Iowa State University

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences

News and Events



Carl Vondra named honorary Iowa State alumnus
One slide after another flicked onto the screen in a rustic community center in the tiny town of Shell, Wyo.

The slides represented almost 40 years of attendees at the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences' field camp. Of course, no one but Carl Vondra, who served as the camp's director for those 40 years, would be making the presentation to the alumni assembled.

As the slides rolled across the screen, Vondra would identify the individual pictured. But more than that, he would tell the audience where the field camp alumnus was and what career path they took.

If you're counting that's over 1100 geology alumni. And Vondra says he's either in contact with, or sees, many of those alumni each year.

"It was a very unique experience I had at the camp," Vondra said. "We would spend six or eight weeks out there with the kids, eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, spending all day in the field and back at the camp at night.

"You get to know people pretty well in that type of situation. And it was hard to forget them. No other faculty in our department, and maybe at the university, had that kind of opportunity." More

Advanced cloud research may be silver lining to climate predictions
To improve climate prediction, we have to look toward the clouds.

Iowa State climate researcher Xiaoqing Wu, associate professor of geological and atmospheric sciences, is the leader of a project to better understand and improve cloud modeling and general circulation simulations to predict future climate.

The research, he said, will help improve global climate models and create more accurate data for policy makers to use to determine safe levels of greenhouse gasses for the earth.

Wu's research group is funded by a three-year, $335,000 Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program grant. More

Iowa State students join science team to chase, capture tornado data
Their job is to take measurements of a tornado's rear flank downdraft.

And yes, said several Iowa State University students who have joined Tim Samaras, a Colorado-based researcher who was named a National Geographic Society "Emerging Explorer" in 2005 and is a principal engineer for Applied Research Associates Inc., some adrenaline is involved. But that's not why they're driving instrument-carrying cars a mile or so to the south or east of the storms that have regularly blown across tornado alley this spring and summer.

They're driving into rain, wind, lightning and hail to chase data: temperature, dew point, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction and exact location. The students' measurements will be analyzed by scientists trying to understand more about how tornadoes are formed.

"We're measuring air circulation near the tornado," said Chris Karstens, an Iowa State graduate student in meteorology from Atlantic. "There are questions about that air's role in forming tornadoes and in tornado longevity. We think it has a central role in tornadoes." More

Geological and Atmospheric Sciences News Page

Earth and Wind Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Alumni Days Celebration

ISU Geological & Atmospheric Sciences Alumni Days
November 6-7, 2009
ISU campus

Invitation Letter

Schedule/Reservation Form

Ames Lodging Accommodations

Geology Seminars

Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-4111. Published by: University Relations, online@iastate.edu. Copyright © 1995-2004, Iowa State University of Science and Technology. All rights reserved.

Non-Discrimination Statement and Information Disclosures