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ANNUAL REPORT ANNUAL REPORT | 2018 SCIENCE ON THE FRONT LINES OF OUR CHANGING PLANET CONTENTS Introduction: Science on the Front Lines of Our Changing Planet 4 Letter from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Director Sean C. Solomon 6 On the Front Lines of Kilauea 8 A Body of Work on Fire 12 Easter Island’s Climate Past 18 A New Research Paradigm: Where Data Science Meets Community Life 26 In the Oceans, Survival is Symbiotic 32 What Migratory Birds Have to Say About Climate Change 36 Clearing the Air: Strategy from Space 42 The Line in America’s Psychogeography Shifts East 46 Lamont’s Core Repository — A Living Library of Earth History 50 Finding Answers, Spreading the Message of Caution and Hope 52 American Geophysical Union Honors Five Lamont Researchers in 2018 54 Donor List 56 Financials 60 Awards 62 Education 64 STRATEGIC INITIATIVES ANTICIPATING CHANGING ICE, CLIMATE EXTREME REAL-TIME EARTHQUAKES CHANGING AND LIFE WEATHER EARTH COASTLINES AND CLIMATE Cover: fire fountains, Kilauea eruption, 2018. Photo by Brett Carr. This page: Lamont Associate Research Professor William D'Andrea and Lamont graduate student Lorelei Curtin prepare to acquire a lakebed core, Easter Island, Science on the Front Lines of Our Changing Planet March 2018. Photo by Andrea Seelenfreund. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory | Columbia University Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory has been on the vanguard of understanding This year, Lamont continued to add to its Earth and its changes since our inception in 1949, when Maurice “Doc” Ewing distinguished legacy with discoveries that challenge Science on the Front launched this extraordinary research center. Here, Marie Tharp created the first complacency and alter perceptions of the world as global maps of the seafloor, stunning her contemporaries with the discovery of it was, is, and will be. We titled this report “Science the mid-ocean ridges and their crestal rift zones, evidence for sea-floor spreading on the Front Lines of Our Changing Planet” because and continental drift . Her finding was but one in a long, celebrated list of many of our scientists answered the call to join the Lines of Our Changing discoveries by Observatory scientists. front lines of extreme events and environmental shifts, enabling investigative opportunities Lamont scientists were the first to show the role of the global ocean in climate, that offered particular promise for advances in first to predict El Niño climate events, first to develop the seismological tools understanding. that enabled nuclear test bans, and first to design multiple generations of Planet seismometers for deployment in global networks on Earth and on the Moon Across the Observatory, Lamont’s women and men by Apollo astronauts. The Observatory serves as scientific home to the of science strive daily to sharpen our knowledge of largest concentration of Earth and climate scientists in the academic U.S. Our the interlinked processes that govern the myriad Above: aboard the R/V Araon, the Korean icebreaker, on Terra Nova researchers study the planet from its deepest interior to the outer reaches of its changes to our world and our environment. It is Bay, Ross Sea, Antarctica, February 2018. In the foreground are (left to right) field engineer Carson Witte, now a graduate student at atmosphere, on every continent and in every ocean, providing a rational basis for within this context of exploration, discovery, and Lamont, and Lauren Roche, a NOAA technician. Photo by Fiona Elliott. addressing many of the difficult challenges facing humanity. Three foundational scientific leadership that we present our annual strengths drive our interdisciplinary approach: climate science, geodynamics of report for 2018. the solid Earth, and the study of life on our evolving planet. 4 Science On The Front Lines of Global Change Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory | Columbia University 5 Dear Friends, The year 2018 at Lamont brought a characteristically rich mix of fieldwork, new in an increasing number of vulnerable areas. Maureen Raymo reflected on a career sparked (in part) by the laboratory findings, and novel numerical modeling work. Each year our scientists explorer Jacques Cousteau, which led her to contribute broadly to science and made her one of her field’s and students strive to increase our understanding of our planet, its governing most celebrated researchers. Natalie Boelman and graduate student Ruth Oliver exploited machine-learning- processes, and the factors that influence both natural variability and global powered “ears” to listen for changes in migratory patterns of birds in the warming Arctic. Xiaomeng Jin and change. This mission took Lamont researchers this year to field areas across the Arlene Fiore devised a method to study from space the formation of ground-level ozone. Christopher Zappa continents and oceans where key phenomena could best be studied in detail, journeyed to Alaska’s Kotzebue to work closely with indigenous villagers to