ARCHIVED CONTENT: In December 2020, the CZO program was succeeded by the Critical Zone Collaborative Network (CZ Net) ×

PEOPLE News

2020

More news about SSCZO on Center for Ecosystem Climate Solutions

24 Nov 2020 - More news about SSCZO on Center for Ecosystem Climate Solutions, which grew out of the SSCZO, also on Sustainable California

Southern Sierra CZO Videos

04 May 2020 - Onward California - University of California television spots showcase Southern Sierra CZO research

2018

Researcher Spotlight: Morgan Barnes

14 Nov 2018 - Say 'Hello!' to biogeochemist Morgan Barnes! Morgan specializes in the study of soil nutrient biogeochemistry, focusing on phosphorus in the Sierras

Congratulations Jill Marshall on receiving the 2018 Luna B. Leopold Young Scientist Award

06 Nov 2018 - Marshall Receives 2018 Luna B. Leopold Young Scientist Award

Researcher Spotlight: Jeff Lauder

24 Oct 2018 - Meet forest ecologist Jeff Lauder! Lauder's research focuses on Sierra Nevada Conifers and how they have been responding to stress during drought!

Multiple postdoc and grad student opportunities at UC Merced

12 Sep 2018 - Two postdoctoral scholar positions and multiple MS or PhD research assistantships are currently available at the University of California, Merced....

Research Program Update: September 2018

07 Sep 2018 - Recent activities and findings, funding opportunities, upcoming events, and other updates

Research Program Update: July 2018

17 Jul 2018 - Recent activities and findings, funding opportunities, upcoming events, and other updates

Research Program Updates: May 2018

27 May 2018 - Recent activities and findings, funding opportunities, upcoming events, and other updates

Researcher Spotlight: Ryan Bart

23 May 2018 - Meet ecohydrologist Ryan Bart! Ryan studies the interactions between water and ecosystems within the Sierra Nevada and other regions.

Researcher Spotlight: Russell Callahan

11 Apr 2018 - Meet the people behind the research! Russell uses a combination of geophysics and regolith geochemistry to understand landscape evolution.

Researcher Spotlight: Caitlin Collins

13 Mar 2018 - Meet the minds behind the data! Caitlin specializes in modeling water fluxes from drop to catchment scale, tracking water through the Critical Zone.

Researcher Spotlight: Kimber Moreland

18 Jan 2018 - Meet the people behind the research!

Research Program Updates: January 2018

17 Jan 2018 - Recent activities and findings, funding opportunities, upcoming events, and other updates

Watch Online: AGU 2017 Nye Lecture by Roger Bales

17 Jan 2018 - Dr. Roger Bales's Nye Lecture, "Making up for lost snow: lessons from a warming Sierra Nevada", is now available to watch online.

Undergraduate course curriculum, “Introduction to Critical Zone Science,” available free online

01 Jan 2018 - A 15-week semester-long upper-level undergraduate course curriculum entitled “Introduction to Critical Zone Science” is now available free online.

2017

Visiting the Water Source: A Tour of the Kings River Headwaters

06 Nov 2017 - By Michelle Gilmore and Leigh Bernacchi   Ever wonder how we know what we know about water? Twenty-five intrepid water and forest managers,...

Observatory scientists volunteer with students at new STEAM Center in Merced

02 Nov 2017 - UC Merced scientists are sharing their research, stories, and expertise at Merced City School District's new STEAM Center.

Water Resources Research Special Collection: Concentration-discharge relations in the critical zone

30 Oct 2017 - Water Resources Research published a new special collection in September 2017 featuring concentration-discharge research from multiple CZOs.

UCSB graduate team working on collaborative forest restoration strategies in Sierra Nevada

03 Oct 2017 - Five master's students at the UCSB Bren School are incentivizing restoration strategies for private landholders with Sierra RCD.

New SSCZO comic artfully communicates research

19 Jul 2017 - Wonder what soils and sponges have in common? Or why some trees in the Sierra Nevada are dying while others are surviving? Find out in our new comic.

2017 CZO Webinar Series: Critical Zone and Society

06 Apr 2017 - 2017 CZO Webinar Series: Critical Zone and Society.

Gobi Desert Dust Helps Sustain California’s Sierra Nevada

28 Mar 2017 - A team of researchers found that dust provides a much greater amount of nutrients to vegetation in the Sierra Nevada than previously thought.

