Research by Shanti Penprase ’16 featured in Science news story

Shanti Penprase ’16, postdoctoral fellow at Dartmouth College, had her research featured in a recent news story, “Modern farming has carved away earth faster than during the ice age,” published by the renowned journal Science. Penprase’s original research article was published in Geology.

“This study compares erosion rates during the Ice Age to erosion rates after Euro-American agriculture was introduced in the upper Mississippi River region after the 1850s,” Penprase said. “This work is directly relevant to the area around Carleton; both the Cannon River — which flows into the Mississippi River — and Northfield are deeply impacted by agriculture and increased erosion following the introduction of plow-based farming. Studies like this are essential to understand baseline erosion rates before major human modifications to this landscape.”

“Growing up in Southern California, I remember the first time I came to Carleton, and I was amazed to see all the cornfields,” she added. “Agriculture is such an important part of this region in Minnesota and it’s crucial that we understand how these land use practices are impacting the landscape. I decided to become a geology major after taking an intro geology class on a whim with Bereket [Haileab, chair and professor of geology]. I loved it and it’s so cool to see that love for a class resulting in research about the region of Minnesota near Carleton being published in Science!”