A large portion of the carbon dioxide emitted when humans burn fossil fuels is taken up and stored in the ocean via a set of processes that make up the ocean carbon cycle.

However, the rapid rate at which carbon dioxide emissions are increasing means the future of the cycle is uncertain, especially when many of the key processes remain poorly understood. In a new paper in the journal Nature, Tom Weber, an assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at Rochester, and his colleagues, outline and quantify critical mechanisms involved in the ocean carbon cycle, specifically the “biological pump.”

Their new insights can be used to guide climate computer models to better predict the effects of climate change on a warming world.

The biological pump describes the sum of all the biological processes that transfer carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the deep ocean. Tiny marine plants, known as phytoplankton, take carbon dioxide from the surface ocean to produce biomass, which then sinks to the deep ocean where it decomposes, releasing carbon dioxide.

“The net effect is the ‘pumping’ of CO2 from the atmosphere to the deep ocean,” Weber says.

Carbon released at depths of a few hundred meters is circulated back to the atmosphere on timescales of 10 years or less. But if particles sink into the deep ocean—deeper than 1,000 meters—their carbon can be stored for up to 1,000 years before returning to the surface.

Researchers previously believed the transfer of biomass particles from the surface to the deep ocean occurred simply through sinking under the force of gravity—what Weber and his colleagues deem the “biological gravitational pump.” However, in the last few years, scientists have recognized other processes that are important in transferring carbon from surface waters to the deep ocean. As outlined in the paper, these include the physical mixing of the ocean by the wind, by large-scale ocean currents, and by biological transport via animals such as small fish that eat the biomass particles at the surface and excrete them at depth. The researchers refer to these processes collectively as “particle injection pumps” (PIPs) because they can “inject” particles to much deeper depths—relative to mere gravitational settling—before decomposition occurs and the carbon is released.

“It’s a much more efficient way of pulling carbon from the surface into the deep waters,” Weber says.

Weber and his colleagues combined observational evidence and new model calculations to quantify for the first time how much carbon is transferred by the PIPs. They found that PIPs are a much more influential factor than previously thought. Collectively, they are responsible for as much carbon storage in the ocean as the biological gravitational pump.

Read more here

Artificial intelligence may be the province of machines, but it also reveals much about the human intelligence it mimics.

Looking to replicate and expand on our mental abilities in artificial intelligence systems, we turn an engineer’s eye on our own intellects, says philosopher Jens Kipper.

Kipper, who joined Rochester’s faculty this year as an assistant professor of philosophy, specializes in the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of language.

Kipper bolsters Rochester’s research prowess in fundamental philosophical questions related to thought and language, says Randall Curren, chair of the Department of Philosophy, while also strengthening opportunities for collaboration with the departments of linguistics and computer science and the Goergen Institute for Data Science.

“At one end of the philosophy of artificial intelligence spectrum are questions about the nature of intelligence, and at the other end of the spectrum are immensely important questions about the social and ethical aspects of artificial intelligence,” Curren says. Kipper spans both.

He earned his PhD in philosophy at the University of Cologne in 2012 and later joined the faculty at the University of Bielefeld in Germany. At Cologne and Bielefeld, he taught courses on such topics as perception, scientific explanation, consciousness, and mental content. He’s the coauthor of Research Ethics: An Introduction, with Thomas Fuchs and others (Metzler, 2010) and the author of A Two-Dimensionalist Guide to Conceptual Analysis (Ontos, 2012).

Learn more here in Kathleen McGarvey’s Q and A with Kipper.

• Donna Strickland ’89 (PhD), a pioneer in the field of laser physics, and Barbara H. Iglewski, professor and chair emerita in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the School of Medicine and Dentistry. Botj will receive the University’s Eastman Medal in recognition of outstanding achievement and dedicated service at the University’s Commencement ceremonies.
  • A professor of physics at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, Strickland will deliver the College’s Commencement address on Sunday, May 19. She will also speak at the University’s doctoral ceremony on Saturday, May 18, where she will also receive the Rochester Distinguished Scholar Award. In October 2018, Strickland became the third woman ever to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics, and the first woman laureate in University history. She and Gérard Mourou, former engineering professor and scientist at the University’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), pioneered chirped-pulse amplification. Known as CPA, this work was the basis of Strickland’s dissertation.
  • Iglewski has contributed landmark research on how bacteria cause infections. Her laboratory was the first to discover that bacteria use a communication system to coordinate attacks on human cells and initiate disease, and her work launched an entire field of study into how the system works in many types of bacteria. Several drugs that interrupt the bacterial communication process, thereby preventing infections, have been developed based on her work. Iglewski was the first female department chair at the School of Medicine and Dentistry and a trailblazer who paved the way for many other female scientists and leaders in Rochester and across the country. Read more here.
• Ruth Anderson Lawrence ’49M (MD), Northumberland Trust Professor of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, who will receive the University’s Charles Force Hutchison and Marjorie Smith Hutchison Medal for outstanding achievement and notable service.  Her book, Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession, has become the gold standard worldwide for the scientific understanding of human lactation and clinical breastfeeding practices. An internationally renowned expert on breastfeeding and infant nutritional needs, she has pioneered practices through both clinical work and research that have greatly influenced medicine across the country and enhanced the lives of countless newborn children. Read more here.
• Gilbert “Rip” Collins, professor of mechanical engineering and associate director for science, technology, and academics at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, who leads the high energy density physics program. Collins has been selected as the winner of the 2019 Bridgman Award by the International Association for the Advancement of High Pressure Science and Technology (AIRAPT). The Bridgman Award is named in honor of Nobel laureate P. W. Bridgman, a Harvard physics professor who is considered one of the founders of modern high pressure research.
• Henry Kautz, professor of computer science, who is the recipient of the ACM – AAAI Allen Newell Award for contributions to artificial intelligence and computational social science, including fundamental results on the complexity of inference, planning and media analytics for public health. He studied how computers can infer the goals and plans of people by studying their behavior, and was a co-developer of the first randomized local search algorithms for Boolean satisfiability testing. The award is accompanied by a prize of $10,000, provided by the Academy of Computing Machinery, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and by individual contributions.
• Louis Jenkins, first-year doctoral student in computer science, who is the University’s first computer science student to receive the Computational Science Graduate Fellowship from the Department of Energy. Jenkins is investigating the use of emerging persistent-memory technologies to enhance productivity and performance of fault-tolerance mechanisms in high-performance computing. Read more here.
• Alex Chin, a second-year doctoral student in physics, who will receive the National Nuclear Security Administration Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship. The fellowship will fund his research at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics in the High Energy Density Physics research group. His research involves using x-ray absorption spectroscopy to study Earth core materials under extreme conditions, with the hope of gaining insight into the evolution of the Earth and Earth-like planets. Read more here.

