This kind of science represents the future: large-scale, wired programs that integrate fertile teams of naturalists, geoscientists and programmers. Science and engineering students could set their sights on cookie-cutter technology careers or take on the greatest challenge of our time: learning how the Earth works and changing our ways of life to work with it. Research projects like the Critical Zone Observatories create opportunities for everyone from undergraduates and doctoral researchers to support technicians. The United States’ 10 observatories are part of a worldwide network totaling 62 Critical Zone Observatories so far, each one part of a scientific return to earth.
Article and photo by: Andrew Alden
Published: January 16, 2014
Published by: KQED
Related article:
Eel River Observatory Seeks Clues to Watershed’s Future
By: Robert Sanders
Published: January 15, 2014
Published by: UC Berkeley News Center