Category Archives: Progress

Hurricane Andrew made landfall on August 24, 1992, near Homestead, Florida, becoming one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in U.S. history. It had an extremely low central pressure of 922 millibars and maximum sustained wind speeds estimated at 165 miles per hour. The storm rapidly intensified less than 36 hours before landfall, leaving most residents less than a day to secure their homes and heed evacuation orders.

When NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) staff found themselves with a major hurricane on their doorstep, hurricane researchers urgently began working to aid forecasters at NOAAs National Hurricane Center (NHC). Hurricane Andrew affected their families, and even destroyed one scientists home. Once the hurricane passed, our scientists went right back to work, using what they had learned and seen firsthand to improve our understanding of tropical cyclones. In the 30 years since Andrew, NOAA scientists, forecasters and partners have revolutionized hurricane forecasting to save lives and property.

Storm batters NOAA scientist's home

NOAA AOML meteorologist Stan Goldenberg in front of his home after Hurricane Andrew tore through southern Miami-Dade County. Courtesy of Stan Goldenberg

While storm surge typically accounts for the most devastation during tropical cyclones, it was Hurricane Andrews extremely strong winds that caused most of the damage. This compact, yet powerful storm directly caused 23 U.S. deaths, decimated the urban landscape of southern Miami-Dade County, and reshaped communities to this day. Andrews intensity, combined with lax enforcement of building codes, destroyed over 25,000 homes, leaving more than 160,000 residents homeless. In Homestead alone, the storm obliterated nearly 99% of all mobile homes, leaving the area unrecognizable.

Scientists originally denoted Hurricane Andrew as a Category-4 storm, but after re-analysis in 2002, researchers upgraded it to Category-5. A storm of this magnitude exposed the flaws of the hurricane observation tools used at the time. Andrews maximum sustained winds and flying debris either destroyed the ground-based observational instruments, or in some cases exceeded their capabilities.

Storm devastates mobile home park

Aerial view of the Dadeland Mobile Home Park in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. Credit: NOAA

Many AOML staff members who lived in South Florida during Hurricane Andrew still work at the laboratory today. Direct experience of the destructive power of this storm inspired our scientists to apply what they learned and fueled their desire to make continual improvements over the last three decades. Frank Marks, Sc.D., the director of AOMLs Hurricane Research Division, was the lead scientist aboard the last NOAA P-3 Hurricane Hunter flights into Andrew on August 22, 1992.

During our flight we found that Andrew had not only reintensified to a hurricane but was also tracking west toward Florida, recalled Marks. It was a very sobering experience as it was pretty clear it was going to make landfall in South Florida, close to home.

Storm tosses boats

Hurricane Andrew ejected boats from their slips at Black Point Marina in Homestead, Florida. Credit: NOAA

Former AOML research meteorologist and current branch chief of the NOAAs National Hurricane Center Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch, Chris Landsea, Ph.D., described the storm as a complete upheaval of society in just a few hours. Andrews winds toppled boats and cars, destroyed roofs, shattered windows, ripped power lines from the ground, and peeled the paint off buildings.

Hurricane Andrew reshaped much of the area, causing $50.5 billion in damages in 2020 dollars, and drove major reforms in South Floridas building codes. It also led to numerous advances in the tools and technology used to study, forecast, prepare for, and respond to hurricanes.

Since Andrew, NOAA AOML hurricane researchers have made great strides to advance hurricane prediction through improved observations, forecast models, and analyses. According to NOAAs National Hurricane Center, NOAA has drastically improved its track and intensity forecasts, increasing track accuracy by 75% and intensity forecasts by 50% since Hurricane Andrew. NOAA scientists now use an array of satellite information, land-based, sea-based, and aircraft-related instruments to collect observational data.

Uncrewed aircraft will track hurricane data

Among the many new technologies being used to help improve hurricane forecast models, is this Area I Altius - 600 uncrewed aircraft that will be used in the 2022 hurricane season to collect data in areas of the hurricane that would be unsafe for aircraft with crew members. Credit: Courtesy of Area I

There are several key improvements to observations such as Global Positioning System (GPS) dropsondes, uncrewed saildrones/ocean gliders, and uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) which monitor the storm environment and advance overall hurricane understanding. Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR) observations provide surface wind estimates while Tail Doppler Radar observations from the NOAA P-3 and G-IV aircraft pinpoint the regions of strongest winds and heaviest rainfall. Additionally, high-speed broadband satellite communications transmit high-quality observations in real time from Hurricane Hunter aircraft to ground stations.

