Climate Science Center Presentations

Jennifer Smith is the Green House Manager in the Department of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech University. Jennifer discusses the research she is working on in seeking adaptation strategies for plants during drought, high heat, and high salinity. She states that drought is the major cause of crop loss throughout the world. She explains the research she is working on to help the plants adapt to these conditions and what they are testing. This seminar was sponsored by TTU Department of Biological Sciences.

Debbie Zak is the Director of Northridge Zoocrew which is a nonprofit established to provide hands on science lessons at Northridge Elementary. Debbie provided three useful tips to planting a garden in Lubbock. First, use leaves that have fallen to create a mulch by going over with lawnmower and placing the mulch in garden. Second, put plants in sun shade area when plant says needs full sun. In Lubbock's climate it is not good to put a plant directly in the sun. Third, have to find a place to put the plants where they will be protected. Debbie mentioned that Lubbock was named most variable climate. It is important to pay attention to these three tips in Lubbock's climate. This seminar was sponsored by TTU Department of Biological Sciences.

Dr. John Zak is the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Arts and Sciences, co-director of the Climate Science Center, and a Professor of Biology. Dr. Zak opens up discussing the importance of understanding the landscape of where a person will be gardening and where it fits into the climate. Dr. Zak reads his garden journal entries from February of 1996, May of 2011, August of 2011, and May of 2013 to show the extreme weather Lubbock can experience. From those data entries Zak concludes that winters are getting warmer, initiation of spring is earlier, and the variability of the last freeze is changing. This seminar was sponsored by TTU Department of Biological Sciences.

Kevin Young is the Senior Pastor at St. Johns United Methodist Church in Lubbock, Texas. Kevin talked about the relationship between religious faith and science. He discussed that christian faith sees science as a threat and people of faith usually negate or are in denial about climate science. He believes that it is important for christian leaders to speak about climate to people. Kevin concludes with a quote from Larry Rasmussen who was a former Professor at Reinhold Niebuhr teaching social ethics and founder of eco theology. He talks about what climate is doing to the earth.

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and is the co-director of the Climate Science Center. Dr. Hayhoe discusses the intersection of climate and faith. Dr. Hayhoe discusses that if we continue on this path of burning oil everyone will be affected but the poor and underdeveloped countries will experience the worst impacts. Dr. Hayhoe believes her duty as a christian is to take responsibility for this planet and care for those who are less fortunate. She discusses that science tells us that climate change is real, it is us, the impacts are serious, and there are solutions. She believes that everyone has the values to care about climate change.

Dr. Ken Baake is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Texas Tech University. Dr. Baake discusses that when people discovered oil in 1860 they viewed it as a gift from God. They discovered oil after the Civil War and believed God gave them this gift to rebuild America. People believed that God kept this resource from them until they absolutely needed it. Dr. Baake concluded by singing a song titled "American Blood." The song talked about people in the oil field and they are invested. Dr. Baake believes it is hard for people to let it go because they view it as a gift and it is part of their identity.

Jason Hodges is the Professional Landscape Architect at Prairie Workshops in Lubbock, TX. Jason focuses on implementing resilient landscapes by using native plants that hold and use less water and also make a beautiful landscape design. Jason explains that two characteristics of resilient landscapes are complexity and permeability. Jason displayed graphs of rainfall per year and how someone can harvest the rainwater. Jason encourages rainwater harvesting in saving it to water your lawn or plants. It is important to select native grasses and plants because they use less water and create a beautiful landscape. This seminar was sponsored by Urban Tech and the Mark E. Humphreys Chair. We apologize for the sound quality we are still working on improving it.

Dr. Ken Baake is an Associate Professor in the Department of English. Ken explains that when oil was discovered people viewed this resource as a gift from God. Oil was viewed as a religious belief system like a church. Now, with climate change people are hesitant to get rid of oil because they hold on to it as a religious gift and won’t give it up easily. Oil was a part of art, poems, technology, and songs because it was people’s lifestyles. Dr. Baake performed a couple of the oil songs to show the audience how people viewed oil industry in the 19th century.

Dr. Jennifer Vanos is an Assistant Professor in the Atmospheric Sciences Group in the Department of Geosciences. Dr. Vanos' research looks at extreme heat and temperature variations within urban areas and how we can help mitigate this by using bioclimatic design. Dr. Vanos stated that extreme heat is the number one killer due to weather. As temperatures rise extreme heat areas become more vulnerable. Dr. Vanos explains in order to help mitigate this you have to look at two questions 1) how can we improve measurements to create targeted solutions? 2) What role does urban design have in mitigation & adaptation? In conclusion, Dr. Vanos explains that just implementing a bioclimatic park design helps cool down surface temperatures tremendously. This seminar was sponsored by Urban Tech and the Mark E. Humphreys Chair. We apologize for the sound quality we are still working on improving it.

