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School of the Earth, Ocean and Environment

2024 News

USC students lead energy-saving initiative for Columbia households

Two Arts and Sciences students are powering up their community by creating a new energy-saving program that will benefit low-income households.

Meet Birch Maxwell Lazo-Murphy

Birch is working on his PhD in Chemical Oceanography in Dr. Xuefeng Peng's Microbial Ecology Lab. His current research investigates fungi across oxygen gradients in marine environments.

Support and passion bring Honors College alumna into the 'ocean twilight zone'

Honors College alumna Kayla Gardner’s passion for protecting the ocean and teaching others to do the same led her to pursue a career in marine science. Unlike many young people who are drawn to dolphins, turtles or sharks, much smaller creatures sparked Gardner’s interest.

Nick Peng awarded the 2024 Simons Foundation Early Career Award

Nick Peng, was named one of 5 winners nationwide of the Simons Foundation's 2024 Early Career Investigators in Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Evolution Award. This award recognizes Nick's pathbreaking research to date and will provide substantial support over the next three years to further his investigations into the "Fungal Contribution into benthic nitrogen and carbon cycling in a productive ocean basin."

Subra Bulusu has been awarded the Michael J. Mungo Graduate Teaching Award

The Michael J. Mungo Graduate Teaching award is given to innovative faculty committed to quality instruction of graduate students, regardless of faculty track or rank. Subra is the first SEOE faculty member to be awarded this honor.

Jessica Barnes selected as the winner of the USC Educational Foundation Research Award for Humanities and Social Science

The USC Educational Foundation Research Award was established in 1984 and is given innovative research or creative achievement in the form of books, articles, productions, exhibits, compositions or arrangements. It is considered among the most prestigious annual prizes for research and scholarship given at Carolina.

Peter Chametzky is the 2024 Russell Research Award winner for Humanities and Social Sciences.

The Russell Research Awards are the most prestigious annual prizes for research and scholarship given at Carolina. Awards are given for innovative research or creative achievement in the form of books, articles, productions, exhibits, compositions or arrangements.

Katherine Ryker awarded Garnet Apple Award for Teaching Innovation

This award honors USC's most exceptional faculty who demonstrate an ongoing commitment to best teaching practices and an ongoing record of developing innovative strategies to enhance student learning in their courses

Tammi Richardson earns SEC faculty achievement award for teaching, research

Each year, the Southeastern Conference recognizes faculty members for dedication to teaching, innovation, service and outstanding work that advances the mission of the SEC and its institutions. The 2024 winner for the University of South Carolina is Tammi Richardson, department chair and professor of biological sciences.

Benitez-Nelson Named Fellow of The Oceanography Society

For her outstanding contributions to understanding marine biogeochemical cycling and exhibited exceptional commitment to mentoring and increasing diversity in ocean sciences, Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson has been selected as a Fellow of The Oceanography Society.

Associate professor of geoscience education Katherine Ryker encourages observation and discovery

Associate professor of geoscience education Katherine Ryker teaches students to teach themselves by encouraging them to be more observant and to follow their curiosity where it leads them.

As the US begins to build offshore wind farms, scientists say many questions remain about impacts on the oceans and marine life

As renewable energy production expands across the U.S., the environmental impacts of these new sources are receiving increased attention. The Conversation asked USC marine scientist Erin L. Meyer-Gutbrod and others to explain the key findings of a recent report on how offshore wind farms in the Nantucket Shoals region could affect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.

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