There are also key improvements in forecast guidance products and modeling such as Statistical Hurricane Intensity Prediction System (SHIPS) and Rapid Intensity Index (RII), which provide guidance on hurricane intensity. The Tropical Cyclone Genesis Index (TCGI) provides guidance on tropical storm formation, while the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) and the Hurricanes in a Multi-scale Ocean-coupled Non-hydrostatic (HMON) models provide guidance on both hurricane track and intensity.

Improving hurricane track forecasts

This image shows how improvements to hurricane track forecasts from 1990 to 2018 can lead to a much more precise areas being warned of a hurricane. Credit: NOAA

Andrew was one of only seven storms during the 1992 Atlantic hurricane season, but still stands as a stark reminder, It only takes one storm to make a very bad season. Having a plan in place is vital for everyone who lives or visits hurricane-prone regions. More preparedness information is available from FEMA, NOAAs National Hurricane Center and AOMLs Hurricane FAQ page.

This season, NOAA researchers are testing the newest advancement for hurricane forecasting, the Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System (HAFS) model, which will go into operation in 2023. This model brings together ocean and atmospheric observations and allows for scientists to see multiple storms at once to understand how they interact.

Observational improvements were facilitated by partnerships with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation (NSF), NOAAs Aircraft Operation Center (AOC), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), while forecast guidance products and modeling improvements were facilitated through NOAA's Joint Hurricane Testbed (JHT) and the Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project (HFIP).

Video: Satellites of the Sea: Observing the Ocean for Hurricane Research

For more information please contact Laura Chaibongsai, NOAAs Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Lab at laura.chaibonsai@noaa.gov or Monica Allen, NOAA Communications at monica.allen@noaa.gov

2053

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Thirty years of progress in hurricane forecasting since Hurricane Andrew - noaa.gov

By Lauren SchiavoneHometown Weekly Staff

Westwoods future scientists and mathematicians were recently able to show their skills in a weeklong camp designed for hands-on STEM activities. Hosted by the Westwood Recreation Department, children were able to study topics in a way that felt playful and entertaining. On Friday afternoon, August 19, children headed to the Islington Branch Library for experiments, games and more; it was the culmination of a week in which the children were immersed in experiments and activities that make science extraordinary.

Children aged 5-10 were welcomed by Top Secret Science facilitators, and Fridays game day was highly anticipated. Children did simple math and examined a bill of chores that doubled interest each day for a month. Getting children excited to use math in a practical sense, they added up items they would theoretically buy with their monthly income. There were also word searches that were worked on in small groups, which helped children to work cooperatively whilst creating more STEM-based conversation.

The most popular experiment for the day was a simple coin trick. Campers took a penny and placed it on their elbow. Flipping their arm, the objective was to catch the penny in the palm in their hand. The top secret? Theres science involved! Simply put: the inertia behind a still force and force in motion can control the object (the coin). Gravity pulls the coin down and the hand, moving faster than the coin, catches it. When practiced, it looks like an effortless trick. Campers leveled up by stacking coins once they got the hang of it and utilized the test with experiment to prove their hypotheses.

Every day is a different subject in science, commented instructor Megan Fuccillo. We have chemistry, physics, lights and sounds day, and game day. We spend each day learning about a new topic. We talk about what kids know and we do an experiment and explain it. The program offered a multitude of ways for campers to get involved in aspects of STEM, focusing each day on a certain subject.

They make observations and predictions and then get to do [the experiment] themselves, she added, focusing on the scientific method.

The Top Secret Science camp brought an abundance of fun to Westwood and prepared the curious campers for back-to-school time.

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STEM in progress with Top Secret Science - hometownweekly

