The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Day 1

From September 14 to 23, 2025, I had the great pleasure to attend the The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise. It was a cruise to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Kikai Institute for Coral Reef Sciences. This cruise was aboard the schooner Miraie. "Miraie" (みらいへ) means "towards the future" in Japanese, … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Day 1

Microplastics at the Kikai College Summer Science Camp

A plastic bag floating in the water near a coral reef in Kikaijima, southern Japan. The grey specks are pumice stones from an undersea volcanic eruption that happened in 2021. This summer marks the fourth time I have gone to the Kikai Institute for Coral Reef Sciences. Kikaijima is a small island located in southern … Continue reading Microplastics at the Kikai College Summer Science Camp

Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 6

Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 6 The deep dive of episode 6 is on the topic of CO2 changes through time. Listen here: https://raisedbeaches.buzzsprout.com/ Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/@evangowan Episode 6 - Intro In the intro, I discuss about the hot start to the summer and my trip to Mt. Aso volcano. I discuss about my experience at … Continue reading Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 6

Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 5

The deep dive of episode 5 is the greenhouse effect. For a full list of references, see the post on my website: Listen here: https://raisedbeaches.buzzsprout.com/ Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/@evangowan Episode 5 - Intro I discuss what I have been doing from late December 2024 to the end of February 2025, including watching Sakurajima volcano erupt, and … Continue reading Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 5

Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 4

Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 4 The deep dive of episode 4 is on Milankovitch Cycles. Listen here: https://raisedbeaches.buzzsprout.com/ Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/@evangowan Episode 4 - Intro I discuss what I have been doing in November and December 2024, as well as an overview of all of 2024. Current work on ice sheet reconstructions. Trip to Okinawa … Continue reading Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 4

Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 3

The deep dive of episode 3 is on proxy records. Listen here: https://raisedbeaches.buzzsprout.com/ Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/@evangowan Episode 3 - Intro I discuss about how autumn is late coming to Japan, and my geological observations from my recent trip to Nagasaki. I talk about the devastating hurricanes in the southeastern United States, and how Hurricane Helene … Continue reading Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 3

Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 2

The main topic of episode 2 is on sea level and deviations from sea level. Listen here: https://raisedbeaches.buzzsprout.com/ Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/@evangowan Epsiode 2 - Intro I discuss about my activities from June to late July, including my stay at the Kikai Institute for Coral Reef Sciences, and the University at Buffalo. I then discuss about … Continue reading Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 2

Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 1

This is episode 1 of the Raised Beaches Podcast. This is the culmination of many months of planning to produce a podcast to discuss topics related to paleoclimate, Earth science and global change. In this episode, I introduce myself and discuss the highlights of the 2024 Japan Geoscience Union conference. The deep dive explains what … Continue reading Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 1

Dealing with the Dread of Climate Change

Annual average global temperature from the Berkeley Earth reconstruction, along with an interpolated trend for the future. 2023 stands out as being substantially above the long term trend. Gavin Schmidt (one of the world's most respected climate scientists), in a commentary published in Nature, expressed his shock on the unprecedented warming that happened in 2023. … Continue reading Dealing with the Dread of Climate Change

Job Quest – the beginning

A stack of possibilities. It has been about half a year since the end of my last postdoctoral fellowship. Although I have kept an eye out for new academic positions, I mostly have used this period of "unemployment" to finish off some lingering projects, to travel around to see friends and family, and to train … Continue reading Job Quest – the beginning