Author Profile: T Cook

Terri Cook

Biography

Terri Cook is an award-winning freelance writer whose career has focused on exploring and explaining the 4.5-billion-year-history of the remarkable planet we live on. Cook, who has an M.S. degree in Earth science from the University of California, Santa Cruz, writes about geology, ecology, and the environment—as well as wine, tea, hiking, and biking—for a diverse group of publications, including Eos, Scientific American, NOVA Next, Science News, and EARTH magazine, as well as Avalon Travel and numerous other travel-related publications. Her reporting has taken her to 25 states and 20 countries scattered across 5 continents, from the depths of the Grand Canyon to the sandy Australian Outback to the mist-shrouded summit of Bali’s Mount Batur. As the coauthor of three popular guidebooks, including Hiking the Grand Canyon’s Geology and Geology Underfoot Along Colorado’s Front Range, Cook gives frequent presentations about geology and science communication. She is the recipient of a 2016 European Geosciences Union Science Journalism Fellowship and is based in beautiful Boulder, Colo.

Publications from T. Cook

Hydrology, Cryosphere & Earth Surface

Map of sites in USDA’s Long-Term Agroecosystem Research network

Research Spotlight 18 February 2021

Big Benefits from Experimental Watersheds

Scientific insights from the Agricultural Research Service’s long-term study sites underpin dozens of models and research methods that guide global land management and conservation practices.

Atmospheric Sciences

Smoke billows from a wildfire in the Rocky Mountains

Research Spotlight 10 February 2021

Evaluating Environmental Predictors of Western U.S. Wildfires

A new analysis highlights the importance of carefully selecting the environmental variables used to drive future changes in wildfire burn area in climate models.

Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Volcanology

Tucson, Arizona, with the Santa Catalina Mountains in the background

Research Spotlight 8 February 2021

Parsing Routes to Aquifer Recharge Along Mountain Fronts

Research from the Tucson Basin indicates that tracers can be used to distinguish surface and subsurface recharge, providing crucial data to support sustainable water management in arid environments.

Hydrology, Cryosphere & Earth Surface

View toward the sky from beneath Oregon white oak trees

Research Spotlight 3 December 2020

How Some Trees Survive the Summer Dry Season

Oak trees in California seasonally tap moisture in unsaturated soil and weathered bedrock, even when the groundwater table is within reach of their roots.

Ocean Sciences

A yellow submarine glider floats on the ocean surface.

Research Spotlight 23 November 2020

Autonomous Minisubmarine Measures Seawater Conditions

Forecasts of carbonate chemistry in coastal ecosystems determined from seasonal robotic measurements can improve fisheries management and help mitigate short-term ocean acidification events.

Hydrology, Cryosphere & Earth Surface

Aerial view of the Green Mountain Reservoir and Heeney, Colo., in 2017

Research Spotlight 19 November 2020

Different Models, Different Answers in Water Resource Planning

The experimental design used in climate vulnerability assessments can strongly influence the assessments’ findings and skew decisions about which factors are most important for informing adaptation.

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Ocean Sciences

A large swirling plankton bloom is seen in the Gulf of Alaska in this satellite image taken in June 2016

Research Spotlight 3 November 2020

A Promising Development for Detecting Ocean Productivity

A comparison of primary productivity measurements across the North Pacific Ocean demonstrates the potential for using autonomous instruments to discern effects of climate change on the marine food web.

Atmospheric Sciences

Cumuliform clouds hover over the Atlantic Ocean

Research Spotlight 15 October 2020

A New Way to Fingerprint Drivers of Water Cycle Change

Simulations of tropical ocean convection help distinguish climate effects resulting from large-scale changes in atmospheric circulation from those resulting from higher temperatures.

Geology & Geophysics

Sediment swirls and mixes with water in a brown slurry

Research Spotlight 8 October 2020

Experimenting with Underwater Sediment Slides

Sediment-laden currents caused by breaching flow slides are hazardous to flood defenses and seabed infrastructure. New research shows that these phenomena must be accounted for in erosion simulations.

Hydrology, Cryosphere & Earth Surface

Research Spotlight 13 August 2020

Lake Ice—and Ecosystems—in a Warming World

Extending ice records and standardizing sampling protocols are among recommendations to help researchers better predict how changing ice cover will affect aquatic ecosystems.

Author Profile

Terri Cook

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Publications from T. Cook

Big Benefits from Experimental Watersheds

Evaluating Environmental Predictors of Western U.S. Wildfires

Parsing Routes to Aquifer Recharge Along Mountain Fronts

How Some Trees Survive the Summer Dry Season

Autonomous Minisubmarine Measures Seawater Conditions

Different Models, Different Answers in Water Resource Planning

A Promising Development for Detecting Ocean Productivity

A New Way to Fingerprint Drivers of Water Cycle Change

Experimenting with Underwater Sediment Slides

Lake Ice—and Ecosystems—in a Warming World

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Structure and Thermal Evolution of Exoplanetary Cores

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Tropical Water Fluxes Dominated by Deep Convection Up to Near Tropopause Levels

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