>> THIS IS A WBAL-TV 11 EDITORIAL WITH DAN JOERRES. >> ON THE HEELS OF ANOTHER VIOLENT WEEKEND IN BALTIMORE CITY, SOME GOOD NEWS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CRIME. THIS WEEK, THE MAYORS AND OFF -- THE MAYOR ANNOUNCED THE 12 PEOPLE LINKED TO THE PRINCESS PLAZA SOCIAL NETWORKING WEST BALTIMORE, A GROUP OF DRUG DEALERS AND VIOLENCE, THE TWO MONTH-LONG LONG INVESTIGATION IS PART OF A GROUP REDUCTION STRATEGY INTRODUCED BY OFFICIALS. WE ARE WELL AWARE OF THE REPUTATION REGARDING CRIME. NOW, WE HAVE REASON FOR HOPE. THESE ARRESTS SO -- SHOWED THAT WE HAVE A COMMITMENT TO PUBLIC SAFETY, AND WE APPLAUD THE STEPS WERE TAKING TO MAKE STREETS SAFER. THIS IS JUST ONE COMPONENT TO MAKING OUR CITY A SAFE PLACE TO LIVE, WORK, AND PLAY. THERES WORK TO BE DONE. WE MUST DO OUR PART. IT TAKES ALL OF US. WHETHER GETTING INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY EVENTS ARE SIMPLY KEEPING OUR NEIGHBORHOODS CLEAN. IT IS ALL HANDS ON DECK. BUT BE ON ITS. -- LETS BE HONEST. THIS WILL NOT PUT A DENT IN THE EPIDEMIC, BUT THIS INVESTIGATION WILL BE SWIFT, AND IT SHOWS PROGRESS. THAT SHOULD BE ENCOURAGING TO ALL OF US. AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT WILL TAKE ALL OF US TO CHANGE THE NARRATIVE ABOUT OUR CITY AND BUILD A BETTER BALTIMORE.

Editorial: Progress in fighting crime

Updated: 9:22 AM EDT Aug 25, 2022

On the heels of another violent weekend in Baltimore City, some good news in the fight against crime.This week, the mayor's office announced the arrest of 12 people, including two teenaged boys, linked to the so-called Princess Plaza social network in west Baltimore -- a group authorities say sold drugs and were involved in violence.The two-month-long investigation was part of the group violence reduction strategy plan introduced by city officials.We all are well aware of the city's reputation regarding crime. But now, we have reason for hope.These arrests show the commitment City Hall has to improving public safety, and we applaud city officials on the steps they are taking to make our streets safer. This is just one component to making our city a safe place to live, work and play.There is still more work to be done. And we must do our part.It takes all of us: Whether it's getting involved in community events or simply keeping your neighborhood clean. Its all hands on deck.Let's be honest, this week's arrests won't put a dent in the violent crime epidemic in Baltimore City. But the investigation into the 12 arrests was swift and shows progress. And that should be encouraging to us all.At the end of the day, it will take all of us to change the narrative about our city and building a better Baltimore.

On the heels of another violent weekend in Baltimore City, some good news in the fight against crime.

This week, the mayor's office announced the arrest of 12 people, including two teenaged boys, linked to the so-called Princess Plaza social network in west Baltimore -- a group authorities say sold drugs and were involved in violence.

The two-month-long investigation was part of the group violence reduction strategy plan introduced by city officials.

We all are well aware of the city's reputation regarding crime. But now, we have reason for hope.

These arrests show the commitment City Hall has to improving public safety, and we applaud city officials on the steps they are taking to make our streets safer. This is just one component to making our city a safe place to live, work and play.

There is still more work to be done. And we must do our part.

It takes all of us: Whether it's getting involved in community events or simply keeping your neighborhood clean. Its all hands on deck.

Let's be honest, this week's arrests won't put a dent in the violent crime epidemic in Baltimore City. But the investigation into the 12 arrests was swift and shows progress. And that should be encouraging to us all.

At the end of the day, it will take all of us to change the narrative about our city and building a better Baltimore.

Original post:

Editorial: Progress in fighting crime - WBAL TV Baltimore

Karl Dorrell is going into this season as if it could be his last as the head coach at Colorado.

Granted, thats been his mindset for over a decade now, since he was fired at UCLA and spent all but one of the next 12 years in the NFL.

When he first got started coaching, Dorrell thought it would be all smooth sailing and that hed never get fired. But now, more than 30 years after he started coaching and has been fired multiple times, he doesnt fear that pressure hewelcomes it.

I think everybody in this profession, because of the competitiveness and were in the business of winning, we always anticipate [that] you can get fired, Dorrell said at Wednesdays Front Range media huddle in Denver. I treat every coaching year since my UCLA years as going in with the mindset that I could be fired after this year. It doesnt matter if youre on a five-year contract, or four or two. They fire you regardless.

That mindset helped Dorrell immensely when he was a position coach in the NFL. Even if the team wasnt playing well and he was a part of his fair share of bad teams he knew he had to make sure at least the position he was coaching was performing well. But even now that hes a head coach again, nothings changed.

Its now been 2 years since Dorrell was hired and the outside perception of the program hasnt changed much. The Buffaloes are picked to finish last in the Pac-12 this season and CU has lost multiple young starters to the transfer portal in the past 12 months.