NSF: Dust contributes valuable nutrients to Sierra Nevada forest ecosystems

28 Mar 2017 - NSF Press Release: New research finding provides insight into role dust may play as ecosystems change

2016

Pushing the Limits on Water Isotope Measurement:  Lawrence Livermore and UC Merced

20 Dec 2016 - Lawrence Livermore and UC Merced researchers are tracking water through the critical zone using cutting-edge technology and new collection methods.

CZOs at AGU 2016

22 Nov 2016 - CZOs at AGU 2016: Agenda and award recipients

Critical Zone Q&A with researcher Adrian Harpold

19 Oct 2016 - University of Nevada Reno's Adrian Harpold reflects on his past and present time researching at Critical Zone Observatories.

Vegetation Matters: Type conversion could impact Sierra stream flow more than changing climate alone

02 Sep 2016 - This is an excerpt of a press release originally published on 30 August 2016 by James Badham, covering a new peer-reviewed article published by...

High school research team visits SSCZO to study snowpack and tree canopy relationships

10 May 2016 - How do tree canopies affect winter wonderlands? Students from the Center for Advanced Research and Technology are finding out.

Living with less snow in the West: What Global Warming means for our water supplies

15 Apr 2016 - The story in The Desert Sun, shows insight into the research at SSCZO and efforts being made to understand the shift in the Sierra snowpack.

NY Times: Sierra Nevada Snow Won’t End California’s Thirst

11 Apr 2016 - New York Times reporter, Henry Fountain spoke with Southern Sierra CZO PIs Roger Bales and Martha Conklin and investigtor Mohammad Safeeq as they...

“Natural Inquirer” education journal features study by Southern Sierra researchers

01 Apr 2016 - A study by Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory researchers was featured in a recent issue of Natural Inquirer, a middle school...

Critical Zone Profile - JORDEN HAYES (geophysicist, Assistant Professor)

23 Mar 2016 - Assistant Professor, Earth Sciences, Dickinson College

Snow days are work days at Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory

23 Mar 2016 - Snow days may hold some people back from going to work or school. But for Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory researchers and staff, traveling...

White House Water Summit: UC Water joins the call to action with technology pioneered at SSCZO

22 Mar 2016 - As part of World Water Day, the White House is hosting a Water Summit today and released its Commitments to Action on Building a Sustainable...

Every El Nino is Different: Roger Bales comments on the state of CA snowpack on KQED Forum

18 Mar 2016 - UC Merced Professor Roger Bales was featured on the KQED Forum radio show on March 3, 2016. Bales responded to callers' questions...

Are you looking for a paid summer internship? SSCZO is looking for you!

05 Feb 2016 - Open to undergraduates at any UC campus! SSCZO seeks an undergraduate intern to assist with field and laboratory research and equipment maintenance.

SSCZO’s Cliff Riebe and Claire Lukens shed light on the role of sediment size in landscape evolution

26 Jan 2016 - Riebe et al. combine old isotopic techniques in new ways, with big results showing connections between sediment size, erosion, topography, and climate

Roger Bales in The Modesto Bee: Sierra is white with snow, but more drought solutions needed

22 Jan 2016 - SSCZO Principal Investigator Roger Bales wrote an opinion piece published in The Modesto Bee this week. He delivers messages that Californians and...

Water Resources in a Changing Climate

19 Jan 2016 - CZO community members were chosen as keynote speakers at Colorado State University's Hydrology Days 2015.

2015

Critical Zone Profiles - Meet the people doing CZO science (Southern Sierra CZO)

07 Sep 2015 - Get a sense of the people and the work. Several members of the Southern Sierra CZO are profiled here, including students and professors.

Critical Zone Profile - CARLOS OROZA (systems engineer, PhD student)

07 Sep 2015 - PhD Student, Systems Engineering, University of California Berkeley

Critical Zone Profile - LINDSAY ARVIN (geomorphologist, PhD student)

07 Sep 2015 - PhD Student, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming

Critical Zone Profile - MELISSA THAW (mountain hydrologist, PhD student)

07 Sep 2015 - PhD Student, Environmental Systems, University of California Merced

Critical Zone Profile - MOHAMMAD SAFEEQ (hydrologist, assistant research scientist)

07 Sep 2015 - Assistant Research Scientist, Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced.

Joint AGU-ESA Event Brings Together Collaborative Networks

17 Aug 2015 - Members of AGU and the Ecological Society of America came together in their first joint event to discuss opportunities for research collaboration.

