NIU Today

Reed Scherer’s doctoral research set out to test a radical hypothesis put forth in the 1970s that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet “collapsed” during the interglacial period that immediately predated the most recent Ice Age, and could again. Confirming past instability of this ice sheet would contribute to growing concerns regarding future collapse and consequent...

Antarctica is melting, according to evidence brought back to Illinois by NIU Geology professor Reed Scherer and his students. At the next STEM Café, Scherer will discuss his Antarctic research, why it matters and what it reveals about global climate trends. The free talk and discussion will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday,...

Having just returned from a highly successful research expedition in Antarctica, NIU geologists Ross Powell and Reed Scherer appeared as guests during Tuesday evening’s broadcast of Chicago Tonight on WTTW11. The interview and a Q&A with the researchers is available online. Powell led a National Science Foundation-funded science team that became the first ever to...

Using a specially designed hot-water drill to cleanly bore through a half mile of ice, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded team of researchers, led by NIU’s Ross Powell and including other faculty and students, has become the first ever to reach and investigate the “grounding zone” along the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, where ice, land...

It’s a continent of extremes, boasting arguably the harshest environment on the planet. And it will become a research laboratory for three NIU geology students who will arrive in Antarctica in early January. They’re taking part in an important, collaborative research project that is funded by the National Science Foundation and being led by NIU...

[vsw id=”oVtlIB-EbXg” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”] The coastline, or grounding zone, where the massive West Antarctic Ice Sheet atop land meets the Ross Sea, is considered an important piece of the puzzle for scientists working to predict the effect of climate change on rising seawaters, which threaten coastal cities worldwide. Yet researchers have never laid...

Richard Alley, a riveting speaker and one of the most famous climate scientists of our time, will visit NIU this month to give a public talk on the impact that fossil fuels have had on climate and the potential for a bright future of sustainable energy usage on the planet. Alley, who hosted the PBS...

The government shutdown was resolved last week, but it wasn’t soon enough to save a multimillion-dollar NIU research project in the Antarctic. The National Science Foundation, which was funding the research, has notified NIU scientists and two participating graduate students that their planned Antarctic research season to begin in January has been canceled. Earlier this...

The government shutdown has put in jeopardy the upcoming field season for the U.S. Antarctic Program – a potentially major blow to dozens of research projects nationwide, including a large-scale expedition investigating ice sheet dynamics and climate change and to be led by NIU geologist Ross Powell. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is likely to cancel...

Northern Illinois University’s 28-foot-long, 2,200-pound robotic submarine, built for exploration beneath the ice shelf in the Antarctic, is getting its maiden voyage this week in one of the nation’s deepest and most celebrated bodies of water—Lake Tahoe. The unmanned yellow submarine—also known as a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) or sub-ice rover (SIR)—is equipped with a...

Brian Guthrie, a senior NIU geology major, says his recent experience in the Antarctic as part of a major research team was, well, out of this world. The icy desert continent “was like nothing I’d ever seen before,” says the 23-year-old St. Charles native, who spent more than a month in Antarctica. At one point,...

A lounging Weddell seal, wandering Adelie penguin, stark white landscapes, the Transantarctic Mountains and lots of scientists in action. All of that and more can be found on this micro-blog created by NIU Board of Trustees Professor Reed Scherer in geology. Scherer just recently returned from a historic research expedition in the Antarctic. He was...