Faculty & Staff

Faculty

Michael Garstang

Distinguished Investigator and Research Professor · Ph.D. Florida State University, 1964

Contact Information

Convective storms, sometimes reaching into the stratosphere, play a major role in maintaining the heat balance of the atmosphere, and in governing the vertical distribution of critical trace gases and aerosols. Work involving the coupling of the deeper atmosphere to the surface and boundary layers is being conducted over the rain forest of the Amazon Basin and the tropical south Atlantic and Pacific. Other studies, which capitalize upon knowledge of convective storms and the boundary layer, include global and regional rainfall, gaps in the rainforest and low frequency sound transmission.

Mike Garstang is the 2012 Artist-In-Residence at the Virginia Coast Reserve Long-Term Ecological Research Station in Oyster, VA.

Artwork by Michael Garstang:

Recent Publications

Garstang, M. (2009):  Precursor tsunami signals detected by elephants.  The Open Conserva. Biol. J., 3, 1-3.

Garstang, M. (2009):  Elephant infrasounds:  long-range communication.  Chap. 3.2 in Handbook of Mammalian Vocalization, S.M. Brudzynski (ed), Oxford:  Academic Press, pp. 57-68.  DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-374593-4.00007-3.

Garstang, M. (2010):  No simple cause and effect for glacial melt.  Physics Today, July, p. 10.

Angelini, I.M., M. Garstang, R. Davis, B. Hayden, D.R. Fitzjarrald, D.R. Legates, S. Greco, S. Macko, and V. Connors (2011):  On the coupling between vegetation and the atmosphere.  Theor. Appl. Climatol., 105, 243-261.  DOI:  10.1007/s00704-010-0377-5.

Davis, R.E., I.M. Angelini, M. Garstang, B.P. Hayden, D.R. Fitzjarrald, D.R. Legates, S. Greco, S. Macko, and V. Connors (2011):  What is the source of continental precipitation?  Paper presented at the Annual Mtg. Assoc. Amer. Geogr., Seattle, WA, April.

Davis, R.E., M. Garstang, K. Leggett, E. Zipser, S. Greco and M. Petersen (2011):  Weather and climate influences on the movement patterns of the African elephant (Loxodonta Africana) and the role of infrasound.  Paper presented at the 19th Internat. Congress of Biometeor., Auckland, NZ, December.

Coleman, A. and M. Garstang (2012):  The Disputed Territory:  A cause of the Anglo Zulu War re-examined.  Under review, So. Afr. J. Sci.

Garstang, M. and A. Coleman (2012):  Climate and the Mfecane.  Under review, So. Afr. J. Sci.

Kelley, M.K. and M. Garstang (2013):  On detection and location of lightning storms by elephants.  Under review, Animals.