Dr. Richard Aster, New Mexico Tech

November 15, 2013 (Fri) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
UNM Continuing Education Auditorium
1634 University Blvd. NE (at the intersection with Indian School Rd.)

Ongoing changes in the oceans and atmosphere are driving remarkable changes in Earth’s permafrost, glaciers, and icecaps, referred to as the cryosphere.  Of particular concern are Earth’s mountain glaciers and the vast ice sheets of West Antarctica and Greenland.  This talk will summarize what is known about the past history of Earth’s ice, our present understanding of the cryosphere, and some scenarios for Earth’s future.

Dr. Richard Aster is Professor of Geophysics at New Mexico Tech. Dr. Aster’s research and teaching interests have encompassed volcanology, earthquake studies, glacial geophysics, oceanic seismological phenomena, and mathematical geophysics. His work has included focused field studies conducted in the United States, Italy and Antarctica. Dr. Aster recently (2009-2011) served as President of the Seismological Society of America and is the Principal Investigator for the IRIS PASSCAL Instrument Center at New Mexico Tech, the National Science Foundation’s facility for supporting international seismological research with portable instrumentation.