Page 2 - DENIN-2015

A Network of Discovery & Solutions
Table of Contents
From the Director.................................1 Core Research Areas ...........................2 Environmental Frontier Grants ............ 7 Education Programs ............................ 8 Partnerships...........................................10 Events................................................. 12 Strategic Plan .................................... 13
On the cover:
The key elements of the critical zone — land, air, water, and organisms — are captured in a single photograph by Mariana Bucina Roca.
Credits:
Beth Chajes, editor; Lane McLaughlin, graphic design. Photographs by Kathy F. Atkinson, Ambre Alexander, Doug Baker, Shree Inamdar, Evan Krape, Lane McLaughlin, Holly Michael, Danielle Quigley, Angelia Seyfferth and Rodrigo Vargas. Additional photos courtesy
of NASA and the UD Coastal Sediments Hydrodynamics and Engineering Lab. Critical zone illustration by David Barczak.
Athin shell of atmosphere, water, and rocky crust encases our planet. This shell — referred to by scientists as “the critical
On the cOver: D
zone” — extends roughly from the tops of the trees down to
bedrock, where groundwater ceases to penetrate. All life as we know it resides in this narrow band, reflected
in DENIN’s logo, where land water, air, and
living organisms meet and interact.
Humans are changing and shaping the critical zone as never before, prompting many scientists to call
our current era the Anthropocene.