When the Research Subjects Review Board (RSRB) went live with the new Click® IRB review system in November 2018, only active and approved studies that previously underwent expedited or full board review in the RSRB Online Submission System (ROSS) were moved into Click® IRB.

When these “legacy studies” were carried forward into the new system, only a “shell” of basic information was populated.

The “shell” application must now be populated with any missing information that did not carry over from ROSS (this includes protocols, recruitment materials, and consent forms). The RSRB cannot review submissions to legacy studies, including continuing reviews, until they are populated, as missing information will prevent the submission from meeting the criteria for IRB approval (as defined by HHS 45 CFR 46.111 and FDA 21 CFR 56.111).

Instructions for how to populate legacy studies, or “fill the shell,” were initially provided via the 2018 Q4 OHSP Newsletter.  These instructions have since been replaced with the Office for Human Subject Protection Guideline for Populating Legacy Studies in Click® IRB.  This guideline provides clarification and thorough instructions for downloading legacy study documents from ROSS, verifying legacy study information in Click® IRB, and populating legacy studies in Click® IRB.  The guideline also provides expanded instructions for how to populate a legacy study when additional revisions to the research are required and for how to populate multi-site legacy studies.  Have questions concerning this process?  Contact your IRB Coordinator.

Today: “How to Catch a Scientific Figure Falsifier: Analysis and statistical reporting of potential figure element reuse and splicing across millions of images.” 8^th Annual Lecture on Biomedical and Health Science Ethics by Daniel E. Acuna, assistant professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University. Mandatory for Medical Center graduate students and postdoctoral appointees. 2-3 p.m. Class of ’62 Auditorium (G-9425). Refreshments will be available in Flaum Atrium following the lecture.

May 15: Deadline to apply for funding from the UR CTSI Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration (CLIC) to write a Synergy Paper focusing on a new approach to translational science or a review of a pressing translational science topic. All application requirements are on the CLIC website.

May 20: Music and the Brain Luncheon featuring a discussion on the neuroscience of music and music training with Matthew BaileyShea, associate professor of music theory; David Temperley, professor of music theory; Edmund Lalor, associate professor of biomedical engineering and neuroscience; and Ross Maddox, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and neuroscience. PONS (Pre-doctoral Organization of the Neurosciences) Luncheon Roundtable Series. Noon. Hawkins Conference Room 1-7438 (Medical Center). Refreshments provided. For more information on upcoming neuro-related events, go to http://blogs.rochester.edu/pons/

May 23: The Rochester Advanced Materials Science Program (RAMP) Symposium, on the topic of “Biologically Engineered Materials.” 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Goergen Hall Sloan Auditorium. Featuring five keynote speakers, a poster session, and lightning talks.  Register for a poster presentation and lightning talks by e-mailing Gina Eagan. 

May 23: Deadline to apply for funding from the Center for Emerging and Innovative Sciences (CEIS) to support projects with NY companies that promote technology transfer to those companies. All proposals must be submitted by email as attachments using the forms on the CEIS web site at http://www.ceis.rochester.edu/funding/CIRP.html. Documentation of company commitment must accompany the proposal. Proposals must be received by Cathy Adams (cathy.adams@rochester.edu, 585-275-3999). Questions may be addressed to her as well.

May 31: 5 p.m. deadline to submit applications, sponsored the Medical Center and Roswell Park for pilot funding for research relevant to the regulation of tobacco products. Read the full RFA. Contact Scott Steele or Deborah Ossip with questions.

June 1: Un-meeting to foster new collaborations and ideas and explore innovative approaches to the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning at all stages of the translational science spectrum. Hosted by the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI). 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saunders Research Building. Register by Monday, May 13.