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Auburn University researcher links collapse of Maya civilization with lack of hurricanes, reveals benefits of cyclones
More than a millennium ago, in what is now southern Mexico and northern Central America, the ancient Mayan empire stretched across an area the size of Texas.
The Maya civilization flourished along the Yucatán Peninsula and built temples now regarded as one of the “Seven Wonders of the World,” until approximately A.D. 1000 when the Maya territory inexplicably disappeared.
For centuries, the collapse of the Maya civilization has both intrigued and puzzled researchers as studies have examined sociopolitical factors, endemic warfare, migration and many other circumstances at the time of the Mayan’s demise.
A recent study by Martin Medina, associate professor in Auburn University’s Department of Geosciences, has determined that drought due to low tropical storm activity could be to blame for the Maya civilization collapse.
“Paleoclimate records discovered in the last two decades show that the Mayans experienced severe drought,” said Medina. “We found that during the collapse, the Yucatán Peninsula in particular experienced eight events of droughts. It rained half as much then as it does today. Knowing what we know about the agricultural systems in the region and how they had to capture water in order to sustain their populations, a drop in precipitation by half would have had important implications for the Maya civilization.”
To read the full story, click here.
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COSAM student, granddaughter of COSAM supporter, helps capture Auburn Oak arsonist
Herron Taylor, junior in biomedical sciences, has received praise from Auburn fans across the nation for helping to capture the man accused of setting fire to one of the Auburn Oaks following the Auburn vs. LSU football game on Sept. 24.
Surveillance footage from Toomer’s Corner shows Taylor confronting the man, now identified as Jochen Wiest, after he allegedly set fire to toilet paper hanging from the Magnolia Avenue tree.
“My boyfriend and I were posing in front of the tree for a picture while another person took a photo of us,” said Taylor. “Then my boyfriend said, ‘he just lit the tree on fire!’ So, I turned around and sure enough, there was a guy with a lighter in his hand and flames going up the tree. Then he just casually walked back to his group of friends standing around like nothing had happened.”
Quick to act, Taylor confronted Wiest and yelled for help.
“I think everyone was in shock and couldn’t really process what was happening, but all I could think is that he could not get away with this. When I confronted him, he started to run, and I followed him yelling ‘you lit the tree on fire, you lit the tree on fire’ until a group of people wrestled him to the ground and the police arrested him.”
To read the full story, click here.
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COSAM alumna named NASA Graduate Aeronautic Scholar
Jamesa Stokes, physics ’14, has received a NASA Graduate Aeronautic Scholarship. She is one of only five recipients nationwide.
The scholarships are funded by the STEM Education and Accountability Project for a total of $275,000 and will be used to perform research related to NASA mission priorities. Students may renew the grants for the following year, and are guided in their research by principal investigators at their institutions. The expectation is that the students’ research will culminate in peer-reviewed journal publications and presentations at scientific conferences.
Stokes is currently a graduate student at Penn State University in the materials science and engineering program. Her research involves thermal barrier coatings to improve fuel efficiency of gas turbine engines.
While at Auburn, Stokes was a member of the Honors College and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, which allowed her to conduct research at the German Space Agency’s Institute of Structures in Design in Stuttgart during summer and fall of 2014.
An Atlanta native, Stokes has completed internships with Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. In addition, she was a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholar to Reutlingen, Germany.
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Auburn University Museum of Natural History to host Open House
The Auburn University Museum of Natural History will host the annual Open House on Homecoming Saturday, Oct. 1, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The Open House is an opportunity for the public to meet museum curators and staff, and explore the more than 2 million specimens found in the museum’s 10 collections. Visitors will also enjoy giveaways and live animal demonstrations. The Museum of Natural History is located in the Biodiversity Learning Center on the Auburn University campus between Rouse Life Sciences Building and M. White Smith Hall. For more information on the Auburn University Museum of Natural History go to auburn.edu/cosam/mnh.
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Save the date for Tiger Giving Day
Auburn University will host its second annual Tiger Giving Day on Tuesday, Nov. 29, in conjunction with Giving Tuesday, a national day of philanthropy held on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
Last year, COSAM’s Tiger Giving Day project was fully funded by 69 donors who contributed more than $10,000 in 24 hours. The project provided a permanent, high-quality telescope for the COSAM astronomy program.
This year, COSAM will have two Tiger Giving Day projects, one to benefit the inaugural Pre-Med Study Abroad Program in London and another to provide a display for the Auburn University Museum of Natural History’s duck-billed dinosaur egg.
TigerGiving.org will highlight more than 20 unique projects from Auburn's colleges, schools and units that are seeking private support. The website will feature descriptions and videos explaining each project, as well as bios and photos about some of the students, faculty or programs that will benefit from the one-day fundraising initiative.
Visitors to TigerGiving.org can also view real-time funding updates throughout the day on Nov. 29 and watch as the projects reach their goals.
Be sure to like COSAM on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter for updates as Tiger Giving Day approaches.
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