillage.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706116304311

van Pelt, S., Baddock, M., T. M. Zobeck, S, Ravi, D’Odorico, and A. Bhattachan (2017), Total vertical sediment flux and PM₁₀ emissions from disturbed Chihuahuan Desert surfaces, Geoderma, http://dx.doi.org/10.​1016/​j.​geoderma.​2017.​01.​031. [Elsevier, IF: 3.31]