David Driskill is an Associate Professor for the College of Architecture and is the Director of the Urban Tech Design Center. David discusses how we should look to Spanish architecture for design as Lubbock has a similar climate to Spain. Many buildings in Lubbock, such as Buddy Holly Center, Texas Tech University Buildings , and a few Lubbock churches were Spanish inspired designed. In Spain, there are many green courtyards and David believes that Lubbock can transform alleys into interconnected courtyards downtown that offer more green space. David concludes that courtyards should be developer friendly, dense, and sustainable. This seminar was sponsored by Urban Tech and the Mark E. Humphreys Chair. We apologize for the sound quality we are still working on improving it.

On October 11th, 2016 the CSC presented a political science and energy policy panel speaking on climate change and the 2016 election. The panelists featured were Dr. Brian Shreck, Dr. Daniel Epstein, Dr. Nathaniel Wright, and Dr. Robert Forbis. This panel was moderated by Dr. Katharine Hayhoe.

Dr. Steve Presley is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Toxicology and is the Director of the Biological Threat Research Laboratory. Dr. Presley’s presentation focuses on arthropod-transmitted diseases and the outbreaks that are occurring and have occurred in the past. Presley also focuses on the emerging and resurging threats to public health. In Texas, cases of malaria and dengue fever have been reported since the 1920’s. Dr. Presley explains that a changing climate can cause change vector distribution and range due to habitat alterations. His team is conducting surveillance in 32 counties to determine the distribution of the two common mosquitoes that spread vector borne diseases. Presley states that the bottom line is that there are always threatening epidemics that why it is important to stay aware and vigilant.

Ron Roberts is the Chief Meteorologist for KAMC Lubbock. Ron explains the freeze contest and that Halloween is usually the first freeze but not this year. In fact, October 2016 was the warmest October on record in Lubbock, TX. Ron explains that communicating climate change is sometimes difficult but more people in West Texas are listening.

Dr. Melanie Sarge is an Assistant Professor in the College of Media and Communications. Dr. Sarge explains important communication strategies and tips to frame your message to your audience. Dr. Sarge explains it is important to know your audience and develop a specific communication strategy. While communication climate science it is important for the message to be clear and not get lost in translation.

Chris Cook is the Managing Director for the Office of Communications and Marketing. His presentation focuses on how the media covers climate science and how much time they dedicate to speak on the topic. In 2008, 2010, and 2016 climate news increased due to the election years and the climate conference. Chris also explains that people have a bias in reporting because people already have values that they believe in which makes it difficult to affect or change peoples views or opinions.

Jennifer Vanos discussion focused on heat health, who’s the most vulnerable, heat health on children, and ways to change outdoor landscapes so they will no longer be dangerous to children’s health. Dr. Vanos dived into the discussion with a statistic that 3200 people our killed per year due to heat and the most vulnerable are the elderly and children. Vanos stresses that children our not little adults in fact children’s body temperatures heat up 3 to 5 times faster than adults. Jenni showed the audience how hot playgrounds and turf surfaces, hot playgrounds reaching to 159° F and turf surfaces to 175° F. Jenni’s research focuses on a bioclimatic design that will make surfaces such as a playground, sports turf, and tracks cooler.

Alexander Pearl is an Assistant Professor of Law at Texas Tech University and is the Director for Center Law and Policy. Professor Pearl dived into his lecture discussing The Big Short, a film about the housing crisis in 2007-2008. Professor Pearl fears that the next big short could be our water crisis. With the population increasing the need for more water also increases. Pearl discussed that the proposed solutions for our water scarcity issue is to make more water. He explains that this is problematic because of the changing climate and it is not a sustainable solution because we cannot keep depleting from the aquifer, we need to conserve. Pearl also discussed problems with property law with water in Texas and the jurisdictional challenges to the water problem. In conclusion, Alex explains that we need to learn how to conserve our water and use it more efficiently or we could have a water crisis.

Three expert panelists, Matthew Barnes, Samantha Kahl, and Steve Presley, all discuss their research on invasive species and its relevance to climate science. Watch as they answer questions from the audience about invasive species and climate. This seminar was sponsored by the TTU Department of Environmental Toxicology.