But Dorrell doesnt see any of that as he heads into another season that feels like his first. After the pandemic made the 2020 season feel like a wash, Dorrell treated the 2021 season like it was his first real year with the Buffs. But heading into 2022, theres almost an entirely new offensive coaching staff on board, and it feels a little bit like the third different era of Dorrells tenure.

And even if this is Dorrells last year, hes not selling himself short with what hes accomplished.

At the end of the day, if I were not here and I were not the leader of this program, this program is in such better shape than when I got here, Dorrell said. Its ready to be built on. Im hoping Im here [for] a long time. To build it right like weve done and the type of players that are in the program now that are more committed and inspired and competitive, those things were missing from the bulk of this team when I first got here.

For Dorrell, it starts with the quarterback position.

I always judge the greatness of a team by that room, he said. We finally have depth in that room and we have good prospects in that room. That helps when that room is solid. That brings other people here. Recruiting is going to continue to get better and better and eventually we'll be where I envision us will be.

The Buffs still havent announced whether returning starter Brendon Lewis or former Tennessee transfer J.T. Shrout will be the starting quarterback when TCU comes to Boulder next week. Those two have been in a battle throughout camp, and its gotten to the point where Dorrell and his staff have already had preliminary discussions about playing both of them.

The other worry for Dorrell and his staff once the decision is made is trying to keep the player happy who missed out on the starting job.

Its no secret that theres more player movement than ever right now in college football, and intense battles between quarterbacks with multiple years of eligibility almost always result in a transfer. But Dorrell is hoping that the culture shift that took place over the offseason can prevent that in his program.

If you think about it, if I had a team of players that didnt get what they want and they all wanted to leave, thats a sh---y program, Dorrell said. How do they win? When adversity strikes in the game, how do you overcome that? Our players, were trying to teach them how to deal with adversity and continue to compete. Thats life.

That message has led to a team that Dorrell feels can win some games this fall.

I think the makeup of this team is much better than last years team, Dorrell said. To be quite honest, I would be more concerned if everybody was back from last year. We wouldn't be where we are right now. A lot of things happened for the right reasons.

Watch:'Buffs ready to buck expectations in Dorrell's third year', from Denver Gazette news partner KUSA

Defensive lineman Janaz Jordan is no longer a member of the Colorado program due to a violation of team rules, a spokesperson said Wednesday.

The senior from Hampton, Virginia played in 27 games over the last three years with the Buffs after transferring in from Hinds Community College in Mississippi. He made four starts during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

He figured to be a member of the interior defensive line rotation under new defensive line coach Gerald Chatman.

Read more:

Karl Dorrell happy with progress CU Buffs have made since his arrival two years ago - The Denver Gazette

Dogs peering out from wire enclosures at a puppy mill in Kansas in 2022. The HSUS

Summer is a time of rest and relaxation for many of us, but there has been no lull in our fight to end puppy mills. We have made real progress in our campaign to stop inhumane dog breeders who mass-produce puppies for sale through third-party outlets like pet stores and online sites that allow their cruelty to remain hidden. Heres a roundup of recent wins:

Many other states and localities are considering humane pet store laws or breeder regulations, and well be working to support them in any way we can. New York is poised to become the sixth state to prohibit the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores, with legislation headed to the Governors desk. We will also continue to lobby support for the Puppy Protection Act in Congress which will help improve the quality of life for puppies living in large-scale breeding facilities. To find out more about how you can become involved, contact your state director or follow us on social media. By working together to educate the public and secure better legal protection for dogs, we can hasten the day when puppy mills are little more than a bad memory.

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All the great progress in our fight against puppy mills this summer - Humane Society

Cowboys feel real good about where Michael Gallup is in his rehab - Charean Williams, PFT

Maybe Michael Gallup will not go on the PUP list.

Cowboys receiver Michael Gallup said at the start of training camp that returning for the season opener was not a reasonable possibility. The Cowboys, though, still have him on active/physically unable to perform, leaving the question of whether he might return before the minimum four games he would miss on reserve/PUP.

You know how this fourth quarter goes in the rehab, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said, via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. All I can tell you is when we have the meeting every morning, (associate athletic trainer) Britt Brown is obviously running the rehab, and he feels real good about Michaels progress as far as his timeline and so forth. He hasnt had any setbacks, and I hope we will continue to be blessed with that process. Hes doing really well.

The Cowboys could look outside the organization to find a swing tackle.

Nate Solder. There was a time when Nate Solder was one of the hottest names in the free agency market. A second-round pick from Colorado in 2011 (the same year the Cowboys took Tyron Smith out of USC), Solder spent the first seven seasons of his career with the New England Patriots where he helped them win two Super Bowls while blocking for Tom Brady.

