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Chantelle Escobar Leswell
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Professor Young is an avid combatant of climate change and works to monitor the warming of the planet both on a grander scale and locally here in Massachusetts and New England. He has worked in the forests of China, Australia, India and Ghana, publishing research from each country as well as exhibiting his various art and science projects in Quebec, Australia, Tunisia and Iran. Despite his broad-spanning repertoire, Professor Young, in recent years, has preferred paying close attention to the local climate and worked on multiple projects focused on climate change in New England last year.
One of the articles he published, titled “Overall Warming with Reduced Seasonality: Temperature Change in New England, USA, 1900–2020,” was notably co-authored by Professor Young’s son. When asked if he thought he had inspired his son to work in the same field, he suppressed a laugh and gave a resounding “no,” stating that his kids were often subject to his fieldwork endeavors and, while they care about climate change, they did not develop the same passion for working in the field as himself.
Instead, his son Joshua, who Professor Young describes as having a knack for data manipulation, covered the data and statistics portion of the paper. Professor Young comments that it was a quarantine project they could work on together, coalescing their very different skill sets. The project paid off because, although it has only been published less than two months, his article is the most viewed article in the journal Climate over the past two years.
During a sabbatical in 2018, Professor Young presented his research on climate change in West Asia at an international Arid Lands conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan Since then, he and his colleagues there have been working to forge a strong academic relationship between Salem State and Kazakh National University. He praises Salem State for allowing faculty sabbaticals, which facilitate powerful, important research and build powerful relationships.
The third and final paper Professor Young worked on in 2021 was published with his colleagues in Kazakhstan. This spring, Professor Young will be hosting one of his Kazakh colleagues here at Salem State University for two months while they work on climate change research together.
Amidst all of his research, Professor Young does not shy away from working with graduate and undergraduate students alike. Another paper published last year, titled “Monitoring the erosion and accretion of a human-built living shoreline with drone technology” was published with two of his graduate students. Professor Young firmly believes in providing hands-on experiences to his students to instill confidence and to empower them to realize how capable they are. He credits the Salem State geography and sustainability department’s allegiance to supporting students for the work he is able to do with the students.
The accomplishments do not end there: Professor Young is a credit to our university and is highly esteemed among his students. His research is crucial at this juncture in history and we’re grateful to him for pursuing it. Congratulations on all of your accomplishments this past year, Professor Young!
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Learn more about the Center for Research and Creative Activities. All Salem State University students, faculty, and staff are invited to email their research to be featured by the CRCA: ssu-research@salemstate.edu.