The patience of a scientist
Science does not always entail crunching numbers using complex models or staring down the barrel of a microscope. Sometimes it requires entrepreneurship and even supreme patience. Case in point: Former CEOAS postdoctoral scholar Amy Smith and her team deployed custom-made microbial collectors at the bottom of the ocean and waited four years for a glimpse of what early life may have looked like on Earth. (Spoiler alert: It was worth the wait.) Mark Raleigh and colleagues found an innovative use of a Fitbit-like device, not to count daily steps, but to measure the swaying of tress as a proxy for snow accumulation and therefore future water availability in the west. They spent six years at a Long-Term Ecological Research site, persistently collecting data. The patience of a scientist is indeed inspiring.
The spring issue of Strata brings you these and other cutting-edge Earth science stories, from how climate change may influence human migration, to the longest sediment core collected in the Atlantic Ocean, to the promise and perils of satellite imagery in monitoring armed conflict, such as in Ukraine. We hope you enjoy reading.
Nancy Steinberg, Co-editor
Abby Metzger, Co-editor