He then hit free agency in 2018 and signed a four-year $62 million deal with the New York Giants. Solder would start 48 games in four seasons (he sat out in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns) but was never close to the player New York expected him to be.

Solder signed a new deal with the Giants in 2021, which allowed him to become a free agent after the season. There was a time when it sounded as though he would retire, but he has not done so yet so he could be convinced to join a team for the coming season. Even with his struggles, Dallas should consider giving him a home for the year. Solder not only has experience at both left and right tackle but also did a decent job in run-blocking last season. He wouldnt be called upon to start every game but is a savvy veteran who would be an upgrade over Ball.

Cooper Rush and Will Grier are neck and neck for the backup QB spot.

In two preseason starts, Rush led the Cowboys on nine offensive possessions with one scoring drive. Grier, who missed the first preseason game at Denver with a sore groin, returned for five offensive drives against the Chargers on Saturday night leading to two scoring drives.

As the Cowboys enter the final week of the preseason, its clear the No. 2 quarterback hasnt been established. That was tough missing last week, said Grier, who completed six of 10 passes for 98 yards in the Chargers game. But been ready to go, been preparing since last year [and] just trying to get better every day. It was kinda just get out there and get the first one over with and [get] more and more comfortable in the offense.

Grier is a 2019 third-round pick by Carolina and has played in just two regular season games. The last time he saw game action was Aug. 27, 2021 for the Panthers where he completed five of seven passes for 47 yards in a 34-9 preseason victory over Pittsburgh. Grier also had a 24-yard fourth quarter touchdown run in that game. But the Panthers released him, allowing the Cowboys to snag him. He was inactive for 16 weeks of the 2021 season.

Keep these things in mind when projecting a final 53.

There will be just two. Some teams keep two quarterbacks, some keep three. The determinant is whether or not a team is keeping a developmental quarterback on the roster. When the Cowboys drafted Ben DiNucci (2020) and Mike White (2018), they stashed them as their third quarterback. The Cowboys dont have a development guy this year who warrants holding a roster spot, so they should be rolling with just two guys that will come from either Cooper Rush or Will Grier.

Running backs matter, but not to Dallas. Running back is a grueling position and many teams keep four of them on the roster to give themselves enough depth. However, the Cowboys are a little different. In three of the last four years, the Cowboys have only kept two running backs, including last season when they started the year with just Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard. They do sometimes keep a fullback if a player like Jamize Olawale or Rod Smith also brings special teams ability to the roster, but they dont currently have any fullbacks on the roster.

The UDFA has impressed so far.

Davis, an undrafted free agent signed in April, has pieced together an impressive last several weeks at camp and the attributes routinely put on display in team practices are spilling over into scrimmages and, more importantly, preseason games.

His success creates a very poignant question as the Cowboys work to reduce their roster ahead of the August 30 deadline: is Dallas open to carrying four running backs on their active roster?

Dowdle entered camp healthy and fully recovered from a hip injury that cost him the entirety of what mightve been a very promising 2021 season, and hes showed no signs of having lost a step - neither in practices, scrimmages nor games - and running backs coach Skip Peete notably cast his early vote for RB3 in early August; but also left the door open for Davis and Aaron Shampklin to find a way to enter the conversation.

What does your final 53-man roster look like?

The first pertains to the leagues waiver system: When a player with three or fewer accrued seasons is cut, he is waived; when a player with four or more accrued seasons is cut, he is released. There is a big difference between being waived and released. A released player can be cut today and re-signed tomorrow while a waived player must clear waivers before a return.

For example, quarterback Will Grier has three accrued years. If cut, he would be subject to waivers. The Cowboys could re-sign him only if all 31 other clubs declined to submit a claim within a day of his cut being processed.

The second rule adds a dimension to the first.

A player on injured reserve is eligible to return later in the season only if his IR placement occurs after next Tuesdays 3 p.m. roster cutdown deadline from 80 to 53 players. At least two Cowboys players, wide receiver James Washington (foot) and rookie tackle Matt Waletzko (shoulder), are strong candidates to go on IR with the activation option. They would need to appear on the initial 53.

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Dallas feels real good about the progress Michael Gallup is making - Blogging The Boys

The Green Bay Packers special teams unit is still having issues.

In Fridays preseason game against the New Orleans Saints, Green Bay had 12 men on the field for a punt return during the third quarter. Then, on the following punt return, only 10 men were on the field.

