The Iceman 'Goeth' on Global Mission
For 20 years, Tom Lowell has traversed the globe to study melting glaciers and climate change.
In a UC Magazine story, the geology professor explains his research, which has taken him and students to destinations including Greenland, Bolivia, Chile, Canada, Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego, an island located at the southernmost tip of South America.
"We've been to places on the planet nobody else has been," he says. "I've seen some pretty dramatic changes. It sinks in a little more concretely when you see it with your own eyes."
By looking at glacial patterns over time, Lowell is able to reconstruct climate behavior from 1,000, 5,000 or 20,000 years ago. "Understanding what those patterns looked like in the past can tell us what is happening now and what might happen in the future," he says.
Related Stories
Scientists craft bold plan to unlock secrets of RNA
May 16, 2024
UC Vice President for Research Patrick Limbach is a key figure in the National Academies’ massive undertaking to sequence RNA in the next 15 years.
Inside the wild ways many creatures make milk
May 14, 2024
UC biologist Joshua Benoit tells Smithsonian that it's not just cows and other mammals that make milk for their newborns. Even some insects like beetle-mimic cockroaches and tsetse flies produce a protein rich "milk" for their babies.
UC grad turns humanities degree into entrepreneurial success
May 14, 2024
Growing up on Ludlow Ave. in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Clifton, Harrison Fowler had planned to enroll in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at the University of Cincinnati. UC was close to home, and ROTC seemed like the right choice. But life had other plans. At the last minute, Fowler withdrew from ROTC and enrolled to earn his bachelor’s in Spanish, which meant he needed a study-abroad experience to complete his degree. He was apprehensive, but completed his requirement in Madrid, in a move that would change the direction of his life. Says Fowler of his foreign-language major, and his experience abroad: “Speaking another language opens up a whole other world and relationships for you.”