University of Delaware College of Earth, Ocean and Environment

John Uponi, a doctoral student at the University of Delaware, recently served as the lead author on a paper examining crops on smallholder farms at Oyo State in southwest Nigeria.

“We were able to generate that spatial data at a high resolution for this particular state that shows where maize and cassava are being grown,” says Uponi. “Now we are trying to expand this work to the entire country. This data would be useful to the Nigerian Ministry of Agriculture and others working in the agricultural sector by providing high-resolution information on where these crops are grown.”

Read the full story here: https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/ceoe/about/news/2026/june/smallholder-farms/

Via WHYY: Ed Hale, assistant professor of marine science and policy, is one of the UD researchers working to mitigate flooding and reduce saltmarsh erosion with a new “hybrid” shoreline.

“We are losing a lot of marsh habitat associated with sea level rise, and we’re seeing as a consequence of that, higher flooding risk for roads, wastewater systems and homes,” Hale says.

Oysters and marsh grasses make up new ‘hybrid’ living shoreline in Lewes, Del. The project aims to reduce the risk of infrastructure damage while supporting marine habitats and recreational fishing.

Via Bloomberg: Gerald Kauffman, director of UD's Water Resources Center, suggests a new approach for managing the drought-stricken Colorado River.

Killing Lake Powell Won’t Save the Colorado River Contrary to popular belief, rearranging deck chairs on a sinking boat can theoretically be of some benefit, if you’re clearing a path to the lifeboats, say, or keeping panicky people busy. Very quickly, though, you’ll have to confront the real problem, which is that you are on a sinking boat.

"Saltwater intrusion is a very serious threat in coastal areas. Only 1% seawater is enough to ruin drinking water supply, and so this is a major concern for water managers in coastal regions.”

Holly Michael, professor of earth sciences at UD, talks to Mongabay.com about the threat that saltwater intrusion poses to coastal areas.

Risk of saltwater intrusion into coastal groundwater spans the globe: Study Globally, about half of drinking water and a quarter of irrigation water comes from under the ground. Yet many coastal sites throughout the world are seeing notable declines in their groundwater levels, putting them at risk of saltwater intrusion, a new study says. The study, published April 14 in t...

Last month, more than a dozen Blue Hens attended the interment of 2nd Lt. Jason K. Goldwater, a navigator aboard a B-25 bomber that crashed during World War II. The aircraft was located in 2017 during a Project Recover mission, launching a years-long recovery and identification process.

“Being able to see the real-world impact that Project Recover has on people and communities when an individual is repatriated and interred is ultimately what all of our work is for," says rising senior Liam Trageser.

Read the full story here: https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2026/may/project-recover-students-alumni-attend-interment-fallen-airman-jason-k-goldwater/

Congrats to two CEOE faculty members: Jennifer Biddle, who has been named the Associate Director for the UD School of Marine Science and Policy, and Jonathan Cohen, who has been named Interim Deputy Dean for the UD College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment.

Learn more about both of these outstanding faculty and their new roles at the links below:

Jennifer Biddle: https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/ceoe/about/news/2026/may/jennifer-biddle-named-associate-director-for-the-school-of-marin/

Jonathan Cohen: https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/ceoe/about/news/2026/may/interim-deputy-dean/

Scientists from UD and other institutions are exploring the use of tagged sharks as mobile ocean sensors to collect critical data for hurricane research and environmental studies. (Via Gulf Coast News)

“We can leverage the natural behaviors of sharks as they swim around the ocean doing their sharky things and put these ocean observing tags on them that record what’s going on throughout the water column,” says UD's Aaron Carlisle, who is leading the project.

Sharks used as ocean sensors to aid hurricane research - WBBH Researchers are tagging sharks to collect ocean data that could improve hurricane predictions and environmental studies.

A multi-institutional team of researchers, including the University of Delaware's Jessica Warren, reports that sections of the Gofar transform fault without large magnitude earthquakes actually act like brakes in a fast-moving car, controlling the occurrence of big earthquake events on transform faults. This finding is in contrast with currently accepted models of earthquake behavior.

“Geologically speaking, it's like looking at a moving Acela train next to a SEPTA train on the tracks,” says Warren, a professor of earth sciences.

Read the full story here: https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2026/may/earthquake-plate-tectonics-gofar-transform-fault-study-results-science-jessica-warren-collaborators/

Thomas Florio, a recently-graduated senior who majored in meteorology and climate science, combined his meteorological and computer science skills with his advisor, Shuai Wang, assistant professor of meteorology and climate science, to improve hurricane damage simulations using Python code.

“We want to improve the damage function in general so not only can we have a better idea of past storms and how they've impacted an area, but we want to be able to better prepare people for future storms,” Florio says. “I also see a market for protecting people during current storms and being able to track the storms via models that show where the storm may go, so we can have a better idea of impacts and preparation in general.”

Read the full story here: https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2026/may/super-storm-sandy-thomas-florio-weather-undergraduate-meteorology/

As an environmental science major at the University of Delaware, Kyle Dennis works on complicated scientific problems while also engaging with communities. One project he worked on during his time at UD was a tree inventory on the west side of Wilmington.

Dennis is pictured here with Jamila Davey, co-founder of the Green for the Greater Good community organization, removing invasive vines from a tree they were surveying.

“With environmental science, you can go to the laboratory or research side of science, or you can go toward the social science side of things,” Dennis says. “I love it all, so I’m glad I found a major that got me both of those things.”

Read the full story here: https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2026/may/urban-forestry-wilmington-delaware-kyle-dennis-tree-inventory/