These kinds of mental mistakes were a common occurrence for one of the worst special teams units in history last season when the 2021 Packers finished dead last in Rich Gosselins annual special teams rankings.

A dismal year led to the firing of Maurice Drayton after just one season. Green Bay replaced him with Rich Bisaccia, who is considered one of the best coordinators in the game, however, even Bisaccia is having trouble curing the Packers special teams woes.

Not having enough guys on the field is an easy fix, but it is also easily avoidable.

It is what it is, and thats something were well aware of, and well clean up, head coach Matt LaFleur said postgame.

Its an odd oversight from someone like Bisaccia, who is one to harp on the details. Hes one of the most vocal coaches at practice, who is not afraid to correct a player if something is not done exactly the way he wants. After all, hes a football savant with nearly 40 years of experience.

Bisaccia doesnt take credit for coining the term WE-fense when referring to special teams, but that is a mantra hes adopted from his years of coaching in college and the NFL. He views special teams as a collaborative effort that is only as good as the sum of its parts.

There was a point in college where there wasnt a lot of attention paid to special teams, and I was fortunate enough to be with a college coach that thought it should be an emphasis, Bisaccia said Thursday. It just became something that we could all do together. It wasnt just guys that played on offense or just guys that played on defense. It was something that we could all do together to help our team win. And its just kind of grown from that. Coach LaFleurs done a great job of making it part of our vernacular around here.

Its a fitting term that has certainly caught on around the building, but so far, it hasnt translated onto the field. Last weeks preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers had its up and downs as Amari Rodgers returned a kickoff for 50 yards. Then, later in the game, kicker Gabe Brkic missed a chip shot from 32 yards.

The plan is to play more starters on special teams in 2022 if it means avoiding another disappointing year. However, that hasnt been the case in the preseason, as most of Green Bays starters are sitting. That includes veteran kicker Mason Crosby, who is rehabbing a knee injury.

The Packers will hope to have their veteran kicker and a healthy number of starters contributing on special teams to start the season. By then, not having the correct numbers of players on the field should be a thing of the past. Then again, more goes into fielding a successful special teams unit.

I think were a work in progress, said Bisaccia.

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Packers' special teams still a work in progress - Packers Wire

As the University of Michigan continues to work toward carbon neutrality across all campuses and units, three student-led organizations have released annual reports that collectively detail a broad effort toward a universitywide culture of sustainability.

The reports from the Sustainable Food Program, Student Sustainability Coalition and Planet Blue Student Leaders showcase initiatives from the past year that have helped the campus community engage in more sustainable behaviors and learn more about relevant efforts on and off campus.

We couldnt be more pleased with the role that U-M students have taken in advancing sustainability, carbon neutrality and social justice, said Alex Bryan, sustainability programs manager for Student Life.

As these are urgent and important issues at U-M and around the world our community has shown great interest in taking meaningful and just climate action. And in no surprise, our students are helping to lead the effort. Over the last year, these groups have facilitated programs that led to more than 3,200 peer-to-peer interactive engagements.

The U-M Sustainable Food Program is a student-led initiative that aims to build just and resilient campus food systems. This includes helping scale the Campus Farm and expanding the Maize and Blue Cupboard.

The UMSFP 2021-22 academic year report notes a number of successful programs, events, collaborations and working groups, including:

The Student Sustainability Coalition report for the 2021-22 academic year details the organizations work fostering collaborations and empowering student-led environmental work at U-M.

The SSC, which the Graham Sustainability Institute and Student Life co-facilitate, seeks to connect students and student groups to catalyze university sustainability efforts. The organization communicates with the campus community via a weekly newsletter, dedicated social media accounts, summits and informal coffee chats.

The SSC report puts forward several ideas for fostering a culture of sustainability throughout U-M. In the year ahead, SSC aims to address a knowledge gap between students and U-M administration around relevant campus efforts, expand offerings like Earthfest that are programmed towards students, and work to center diversity, equity, inclusion and justice within sustainability initiatives.

The report also highlights the Planet Blue Student Innovation Fund, which funds student-led and initiated work that both reduces the universitys carbon footprint and helps foster sustainable values on campus.

SSC funded four PBSIF projects over the last year, including an energy-efficient cold-storage system that uses winter air for cooling, a bicycle repair station, canopy covers and light switch stickers that encourage energy conservation.

The Planet Blue Student Leaders program focuses on peer-to-peer engagement and culture change, with focus on early undergraduates as well as those who are less familiar with U-M carbon neutrality work or sustainability generally.

