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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Capps today announced a federal grant of $951,697 has been made to Professor John Melack at the Bren School at UCSB. This grant was awarded by NASA’s Office of Earth Science to support a joint international project, led by Brazil, to study how the wetlands effect the carbon balance of the Amazon rainforest region.
“As a longtime supporter of NASA's efforts to study climate change, I am pleased to announce this important funding for Dr. Melack,” said Congresswoman Capps. “His grant proposal was one of a select few chosen for funding by NASA, and will help answer important scientific questions about global warming.”
Dr. Melack’s proposal, entitled “Linking Vegetative Cover and Inundation in Amazon Wetlands with Regional Analyses of Carbon Dynamics,” was one of 35 proposals selected for funding out of 97 total. According to NASA, proposals were solicited in the thematic areas of land cover and land use change, carbon dynamics, race gas and aerosol fluxes, and nutrient dynamics and surface water chemistry.
For his project, Dr. Melack is using advanced remote sensing technologies to understand the ecology of the Amazon wetlands in an effort to learn about climate and ecological conditions currently influencing the earth’s carbon levels and its effect on climate.
Congresswoman Capps has consistently supported increases in funding for the NASA program so scientists like Dr. Melack continue to benefit.
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Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.
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