Research geologist Elizabeth Cotrell turned a love of science into a career at one of the nation’s most important geological resources.
United States
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
Landslide Exposure in the United States
A new study provides a fascinating insight into the patterns of landslide exposure in the United States. The increased focus in recent years on the socio-economic aspects of landslides has been welcome. This area of understanding has lagged behind that for other hazards, possibly in part because of the lack on interest from the insurance […]
Posted inScience Updates
Confronting Salty Problems in the Coastal Plain
An interdisciplinary network of scientists and stakeholders is working to understand how saltwater intrusion and sea level rise are affecting rural communities and to help address the consequences.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
As Wildfires Increase in the West, So Does Suppression Spending
A new study projects the intertwined relationship between fires and the money spent fighting them.
Posted inOpinions
Archetypes Could Accelerate Agricultural Adaptation to Less Snowpack
Measurable characteristics can be used to develop archetypes of complex agricultural systems, helping stakeholders to assess where different adaptation strategies are more likely to succeed.
Posted inOpinions
The Governance Gap Threatening Long-Term Ecological Archives
To save multigenerational science from administrative indifference, we must mandate stewardship continuity before closing physical facilities.
Posted inOpinions
The Global Impact of Losing U.S. Sea Level Science
Cuts to climate science risk halting or even erasing decades of progress in global change research—just as risks from rising seas demand better data, informed decisionmaking, and faster action.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Much Will Western Wildfires Worsen Under Warming?
A new study reevaluates the use of vapor pressure deficit, or VPD, in climate models to predict increases in area burned by wildfire across the U.S. West.
Posted inNews
Most of the U.S. West Will Face Above-Normal Wildfire Risk This Summer
The National Interagency Fire Center predicts elevated wildfire potential across much of the West and many Southeast states through August.
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
The 10 August 2025 landslide and tsunami at Tracy Arm fjord in Alaska
A wonderful new paper on the huge Tracy Arm landslide and tsunami will have profound but challenging implications for the management of risk in an age of increased tourism and rapid climate change. The journal Science has published an excellent new paper (Shugar et al. 2026) that examines the extraordinary 10 August 2025 landslide and […]