News
Geography News Releases
Western U.S. Will Face Farming Challenges as Snow Falls as Rain
Posted Thu, 21 May 2020 14:45:00 -0700
In some regions, warming from climate change is causing precipitation to fall as rain instead of snow. It is also altering the timing of snowmelt to shift and become out of synch with irrigation demands for agriculture. John Abatzoglou — from the Department of Geography — and his colleagues looked at how snowmelt affects food production and how changes in snowmelt may threaten food production in irrigated regions globally. Snowmelt currently provides a dominant source of irrigation water for nearly a third of staple crops such as wheat. The researchers found that the farming regions most at risk from changing snowmelt patterns were in Central Asia, western Russia, the southern Andes and in the western U.S. Read more
Drought in Southwestern North America is Second Worst in Last 1,200 Years
Posted Wed, 22 Apr 2020 16:00:00 -0700
John Abatzoglou — from the Department of Geography — and his colleagues used modeling and tree ring data to analyze the drought in southwestern North America that has lasted through the 21st century. They found that the 2000-18 drought was the second driest 19-year period in the region in the last 1,200 years. Human-driven climate change explained almost 50% of the severity of the current drought, pushing an otherwise moderate drought toward being nearly the worst megadrought in the region since 800 CE. Read more
Tree Ring Grant Will Allow Look at Past Temperatures in Eastern U.S.
Posted Mon, 09 Mar 2020 16:05:00 -0700
U of I geographer Grant Harley and colleagues will be using tree rings to reconstruct summer air temperature in the Eastern United States, from North Carolina to maritime Eastern Canada. Past research has documented temperatures over the last roughly 120 years, and with the help of a $360,000 National Science Foundation grant, this new work will look back over the past 300-500 years of temperatures. This new study will help scientists understand temperature trends across the Northern Hemisphere and predict future climates. Read more
U of I Researchers Named as Some of the Most Influential of the Past Decade
Posted Thu, 05 Dec 2019 16:00:00 -0800
Four researchers from the University of Idaho, Jeffrey Hicke, John Abatzoglou, Luke Harmon and Paul Hohenlohe, have been recognized as being among the world’s most influential researchers of the past decade. The list, compiled by Web of Science Group, recognizes the work of influential researchers around the globe who have produced multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year. Read more
Geography Speaker Series Focuses on Mapping West African Trade Networks
Posted Mon, 17 Sep 2018 00:00:00 -0700
The Geography Department's Speaker Series resumes from 3:30-4:40 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, at McClure 209 with a presentation by Olivier Walther. Read more
U of I Faculty Awarded Seed Grant Funding for 19 Projects
Posted Tue, 15 May 2018 11:00:00 -0700
Nineteen faculty members at the University of Idaho were awarded funding for FY2019 through the university’s Seed Grant program. Sponsored by the Office of Research and Economic Development, the Seed Grant program helps early career faculty establish a scholarly program. The program aims to promote research, outreach and creative activities that will improve individual faculty competitiveness for external funding and/or will result in publications, patents, recognition, awards or exhibitions/performances. Seed Grant awards ranged from $8,200 to $12,000. Read more
Geography Department Seminar on Nationalism and Gender in Kurdistan April 19
Posted Thu, 12 Apr 2018 14:03:00 -0700
Join the Department of Geography seminar series featuring Jessie Clark at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19, in the Teaching and Learning Center Room 022. Clark's presentation is titled "'The State Kills, We Kill, Everyone Kills': Finding and Framing Humor in the Field," and will present her experiences researching the politics of nationalism among Kurdish women in Southeast Turkey (Northern Kurdistan) with a special emphasis on the role of humor in making sense of geopolitical issues. Read more
U of I Hosts First IWRRI Water Research Symposium March 7
Posted Thu, 01 Mar 2018 13:53:00 -0800
The University of Idaho Moscow will feature the work of seven research teams involved in grant-funded work through the Idaho Water Resources Research Institute (IWRRI) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 104b program on Wednesday, March 7, at the first ever Water Research Symposium. Read more
U of I Study: Climate Models Predict Almond Harvest Expansion to Oregon
Posted Fri, 05 Jan 2018 12:17:00 -0800
Oregon almonds may replace their counterparts from California on grocery store shelves by the 2050s, according to a study of climate models published by University of Idaho researchers in the journal Climatic Change. Read more