During the 2022-2022 academic year:

During the last year, U-M student programs granted $56,000to 12 student-led projects that prioritized equity and sustainability. Also, 281 graduating seniors earnedExcellence in Sustainability Honors Cords, in recognition of their involvement in climate action and dedication to the environment. Cords were produced locally by U-M students and with sustainable wool and dye from plants from Matthaei Botanical Gardens.

U-M continues to make strides toward net-zero emissions. Recent actions include joining the U.S. Department of Energy Better Climate Challenge, planning geothermal exchange heating and cooling systems, announcing $300 million in green bonds for capital projects aligned with U-M sustainability goals, launching a public dashboard tracking U-M emissions reduction efforts, and financing LED and energy conservation projects.

More here:

Student groups spur progress toward UM sustainability | The University Record - The University Record

Firefighters have made significant progress battling the ferocious Oak fire burning in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Yosemite national park, achieving 45% containment by Friday morning. The blazehas consumed more than 19,200 acres, fueled through the dry, overgrown vegetation coating the hillsides and favorable fire conditions that spurred erratic and extreme behavior.

Many have still been kept from their homes as the fire continues to spread since igniting last week, as residents await word on whether theirs was one of the 162 structures reported destroyed. That number could go up as damage assessment crews work to investigate the destruction, and hundreds of houses still lie in the fires path.

If the fire intensifies it could reach those areas, said a Cal Fire public information officer, Hector Vasquez, noting that warmer and drier conditions are expected in the coming days and that the steep, rocky terrain where the fire is burning has hindered efforts to corral it. Homes will remain at risk until the blaze has been completely extinguished. But the number [of homes at risk] has gone down significantly in the last few days, he added.

The Oak fire is one of many disasters raging across the US, as scorching temperatures baked the Pacific north-west, the west remained parched in record drought, and severe storms sent flash floods surging across several states. At least four people have died due to the extreme heat in Oregon, according to the state medical examiner, while the death toll mounts in Kentucky, where 16 people have been reported killed in historic flooding.

We may have even lost entire families, said Kentuckys governor, Andy Beshear, speaking in an update posted on YouTube.

The climate crisis has turned up the dial on disasters and, as temperatures continue to climb, extreme events are expected to increase and overlap, testing resilience and hampering recovery. Although the ways that individual events are linked to climate change must be studied to be confirmed, the trends tell a troubling story of whats to come.

Instead of random extreme weather events, were seeing these large-scale anomalies, said climate scientist Karen McKinnon, who studies climate variability at the University of California, Los Angeles. She also noted the scale of the continent-wide heatwave.

Most evidence pointed to the extreme 120F temperatures in the Pacific north-west last year as being largely a freak event, she said. But if we see it again, thats a huge signal that something about the underlying physics of the system is changing. If you see two freak events in a row, then you know you need to re-examine your conceptual system.

As for fires, California which experienced record-breaking blazes in recent years has had a milder start to its high-risk season, even with the destructive Oak fire.

This time last year we had multiple fires burning throughout the state, Vasquez said, adding that the lack of competition for resources played a big part in enabling crews to attack the fire quickly. We had so many personnel and they got here quickly because we had a wide range of personnel not assigned to other incidents.

Still, with months left before the state sees wetting rains that reduce the risks, this could just be the beginning of another fire-filled season. Fires are important to maintaining the health of Californias landscapes, and can improve resilience and ecosystem recovery, especially in forests that are adapted to flames. But high-intensity conditions and an over-abundance of dried fuel have changed fire behavior, resulting in more destructive blazes.

Overgrown parched vegetation across the state is baking in summer heat. Many regions are primed to burn.

There have been several fires started since the Oak incident started, Vasquez said, and that could be a strong indicator of what lies ahead of us.

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Firefighters make further progress to contain raging Oak fire near Yosemite - The Guardian US

What if, in people with blinding retinal disorders, one could simply introduce into the retina healthy photoreceptor cells derived in a dish from stem cells, and restore sight?

Its a tantalizingly straightforward strategy to curing blindness, yet the approach has been met with a number of scientific roadblocks, including introduced cells dying rapidly or failing to integrate with the retina.

A new study, published in Stem Cell Reports, overcomes these challenges and marks significant progress toward a cell-based therapy. The work, led by a team at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, and the National Institutes of Healths National Eye Institute (NEI), introduced precursors of human photoreceptor cells into the retinas of dogs. A cocktail of immunosuppressive drugs enabled the cells to survive in the recipients retinas for months, where they began forming connections with existing retinal cells.

