Championing Tomorrow: Your Guide to Creating a Better Future

Isabel Montañez ’81, a paleoclimatologist and geochemist, recalls arriving at Bryn Mawr feeling lost and shy. “I didn’t have any self-confidence,” she shares. But a pivotal relationship with her geology professor, the late W. Bruce Saunders, changed everything. “He saw a spark in me and nurtured it,” she says. By her senior year, Montañez became the president of the student body.

Today, she leads the Institute of the Environment at the University of California, Davis, as a distinguished professor in Earth and Planetary Sciences. Her mission? Taking action on climate change. “Rather than talk about climate in the future, I wanted to actually do something about it,” she explains.

Montañez studies past climate events to understand how they relate to today’s challenges. “The past is a fully played out experiment,” she explains. By examining periods of high carbon dioxide, she investigates temperature changes, ocean circulation, and ecosystem impacts.

In 2021, she expanded her work to include innovative methods like using crushed lava rocks in farmland to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere. Normally, this process, known as rock weathering, takes millions of years. But mixing ground-up rock with soil speeds up the carbon capture, potentially storing huge amounts of CO₂.

Interest in her research grew, even catching the attention of the Biden administration, which was exploring scaling rock weathering to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. However, Montañez expresses concern. “That’s all changed,” she says, noting the current administration’s shift in focus.

Since January, her institute has faced significant funding challenges, losing tens of millions out of a $117 million federal grant. While the $30 million from the Department of Energy supporting her rock weathering project remains, the agency has restricted the use of terms like “climate” and “carbon removal.” Instead, the focus has shifted to soil health and crop yields. “It’s ridiculous,” she states, but emphasizes that they’re still pursuing the research.

“Rather than talk about climate in the future, I wanted to actually do something about it.”

Montañez is no longer the quiet student she once was. In 2017, she was one of 1,900 scientists who signed an open letter criticizing the Trump administration’s anti-science stance. Responding to her peers’ warnings about potential risks, she argues, “You’re rolling over. Why not fight?”

Montañez values the support she’s received and feels compelled to give back. “Many people have helped me along the way. Now it’s my turn to contribute,” she says.

As climate challenges become even more pressing, voices like Montañez’s are crucial. With the right support and research efforts, scientists aim to innovate solutions that can lead to meaningful change for our planet.

Source link