by Luke Hanst
August 2, 2022
Share
UPP in the News
USGS earthquake data and PSU professor of geology Scott Burns appeared in a KOIN6 news article discussing two small quakes felt in Oregon. The first was a small 2.9 magnitude quake between Hillsboro and Aloha on Sunday the 24th at 1:43 AM. The second, a 4.0 magnitude quake 244 miles west of Coos Bay on Sunday the 24th at 2:22 AM. Dr. Burns argued that these small quakes are a reminder that we live in “earthquake country.” So, take this as a reminder that we are overdue for a large-scale earthquake from the Cascadia Subduction Zone, and take a few minutes to get you and your family closer to two-week ready.
A recent article published by PSU Professor Andrés Holz and PSU student Sebastian Busby was cited by Nature World News in a news article discussing the limits of human intervention into forest recovery following wildfires. The core takeaway is the potential for replanting initiatives to be ineffective and potentially counter-productive, as they may result in overly dense forests. More important to forest regeneration are climatic forces including moisture and temperature conditions following a fire.
UPP Publications
PSU’s Heejun Chang, alongside a team of interdisciplinary and international researchers, published a chapter titled, “Using Support Vector Machine (SVM) in Modeling Water Resources Systems,” in Computational Intelligence for Water and Environmental Sciences. The content is well above my pay grade, but great job Heejun. Keep up the good work!
Alida Cantor, a professor in PSU’s Department of Geography, led a team of PSU students in the publication of, “Changes to California Alfalfa Production and Perceptions during the 2011-2017 Drought.” This article explores the development of a public discourse critical to the production of Alfalfa, a “low-value, high-water-use crop,” during an extended drought in California. Despite both the public discourse and scientific arguments against the cultivation of Alfalfa, Dr. Cantor’s study provides evidence that the cultivation increased in some areas, suggesting problems in the ability of water management systems to create change in farming practice. Excellent job Alida; it is always inspiring to see professors participating directly with students in the creation of knowledge.
From PSU’s Department of Geography, Andrés Holz participated in a huge team of researchers in the publication of, “The North American Tree-Ring Fire-Scar Network,” which introduces the newly compiled network of more than 37 thousand trees from 2562 sites, spread over much of North America. The authors provide an initial investigation of the network that explores the differences in the spatial distribution of fires in recent history compared to the historical record. Thanks for your continued effort in this important field of work Andrés!