The Haverford alumni network can be a beautiful thing. And the many links between the Ford climate scientists portrayed here show that network in action.
The Haverford alumni network can be a beautiful thing. And the many links between the Ford climate scientists portrayed here show that network in action. Here are just a few:
Charles Jackson '92hired physics major Gail Gutowski '10 over the phone when, as part of her own networking effort, she called to ask him what climate science was like. She worked with Jackson for a year before deciding to stay on with him at the University of Texas at Austin for graduate school.
In the spring of his senior year at Haverford Jess Adkins '90 got a letter from David Lea '84 inviting Adkins to work for him in Santa Barbara. Adkins worked in Lea's lab for a couple of years before going on to do his graduate work at MIT under the same scientist who supervised Lea as a grad student.
Kate Evans '93recognized Jackson when she attended a talk he gave at a conference. They had both been viola players in the Haverford orchestra, and sat next to each other.
Ryan Walker '98collaborated on ice-sheet modeling with Jackson and Gutowski.
This impressive Haverfordian network of climate scientists seems certain to expand in the future. For one thing, the Tri-College Program in Environmental Studies, which launched three years ago, is helping a growing number of students to better understand complex environmental issues and is also nurturing an ethos of making a difference. The interdisciplinary program, which offers a minor in Environmental Studies, is directed by environmental chemist Helen K. White, who has done groundbreaking research on the effect of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on corals in the Gulf of Mexico. Also teaching in the program, which allows students to select from more than 90 courses offered by the three colleges, is environmental biologist Jonathan Wilson, whose lab investigates the coevolution of plants and the environment. Wilson has taught the program's core“Case Studies in Environmental Issues” class, and has also developed a course that combines paleontology, biochemistry, and climatology.
As for that climate science alumni network, Adkins is already doing his part to pay forward the help he received from Lea when he was fresh out of college. On a visit to Haverford to give a talk, Adkins metAdam Subhas '09, who had a strong interest in environmental chemistry and climate change. Adkins invited Subhas to join him on a month long research cruise in the Southern Ocean. Subhas blogged for the research team as part of its outreach efforts on the cruise, and Adkins later hired Subhas as a lab tech. He's now a grad student working with Adkins at Caltech. —Eils Lotozo
