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Protecting ecological legacies at Bears Ears

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“The medicines on the landscape all have a story. The original proposal to designate 1.9 million acres for Bears Ears National Monument came from listening to the elders and medicine people who mapped culturally significant plants to protect our narratives. In terms of management, traditional knowledge is crucial to protect the entire ecosystem as a […]

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Wildfire smoke trends worsening for Western U.S.

The warming climate has made wildfires and smoke increasingly common. Researchers in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences evaluated data from a number of sources to look at air quality trends in the West. A new paper by doctoral student Kai Wilmot with Gannet Hallar and John Lin (GCSC-affiliated faculty) and Derek Mallia (past GCSC fellow) […]

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Indigenous land-use reduced catastrophic wildfires on the Fish Lake Plateau

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Vachel Carter (2011-12 GCSC fellow) is the lead author on a paper resulting from a study that assesses the human influence on prehistoric wildfires. GCSC affiliate faculty from multiple disciplines who were part of the study are: Simon Brewer and Andrea Brunelle, Department of Geography; Brian Codding, Department of Anthropology; and Mitchell J. Power, Natural History […]

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Mounting air-quality sensors on light rail saves cities money while improving data

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Researchers affiliated with the GCSC have been measuring greenhouse gases in the Salt Lake valley by mounting sensors on TRAX light rail trains. Not only does this greatly improve the data that informs city planners and policy makers, but this method can provide extraordinary cost savings. The cost of one research-grade mobile sensor is about […]

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How vegetation effects microclimates in urbanized Salt Lake Valley

A new study by Carolina Gómez-Navarro and GCSC affiliate faculty Diane Pataki, Eric Pardyjak, and Dave Bowling, looks at how trees and grass can help mitigate excessive heat in urban areas. Hard surfaces like roofs, buildings, and pavement absorb the sun’s heat and radiate it into the surroundings, creating a “heat island effect”. While trees cast […]

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