Matthew Barnes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Natural Resources Management. Dr. Barnes dives into a demonstration of how much air traffic there is around the world and that we need to be aware that it allows plants, animals, and disease vectors to move around the globe to become invasive. Invasive species have important environmental and economic impact. His research focuses on predicting biological invasions by using genetic tools and environmental DNA. Organisms shed genetic material and his team collects environmental DNA by taking soil, water, and air samples. Dr. Barnes concludes by going through the framework of the ecology of eDNA which is: origin, state, transport, and fate.

Steve Presley is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Toxicology. Dr.Presley discussed how public health has to do with invasive species. Today with vector diseases being spread such as Zika virus public health is very important. Dr. Presley's team looks at the transmission dynamics in the environment, how things may be exposed, how they get it, and how they transport it. Aegypti and albopictus mosquito transmits Zika virus and this invasive species has grown rapidly. Dr. Presley also discussed feral swine – his team found out of the 40 pigs tested 50 percent tested positive for it. Dr. Presley concluded that we need to be aware of these species for our health and because we may not be able to control invasive species.

Samantha Kahl is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Natural Resources Management. Dr. Kahl’s introduction focused on the brown tree snake that she studied in Guam. The brown tree snakes are secret species and they can easily get on the shipment plane and have been found in the wheels and luggage. The number of shipments gives potential for invasive species to be successful. Dr. Kahl’s second project focused on climate and habitat suitability for species. Her team is looking at routes and assessing them to tell which one would be best for that ecosystem and where along the roadway different types of planning are in order to accommodate species. Dr. Kahl stressed the importance of using science to inform planning.

Dr. Grisham dives into talking about the lesser-prairie chicken. He explains which regions prairie chickens are located, process of how females pick their lek, and how chickens have different lifetime expectancies in different regions. Grisham’s concern is the way they are surveying for the endangered species list because they survey for population. Prairie- chickens respond very uniquely to seasonal conditions which can lead to their population increasing then decreasing. Grisham explains that due to temperatures rising nesting hens are most affected because they are susceptible to heat and humidity and they can lose their eggs. The bottom line that Dr. Grisham makes is that it is difficult to measure population response for prairie chickens.

Three expert panelists, Robert Forbis, Anne Epstein, and Steve Moon, all discuss their research on energy and its relevance to climate science. Watch as they answer questions from the audience about energy. This seminar was sponsored by the TTU Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work.

Steve Moon is an electric promotion coordinator for Lubbock Power and Light. He discusses his role with LP&L and focuses on energy efficiency realm. Working in this realm he has helped many people save money and improve their carbon footprint. Steve presents three ways/areas that someone from the utility standpoint can do to help with mitigate climate change. The first point he presents is to increase awareness, letting people know that they can still get the same thing but for less money. The second point is to strive for unity, to have the community come together and help each other out. The final point he presents is to help Lubbock reduce their carbon footprint by helping people become more energy efficient.

Anne Epstein is an Internal Medicine Specialist and is in private solo in Lubbock Texas. Anne focused on health risks due to oil and gas wells proximity. She focuses on the volatile organic material named Benzene, which is a highly toxic carcinogen that is created naturally in oil and gas. Anne presented a number of recent studies that looked health affects from gas and oil wells with people who lived near and far from them. In summary, the studies saw significant health risks in children and adults for people who live close to oil and gas wells and we need to remember that wherever there is a gas well there are toxins in the air.

Robert Forbis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science. Robert explains that the fossil fuel industry is fading while the solar industry is rising. Robert discusses the strengths of solar energy being, low cost, predictable, and that solar has an expanded market. Texas has so much capacity for renewable energy and by 2030 investment in clean energy will be 630 billion dollars. In order to help mitigate climate change we need to shift from oil and gas to solar and renewable energy.

Katharine Hayhoe and Cristina Bradatan discuss how climate change is playing a role with the Syrian refugee crisis. They both stress that climate change is not the only factor causing migration with Syrian refugees, but climate change is exacerbating the stressors that Syria is already experiencing. The stressors are drought (water stress), economy (lack of crop insurance), growing population (limited resources), and ethnic tensions (social turmoil). Due to all of these factors plus climate change this leads to conflict and migration. The proposed solution is to make better choices as a society to invest in a cleaner future so that people who are being affected by climate the worst can stay in their homes.

