Environment

PEEC Monthly Wildflower Walk Sept. 14

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Local wildflowers. Courtesy/PEEC

PEEC News:

Since the Los Alamos area received an abundance of rain this summer, beautiful wildflowers abound even as the end of the summer draws near.

Join PEEC’s Jemez Mountain Herbarium Curator Chick Keller for a Wildflower Walk at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14 to discover what some of them are and where they can be found.

This will be an easy walk to identify some of the wildflowers that can be found in and around Los Alamos. The group will meet at the Nature Center at 2600 Canyon Road, and the group will carpool to the trail that Keller will select based on what Read More

Award-Winning Author Sharman Russell Speaks At PEEC Tuesday

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Sharman Apt Russell

PEEC News:

Revolution. renaissance. transformation: these are the words of Sharman Apt Russell, an award-winning New Mexican author, as she describes the exploding world of citizen science.

Russell will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15. She will share her stories, knowledge and passion for being a part of the world where thousands of volunteers contribute to cutting edge science: monitoring climate change, tracking bird migration, watching clouds for NASA, or excavating mastodons.

Her most recent book, Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other Read More

PEEC Day Trip To Explore Copper Mine Sept. 12

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PEEC News:
 
The Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) is offering a rare chance to visit the abandoned Nacimiento Copper Mine 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sept. 12, near Cuba, N.M.
 
The trip, led by local geology expert Patrick Rowe, will be fun and hands-on for both adults and children. Participants will start at the nature center, carpool to the side, and explore the area, with ample chances to find beautiful specimens such as petrified wood.
 
This popular tour will fill up fast, so it is recommended to register in advance at www.peecnature.org
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Bear Sought In Attack On Los Alamos Man

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The entrance to the area where a bear attacked a Los Alamos man Wednesday on the Canon de Valle Trail is closed today while officers from New Mexico Game & Fish sassisted by Los Alamos police and LANL earch for the bear. The public is asked to stay away from the area. Photo by Chris Clark/ladailypost.com
 
NMG&F vehicles are at the scene of Wednesday night’s bear attack on a 56-year-old Los Alamos man on the Canon de Valle Trail. The man arrived at the Los Alamos Medical Center Emergency Department where he was treated, stabilized and transferred by Classic Air Medical to Christus
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Ceres’ Bright Spots Seen In Striking New Detail

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This image, made using images taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, shows Occator crater on Ceres, home to a collection of intriguing bright spots. Courtesy/NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

NASA/JPL News:

The brightest spots on the dwarf planet Ceres gleam with mystery in new views delivered by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. These closest-yet views of Occator crater, with a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel, give scientists a deeper perspective on these very unusual features.

The new up-close view of Occator crater from Dawn’s current vantage point reveals better-defined Read More

Alert: Bear Attacks Man On Canon de Valle Trail

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Staff Report

A man was attacked by a bear Wednesday night while on the Canon de Valle Trail in Los Alamos County.

In a statement released by Los Alamos Medical Center, Marketing Director Mary Beth Maassen said, “Last night at approximately 8:30 p.m., a 56-year-old man arrived at the Los Alamos Medical Center Emergency Department following a bear attack on the Canon de Valle Trail. The patient was treated, stabilized and transferred by Classic Air Medical to Christus St. Vincent in Santa Fe.”

Chief of Information and Education Ofc. Lance Cherry from New Mexico Game & Fish said this morning Read More

Dartmouth Study Finds Arctic Mosquitoes Thriving Under Climate Change

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Courtesy/timrettig.com
 
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE News:
 
HANOVER, N.H. ― Warming temperatures are causing Arctic mosquitoes to grow faster and emerge earlier, significantly boosting their population and threatening the caribou they feast on, a Dartmouth College study finds.
 
The study predicts the mosquitoes’ probability of surviving and emerging as adults will increase by more than 50 percent if Arctic temperatures rise 2 °C.
 
The findings are important because changes in the timing and intensity of their emergence affect their role as swarming pests of people
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National Public Lands Day Volunteers Needed

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SFNF News:

SANTA FE – Celebrate National Public Lands Day (NPLD) Sept. 26 by helping the Santa Fe National Forest reroute a section of the popular Winsor Trail. 

The nation’s largest, single-day volunteer effort for public lands, NPLD is a great opportunity to educate the public about the environment and natural resources, and the need for shared stewardship of public lands. 

Organizers of the NPLD Winsor Trail project are looking for volunteers 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26. Each volunteer who participates will receive a free t-shirt, compliments of REI, and Read More

Environmental Research Reflected In Obama’s Trip To The Arctic

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Cathy Wilson says, ‘I am collecting shallow cores to quantify the depth of the peat layer in the soil. The peat thickness strongly controls the transfer of heat from the atmosphere into the deeper soil, which impacts how deep the soil thaws each year. We then use the hole in the ground to perform hydrologic measurements. Peat depth and hydraulic conductivity are two important parameters that go into our models that predict the rates of permafrost thaw.’ Courtesy photo
 
Frozen Methane Bubbles in Alaska: When ice-rich permafrost thaws, former tundra and forest turns into a
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Udall On Need To Extend LWCF At Valles Caldera

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 Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce Manager Nancy Partridge, left, is among a group that gathered Friday with U.S. Sen. Tom Udall at the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Courtesy/Sen. Udall’s Office

Sen. Tom Udall, second from right, and the group participate in a cookout. Courtesy/Sen. Udall’s Office

U.S. SENATE News:

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall hosted a roundtable discussion Friday at the Valles Caldera National Preserve on the urgent need to extend the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at the Valles Caldera.

He participated in a group discussion about the need to reauthorize Read More