Science & Technology

Kīlauea lava fuels phytoplankton bloom off Hawai‘i Island

Published: September 11, 2019 | 2:25 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

When Kīlauea Volcano erupted in 2018, it injected millions of cubic feet of molten lava into the nutrient-poor waters off the Big Island of Hawai‘i. The lava-impacted seawater contained high concentrations of nutrients that stimulated phytoplankton growth, resulting in an extensive plume of microbes that was detectable by satellite. A Florida State University researcher was […]

An agricultural mystery: FSU researchers work to understand bacteria killing citrus trees

Published: September 11, 2019 | 2:07 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

A team of biologists has put on their detective hats to investigate the complicated bacterium behind citrus greening, a problematic plant disease that has felled citrus orchards across Florida and threatened the Sunshine State’s once prosperous orange crop production. One problem: The bacteria that causes citrus greening — Liberibacter asiaticus — won’t grow in a […]

Deepwater Horizon oil buried in Gulf Coast beaches could take more than 30 years to biodegrade

Published: September 10, 2019 | 1:31 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

Golf ball-size clods of weathered crude oil originating from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon catastrophe could remain buried in sandy Gulf Coast beaches for decades, according to a new study by ecologists at Florida State University. In a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, FSU Professor of Oceanography Markus Huettel and graduate student Ioana Bociu […]

Climate change could bring short-term gain, long-term pain for loggerhead turtles

Published: September 5, 2019 | 9:11 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

An overwhelming scientific consensus affirms that for thousands of species across the globe, climate change is an immediate and existential threat. For the loggerhead turtle, whose vast range extends from the chilly shores of Newfoundland to the blistering beaches of Australia, the story isn’t so cut and dried. New research from conservation biologists at Florida […]

Oxygen depletion in ancient oceans caused major mass extinction

Published: August 30, 2019 | 2:36 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

Late in the prehistoric Silurian Period, around 420 million years ago, a devastating mass extinction event wiped 23 percent of all marine animals from the face of the planet. For years, scientists struggled to connect a mechanism to this mass extinction, one of the 10 most dramatic ever recorded in Earth’s history. Now, researchers from […]

Eminent scientist, National Academy member to join FSU faculty

Published: August 27, 2019 | 3:00 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology, University News

An esteemed evolutionary biologist and member of the National Academy of Sciences is joining the Florida State University faculty. Steven Stanley will join FSU’s Department of Biological Science where he will collaborate with several different researchers on projects ranging from dinosaur evolution to the intricacies of gastropods. He also will mentor younger faculty members who […]

Survival of the fittest: Research team finds that population density is key to evolution

Published: August 26, 2019 | 12:13 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

A multiuniversity research team including a Florida State scientist has found that a lack of predators creates an environment that is key to evolutionary changes found in guppies. Florida State University Robert O. Lawton Professor of Biological Science Joseph Travis and a team of researchers have been studying guppies for more than a decade. The […]

Ice sheets underpin core elements of the Earth’s carbon cycle

Published: August 16, 2019 | 9:44 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

Scientists once believed that the ice sheets covering about 10 percent of Earth’s land surface were frozen wastelands, devoid of life and with supressed chemical weathering — irrelevant parts of the Earth’s carbon cycle. Now, a world-leading international team including researchers from Florida State University and the University of Bristol have pulled together a wealth […]

DARPA taps engineering researcher for prestigious young faculty award

Published: August 14, 2019 | 9:21 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Assistant Professor Kourosh Shoele has spent the early stages of his career going with the flow. That is, in the eight years since receiving his doctorate from the University of California San Diego, he’s conducted extensive research on the interactions between fluid and solid structures — or flow interactions — in […]

FSU researchers find depleted seamounts near Hawaii recovering after decades of federal protection

Published: August 7, 2019 | 2:00 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

Associate Professor of Oceanography Amy Baco-Taylor and doctoral student Nicole Morgan

For decades, overfishing and trawling devastated parts of an underwater mountain range in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii, wrecking deep-sea corals and destroying much of their ecological community. But now, after years of federally mandated protection, scientists see signs that this once ecologically fertile area known as the Hawaiian-Emperor Seamount Chain is making a comeback. […]

Early career faculty members recognized with prestigious NSF awards

Published: July 22, 2019 | 10:13 am | Posted in: Science & Technology, University News

FSU's 2019 National Science Foundation CAREER awards winners. Top row: Christianne Beekman, Sonia Haiduc, Christopher Holmes. Bottom row: Lama Jaber and Yan Yan Hu.

Five Florida State University assistant professors have received highly competitive CAREER awards from the National Science Foundation for their significant early career accomplishments in research and education. The CAREER award, one of the most prestigious granted to junior faculty by the NSF, supports scholars in the early stages of their careers as they develop their […]

FSU faculty ‘superstar’ earns national honor

Published: July 19, 2019 | 11:41 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

Florida State’s esteemed physics professor Samuel Tabor has earned every accolade in the book for his meaningful impact on students and the university over the past 35 years: “Brilliant.” “Exceptional.” “Deeply encouraging.” “Great to work with.” Those were just some of the words coworkers and students used to describe Tabor as they nominated him for […]