In this study, we wanted to know if we could, one, improve the surgical delivery of these cells to the subretinal space; two, image the cells in vivo; three, improve their survival; and four, see them migrate to the layer of the retina where they should be and start integrating, says William Beltran, a professor of ophthalmology at Penn Vet and senior author on the study. The answer to all those questions was yes.

Beltran and Gustavo Aguirre at Penn Vet have long been interested in addressing retinal blinding disorders and they have had great successes to date at producing corrective gene therapies for conditions with known causative genes. But for many cases of inherited retinal degeneration, a gene has not been identified. In other patients, the disease has progressed so far that no photoreceptor cells remain intact enough for gene therapy. In either scenario, a regenerative medicine approach, in which photoreceptors could be regrown outright, would be extremely valuable.

To develop a cell therapy, Beltrans team joined with groups led by John Wolfe of CHOP and Penn Vet; David Gamm at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Kapil Bharti at the NEI, in a consortium supported by the NEIs Audacious Goals Initiative for Regenerative Medicine. The partnership combined Beltrans teams expertise in canine models of retinal degeneration and vast experience in cell-based therapy approaches from the Wolfe, Gamm, and Bharti labs.

Photoreceptor cells, which are made up of rods and cones, constitute a layer of the outer retina critical to initiating the process of vision, whereby the energy of light transforms into an electrical signal. To function properly, they must form a connection, or synapse, with cells of the inner retina to pass along the visual information. Thus, the goal of this cell therapy is to recreate this layer and enable it to integrate with the retinas other cell types in order to relay signals from one layer to the next.

In the current work, the team used stem cellderived precursors of human photoreceptor cells developed in the Gamm lab to serve as the basis of the cell therapy. In collaboration with the Bharti lab, they developed a new surgical approach to inject the cells, which were labeled with fluorescent markers, into the retinas of seven dogs with normal vision and three with a form of inherited retinal degeneration, then used a variety of non-invasive imaging techniques to track the cells over time.

The use of a large animal model that undergoes a naturally occurring form of retinal degeneration and has a human-size eye was instrumental to optimize a safe and efficient surgical procedure to deliver doses of cells that could be used in patients, says Gamm.

The researchers observed that cell uptake was significantly better in the animals with retinal degeneration compared to those with normal retinas.

What we showed was that, if you inject the cells into a normal retina that has its own photoreceptor cells, the retina is pretty much intact and serves as a physical barrier, so the introduced cells dont connect with the second-order neurons in the retina, the bipolar cells, Beltran says. But in three dogs that were at an advanced stage of retinal degeneration, the retinal barrier was more permeable. In that environment, cells had a better ability to start moving into the correct layer of the retina.

Because the transplanted human cells could be interpreted by the dogs immune system as foreign entities, the researchers did what would be done in other tissue transplant procedures: They gave the dogs immunosuppressive drugs. The trio of medications had been tested previously by Oliver Garden, a veterinary immunologist with Penn Vet at the time of the study, who is now dean of Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine.

Indeed, while the injected cell populations declined substantially in dogs that did not receive the immune-suppressing drugs, the cell numbers dipped but then sustained in the dogs that received the cocktail.

Further characterization of the introduced cells revealed evidence of potential synapses. We saw that yes, some are appearing to shake hands with those second-order neurons, Beltran says. There appeared to be contact.

The next stage for this project will be to continue optimizing the therapy, and then test whether there is a functional responsein other words, improved visionin its recipients.

William Beltran is a professor of ophthalmology and director of the Division of Experimental Retinal Therapies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Beltrans coauthors on the work were Penn Vets Ana Ripolles-Garcia, Natalia Dolgova, Svetlana Savina, John H. Wolfe, Oliver A. Garden, and Gustavo D. Aguirre; the University of Wisconsin-Madison's M. Joseph Phillips, Allison L. Ludwig, Sara A. Stuedemann, Uchenna Nlebedum, and David M. Gamm; and the National Eye Institutes Arvydas Maminishkis, Juan Amaral, and Kapil Bharti.

This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants EY029890, EY06855, and EY031230), Fighting Blindness Canada, Foundation Fighting Blindness, Research to Prevent Blindness, the Van Sloun Fund for Canine Genetic Research, Retina Research Foundation, Emmett A. Humble Distinguished Directorship of the McPherson Eye Research Institute, the Sanford and Susan Greenberg End Blindness Outstanding Achievement Prize, and the Sandra Lemke Trout Chair in Eye Research.

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Progress toward a stem cellbased therapy for blindness | Penn Today - Penn Today