UMD, NASA-Goddard Create Joint Global Carbon Cycle Center

UMD, NASA-Goddard Create Joint Global Carbon Cycle Center

Researchers and officials from the University of Maryland's Department of Geographical Sciences and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Md., will formally launch the Joint Global Carbon Cycle Center, the latest in a 30-year history of collaborations between NASA and UMD, at an event featuring GSFC Director Christopher J. Scolese and UMD President Wallace Loh.

WHAT:

UMD-NASA Joint Global Carbon Cycle Center Inauguration

WHEN:

Thursday, March 7, 2013 4-7 p.m.

WHERE:

The University of Maryland's Riggs Alumni Center, Orem Hall

WHO:

• Christopher J. Scolese, director, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
• Wallace Loh, president, University of Maryland
• John Townshend, dean, UMD's College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
• Piers Sellers, deputy director, NASA's Sciences and Exploration Directorate; member, NASA's Astronaut  Corps
• George Hurtt, professor and research director, UMD's Department of Geographical Sciences

About The Joint Global Carbon Cycle Center
Building on decades of scientific collaboration between the Goddard Space Flight Center and UMD, the Joint Global Carbon Cycle Center provides the necessary framework for the effective interaction and collaboration of researchers concentrating on global carbon cycle studies.

This framework enhances critical work, including:

• The assessment of biospheric carbon stocks and fluxes
• Monitoring of land cover and land-use changes
• Field calibration and validation studies
• Integrated computer modeling for future projections

The Joint Global Carbon Cycle Center builds on the strengths of GSFC and UMD to become a world-leading center for studies of the global carbon cycle.

For more information on the Joint Global Carbon Cycle Center, please contact Laura Ours at lours@umd.edu or 301-405-5722.

March 4, 2013