2014

NSF Early Career Award Honors Professor’s Research and Potential

12 May 2014 - "The National Science Foundation is honoring UC Merced Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe with a Faculty Early Career Development Award to support her...

2014 All Hands Meeting

24 Apr 2014 - Information for the 2014 All Hands Meeting for the CZO Network on 21-14 September, including registration information and abstract submission.

“What’s so critical about the Critical Zone?” webinar

02 Apr 2014 - March 31, 2014. Dr. Enriqueta Barrera (NSF CZO program director) and Dr. Gordon Grant (USFS; CZO Steering Committee chairperson)

UW Study: Bedrock Influences Forests More Than Previously Believed

10 Feb 2014 - Bedrock influences forests and landscape evolution much more than was previously thought, according to a study by University of Wyoming scientists.

2013

Potential for Rim fire ash runoff raises water quality concerns for Stanislaus County

09 Nov 2013 - Ash and sediment from last summer's Rim fire threaten water runoff in valley. M. Conklin says it's part of a larger problem for water supplies.

Smart sensors can measure pretty much anything

12 Aug 2013 - Network of iPhone-size devices keeps tabs on state water supply

UC Merced is bustling with students and wildlife

21 Feb 2013 - The new Vernal Pool Reserve is featured by ABC local affiliate KSFN. MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- UC Merced is bustling with nearly 6,000 students,...

Water jobs of the future

16 Feb 2013 - Two of the most common themes on our Opinions pages are jobs and water. Today, we put them together, taking note of a study, released last week,...

UC Merced professor urges more meteor awareness

15 Feb 2013 - MERCED -- It is possible to track and know when a meteor is coming toward Earth, said a retired astronomy professor who teaches general education...

Erin Stacy joins the SSCZO and SNRI teams as Education, Outreach, and Communications Coordinator

18 Jan 2013 - Erin Stacy joins the Southern Sierra CZO (SSCZO) and Sierra Nevada Research Institute as a research associate for Education, Outreach and...

Post-doctoral researcher Adrian Harpold funded to accomplish cross-CZO science

11 Jan 2013 - Harpold awarded an NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship for a research and education program that spans 3 western Critical Zone Observatories

In Memoriam: Frederick Scatena 1954-2013

02 Jan 2013 - Frederick Scatena, PI of the Luquillo CZO, died peacefully at home on January 2, 2013 after a brief battle with cancer. We mourn the loss.

2012

Inaugural Managers to Lead New Vernal Pool Reserve

08 Nov 2012 - MERCED, Calif. — The effort to create a natural reserve out of nearly 6,000 acres adjacent to UC Merced has been jump-started by the hiring of...

SSCZO multidisciplinary opportunities for research collaborators and graduate students

17 Oct 2012 - SSCZO multidisciplinary opportunities for research collaborators and graduate students

Snowy, Sandy Research Explores Climate Change

06 Sep 2012 - From the white, sugary sands of Hawaii to the white, powdery slopes of the Sierra Nevada, Natural Sciences Professor Stephen Hart has his eye on...

New Yosemite Field Station Director Embraces Opportunity

13 Apr 2012 - As the new director of UC Merced’s Yosemite Field Station, Becca Fenwick will combine her love of the outdoors and of the educational...

Grad Student at Home in the Mountains

06 Jan 2012 - Peter Kirchner may have been born in California’s San Fernando Valley, but his heart and mind have always been close to the mountains. Much of...

2011

Snow Surveys of the Future. Link to radio program or listen below

30 Mar 2011 - This week's survey of the Sierra snowpack found the state's "frozen reservoir" bursting with water content -- 165 percent of normal for this time of...

Sierra’s rain-snow zone promises water insight

20 Mar 2011 - SHAVER LAKE -- In a pounding rain, scientist Matt Meadows skis toward a cluster of snow sensors. The temperature dips, rain turns to sleet, then snow....

UC Merced develops wireless sensors for snowpack measuring

03 Mar 2011 - Measuring the amount of snow in the Sierra Nevada and then predicting how much runoff there will be as it melts during the spring and summer is an...

UC Merced prof designs sensor system to measure snowpack depth and other water issues

03 Mar 2011 - More than half of the water used in California for farming, drinking and other everyday uses comes from Sierra Nevada runoff, according to a...

New Technology Enables UC Scientists to Predict Water Levels in Snow

10 Feb 2011 - UC Merced Professor Roger Bales realizes that California has a dire problem: a water problem. According to Bales, California is currently in a...

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