Clay and Sarah Pope added an interactive component to their presentation where they had the audience participate in a Mardi Gras Mock-Us to demonstrate how a caucus takes place. Sarah then dives into why we shouldn't be thinking us. vs. them but we should be preparing for the predicted outcomes. She points out that to prepare for climate change you just have to believe that droughts and floods are real. Clay Pope discusses what practices farmers can take to improve soil health that will also mitigate climate change.

Dr. Robert Forbis dives into 5 political fairy tales regarding energy policy, climate change, and Lubbock’s capacity for renewable energy. The fairy tales are: hydraulic fracking is safe, the Keystone pipeline will create multiple benefits, Arctic energy development can help with global energy needs, climate change is a hoax, and Lubbock has reached their capacity for renewable energy. Dr. Forbis clarifies that using renewable energy will save money, reduce emissions, and create sustainability. In conclusion, Dr. Forbis explains that Lubbock has much more potential with renewable energy and lists a number of things Lubbock can implement to create a cleaner environment.

Dr. Jeff Lee is a professor in the Geosciences Department at Texas Tech University. Jeff believes what caused the dust bowl in the 1930's was the “Perfect Storm” of wind erosion, which were farming practices that enhanced erosion combined with a major drought. He explores what the future of farming techniques will look like with no irrigation systems. Overall, the question still stands because it depends on what will happen with climate, land use, and the economy.

Watch our first Science By The Glass series with Katharine Hayhoe presenting, "I Don't Believe in Global Warming." Dr. Hayhoe explains that climate change is not a religion but often times it gets categorized that way. Dr. Hayhoe makes the point that you can't believe in climate change because its a fact. Dr. Hayhoe explains through the data and graphs that every single season has been getting warmer each year. Dr. Hayhoe addressed that the U.S. has an economic opportunity with renewable energy.

These four panelists, Chuck West, Alex Pearl, Kerry Griffis-Kyle, and Ken Rainwater, all discuss their research on water and its relevance to climate science. Watch as they answer questions that people ask on learning more on water resources. This seminar was sponsored by Texas Tech University's School of Law.

Ken Rainwater is a Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering. Rainwater discussed water issues from the environmental engineering perspective. He stresses supply and demand with water and that consumers need to reconsider how much water they need on a daily basis. He concludes that we need to stop thinking of climate change like it was in the past but need to be thinking about the future and solutions in order to conserve our water.

Kerry Griffis-Kyle is an Associate Professor in wetland ecology in the Department of Natural Resources Management. Kerry discuses the importance of wetlands and how climate can influence these waters such as when temperatures rise evaporation increases which leads to a decrease in water. Kerry looks at how climate change influences desert water quantity and quality for wildlife. Her goal is to provide information and tools to land mangers so they can better manager their wetlands for wildlife.

Alex Pearl is an Assistant Professor in the Texas Tech School of Law. He discuses water from a policy aspect and how lawmakers deal with this issue. Alex explains private property laws in regards to ownership and rights on utilizing surface and groundwater. Climate change affects are predicted to decrease soil moisture and increase the chance of longer droughts. Alex advocates that these private property laws with water will need to be changed in order to implement water conservation plans and to mitigate climate change.

Chuck West is a Professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Science. Chuck explains different farming techniques that focus on sustainability. He mentions the climate affects that will have direct impacts on agriculture and advocates that farmers will need to change and transition from irrigation to dry farming techniques. These techniques include irrigating onto smaller areas, monitoring crop water needs, more efficient irrigation equipment, etc. Chuck concludes by looking at a graduate students research, Tosha Opheim in the Department of Animal and Food Science, that looks at crop response to yield and water, yield response to water, and water use efficiency of beef production.

Clay and Sarah Pope discuss their efforts with the USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub. They discuss that the USDA's strategy for addressing climate change is to provide technical and financial incentives to farmers to help them adapt to climate change. The USDA focuses on advocating to producers that they need to harden their farm and use alternative practices. The Pope's explain by changing to these alternative practices the farmer will save money and will improve the health of their soil all while mitigating climate change.

These four panelists, Shaowen Wang, Alan Sill, Patricia Solis, and Guofeng Cao, all discuss their research on Big Data and its relevance to climate science. Watch as they answer questions that people are asking about learning more on Big Data.

Patricia Solis is a Senior Research Associate for the Research Development Team, a Research Associate Professor of Geography, and she is an Adjunct Associate Professor for the Climate Science Center. Patricia concluded the seminar by discussing the responsibilities and the difference that one can make with using big data. She explained one of the projects she co-created called Youth Mappers that engage young people to create spatial data through an open street map for places of the world in need.

