K.D. Nelson Lecture Series: Jay Zarnetske

The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences presents the K.D. Nelson Lecture Series featuring speaker Jay Zarnetske. His talk is titled: “Telling the ‘Hidden’ stories of water: Revealing connections between climate, land, water, and human systems.”

Abstract:

In this presentation, we will take time to appreciate the world from the perspective of water. Water is profound in that it connects us all to each other and the environment. By documenting these water connections, we gain a more holistic understanding of the world and can achieve environmental sustainability goals. Yet, society rarely invests in resources to understand these connections. So, here we will look at some recent projects led by our lab that focus on water connections. We will start by going to the vast, beautiful, yet rapidly warming Arctic, to reveal the hidden stories of Arctic change as told by stream water. And then, we will finish with examples of how we can better communicate the incredible, yet often hidden, value of water to society and life on Earth.

Bio:

Jay Zarnetske is an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Michigan State University, where he studies watershed science and helps train the next generation of environmental scientists. To answer a wide range of fundamental and applied scientific questions, he focuses on questions about the physics and chemistry of water, such as, “Where does water go when it rains? What flow path does it take? And how long did it take to get there?” Working with scientists and policy makers around the world, Jay has been part of research projects done on every continent generating more than 60 publications and dozens of educational and outreach products. He recently led an international team that changed the way the global water cycle is depicted and taught around the world, leads Arctic research expeditions, and was head of the major non-profit organization providing critical data and computing infrastructure for water scientists around the world.