initiate a new kind of study of and their efforts produced discoveries that continued to expand the scientific evolving sea ice. Sonya Dyhrman, Matthew Harke, and Kyle Frischkorn traveled to the middle of the Pacific to understanding of our changing Earth. gather water samples that yielded evidence of a symbiotic relationship among the diatoms and phytoplankton that help generate the air we breathe. In our report “Science on the Front Lines of Our Changing Planet,” you will journey with volcanologist Einat Lev to Kilauea, on the island of Hawaii. She Highlights of the year’s research at the Observatory described in this report and the many additional examples and her team traveled to the front lines of this year’s highly publicized eruption, of new scientific findings by Lamont scientists this past year are enabled, in large part, by the many friends, where they offered aid and relief to the emergency responders and field alumni, and staff who support our research and educational programs. Your contributions lead directly to scientists and gathered data on the evolution of the lava flows, information that, improved understanding of Earth’s past and present, and enhance our ability to address the most urgent once analyzed, holds promise for more accurate predictive models in the future. environmental challenges ahead for all of us. We deeply appreciate the generosity of our donors and the scientific progress made possible by their gifts. “knowledge can aid Paleoclimatologist William D’Andrea visited Easter Island this year, to uncover world leaders to clues in ancient lake sediments to the ecocide postulated to have decimated the For another year, thank you for your support. Rapa Nui culture and to improve our understanding of the modern hydroclimate recognize similar to inform efforts by the island’s current residents to sustain water security. Richard Seager’s research traced the influence of atmospheric warming on the warning signs in evolution of the long-recognized line that divides the arid western United States from the humid eastern U.S. Park Williams illuminated how heat and drought the future” contributed to this year’s unprecedented spate of deadly wildfires and likely will Sean C. Solomon fuel similar destructive forces into the future. Radley Horton showed how the Director combination of heat and humidity will pose an existential threat to human health 6 Science On The Front Lines of Global Change Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory | Columbia University 7 EXTREME WEATHER AND CLIMATE In the early spring, volcanologists monitoring the ground around Kilauea, the “I didn’t want to go there without coordination”, Lev most active volcano on the island of Hawai’i, noticed a significant increase said. “Obviously, they closed the region. I tried to On the Front Lines in seismicity, a sign of an impending eruption. Meanwhile, in Palisades, New work directly with the USGS, but they’re not allowed York, Lamont volcanologist Einat Lev was also watching developments at to work with anyone external, so I had to find other Kilauea closely, scanning United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports ways. I contacted colleagues at the University of and keeping in regular touch with friends and colleagues directly tasked with Hawai’i-Hilo and learned they had a permit to go in. at Kilauea monitoring volcanic activity. They are people I’ve worked with before, and since we all had the proper certifications and drone operational Lev had a particular interest because of her prior experience at Kilauea, and field experience, they invited us to join them. having studied the lava lake that has occupied the summit crater since 2008. When we heard that, we bought our tickets. I felt I Above: lava flow, Kilauea eruption, 2018. Drone image from Einat Lev. Her fascination with this volcano came to a crescendo on May 3, 2018, really needed to be there.” when the anticipated eruption began. Lev started searching for a way to help response efforts and to place her team sufficiently close to the newly opened This expedition would lead Lev and her team to the fissures to observe the developing phenomenon. It took her several days to front lines of an active, dangerous volcanic eruption, lock down a plan, obtain a permit, and book plane tickets for herself and her thrusting her into the center of the action and the two postdoctoral researchers. All of this she carefully orchestrated so as to news media spotlight. Lev’s first-person accounts and serve as well the response team on the ground. analysis made for lead stories across major outlets, including CNN, BBC, and NPR. Her descriptions brought home the immediacy of the situation. 8 Science On The Front Lines of Global Change Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory | Columbia University 9 Ultimately, the eruption forced the evacuation of Lev has been studying the science of volcanoes since her arrival at Lamont in thousands of people. The lava flow consumed 700 2009, but her work at Kilauea was revelatory for her.

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