Guofeng Cao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Texas Tech University. Guofeng Cao explained how someone can use social media with big data. Dr. Cao showed how locations from Twitter added a huge component in analyzing the spreading of the flu using travel flow from Los Angeles across the continent.

Alan Sill is Interim Senior Director and Senior Scientist at the High Performance Computing Center and he is an Adjunct Professor of Physics at Texas Tech University. He discusses high performance computing systems and gave valuable resources such as Open Science Grid and XSEDE that can assist with creating climate models.

Shaowen Wang is a Professor of Geography and Geographic Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. He explains the immense opportunities for climate scientists using big data. That there are large amounts of geospatial data that people can collect with newer technology (i.e. mobile devices, sensors, and drones) and use to help them understand complex climate systems.

Robert Forbis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of political science. Robert explains the four primary conditions that shape energy policy, which are energy markets, energy technology, energy law and regulation, and political willpower. Robert discusses how we need to shift are thinking from fossil fuels to renewable energy. He explains a number of things Lubbock can begin doing to create a cleaner and sustainable environment.

John Zak is the Associate Dean for research in the College of Arts & Sciences. He presented on the understanding of soil microbial responses to climate variability. From a microbial perspective he explains that most of the carbon we produce turns into grass and that fungi and bacteria play a very important role. He dives into how soil temperatures are changing because of climate change. In conclusion, he determines that soil moisture and precipitation patterns regulate microbial and changes in DTR soil represents an indirect impact of climate variability that will have direct consequences on ecosystem services.

David Driskell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture at TTU. He discusses Texas Tech's urban stage project that was on block Avenue J between Broadway and Main Street. He summarizes the history of the Llano Estacado Prairie and the city of Lubbock. Overall, David finds that prairie and canyons will support human life for another 12,000 years, Lubbock is a community of citizens, it is important to embrace nature and diverse cultures, and we need to focus on an autochthonous design.

Jonathan Maul is an Associate Professor in the department of environmental toxicology. His team studies contaminants/pesticides and how they affect an aquatic ecosystem. They look at how temperature and containments can affect biotic resources and how contaminants that are being affected could be influenced by temperature rise. Jonathan’s team found that at higher temperatures the chemicals and contaminants are much more toxic. In conclusion, their team found that change of variable temperature regimes due to climate change can influence pesticide toxicity and have affects on aquatic ecosystems, especially species with temperature variation on shorter temporal scales.

Tim Grabowski is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Natural Resources Management. He dives into the distribution of fish in response to climate change. He stresses that people cannot treat all fish the same because they are different and may have different responses in different places. Tim is working on a study looking at how estrogen dependent fishes in based systems affect them and their response to climate change. He found a decline rate in growth with fishes in drought conditions. He explains how he is looking at ways how they can use any observed differences among populations to improve the management and conservation strategies.

Melanie Sarge is an Assistant Professor in the College of Media and Communications. She is interested in learning about the public and how their beliefs lead them to the decisions that they make and how to effectively communicate to them. She explains the importance of public segmentation, which is a way to talk about the issue so that everyone can see value and see the importance of the issue in different ways. Overall, when talking about climate change the presenter needs to design an appealing message that will determine ways to facilitate motivated reasoning.

Clifford Fedler is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He discusses the role of water and biomass recycling on climate change and that there are 5 design considerations to take on and they are technically sound, affordable, maintainable, reliable, and simple. He explains that the average water consumption per person is almost 500 gallons of water. He takes the audience through an integrated modular production system and explains that more integration better the income and sustainability.

Katharine Hayhoe is an Associate Professor in the Department of political science and is the Director of the Climate Science Center. She discusses a case in Hubbard Brook, which is an experimental forest to look at the different uncertainties in developing climate projections. She dives into 4 reasons why future projections are uncertain and they are: natural variability is chaotic, climate sensitivity is unknown, climate models are imperfect, and future scenarios are driven by human activities.

Jeff Lee is a Professor of Geography and the chair of the Department of Geosciences. He dives the factors affecting the force of wind on soil, which are weather and the roughness of the ground. He describes the surface roughness during the time of the Dust Bowl and how farmers had to learn how to deal with soil to reduce erosion. He explains that Campbell came up with a way to maximize the water by using soil mulch to help the crop stay healthy and to help prevent soil erosion.