BES News

Conference on Public Participation in Scientific Research, August 4-5, 2012

2012-03-01T16:43:00.002-05:00

What: Conference on Public Participation in Scientific Research (citizen science, volunteer monitoring, community-based research, crowd science)

When: August 4th and 5th, 2012

Where: Portland, Oregon

With the rapid growth and innovation of public participation in scientific research (PPSR), there is a need for sharing insights across projects and fields of study. This landmark event will convene science researchers, project leaders, educators, technology specialists, evaluators, and others from across many disciplines (including astronomy, molecular biology, human and environmental health, and ecology) to discuss advancing the field of PPSR.

The PPSR Conference is being held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America (ESA), a venue that has long been supportive of citizen science and that welcomes insights from diverse fields. PPSR Conference attendees may be interested in staying in Portland to attend - or even give a talk or poster at - the ESA conference that runs August 6th -10th. ESA's call for abstracts is now open, with a February 23rd deadline (please note that this call is for ESA only, NOT for the PPSR Conference): http://www.esa.org/portland/contributed.php

More details about the PPSR Conference are available at CitizenScience.org/conference/2012, including the agenda, information on a forthcoming call for posters, and a poll for an early headcount.

Conference Co-Organizers:

Meg Domroese, research consultant, SERC Institute
Heidi Ballard, University of California – Davis
Rick Bonney, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Tony DeFalco, Consultant, Equity and Sustainability
Abraham Miller-Rushing, National Park Service
Sarah Newman, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)
Jennifer Shirk, CitizenScience.org, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Jake Weltzin, U.S. Geological Survey, USA National Phenology Network
Alison Young, California Academy of Sciences

Software Tools for Sensor Networks

2012-03-01T16:03:00.004-05:00

We are happy to announce a training workshop “Software Tools for Sensor Networks” sponsored by LTER, NCEAS and DataONE. The training workshop will be held May 1 - May 4, 2012 at the LTER Network Office in Albuquerque, NM. We have support to cover travel and lodging for participants that need it. Registration is now open with a deadline of March 25, 2012. Please see http://sensor-workshop.ecoinformatics.org/ to register. Your participation will be confirmed by April 2, 2012. Participants will be selected to broadly represent the community. A draft agenda and resources are currently listed on the webpage and will be more fully detailed in the coming weeks.

The goal of this training is to promote best practices for sensor data management and provide hands-on training in the use of existing tools and common software. This workshop is designed to introduce several options for managing streaming sensor data and discuss requirements for sensor data management systems and best practices in quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC). Hands-on exercises will focus on open source software stacks such as the Open Source DataTurbine (OSDT), the Kepler Workflow System with R, and CUAHSI's Observation Data Model to capture, quality control, and archive sensor data. Ultimately, we hope that this training will stimulate collaborative efforts where sites can share tool experiences or even code development.

· Workshop dates: May 1 - May 4 (noon), 2012; Travel days: April 30 and May 4 afternoon.

· Registration deadline: March 25, 2012

· Participant confirmation: April 2, 2012

· Location: LTER Network Office, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
We have support to cover travel and lodging for participants that need it.

For more information and to register for the workshop please visit: http://sensor-workshop.ecoinformatics.org/

Please forward this announcement to interested parties, this workshop is not restricted to members of the LTER network

Don Henshaw, Corinna Gries, Matt Jones

LTER

Environmental Justice Workshop

2012-02-23T17:35:00.004-05:00

On Saturday, January 28, 2012 BES hosted a daylong workshop on Environmental Justice at the Parks & People Foundation in Baltimore. The workshop is part of the NSF-funded Pathways to Environmental Science Literacy project for middle and high school science teachers from Baltimore City and County.

Dr. Ali Whitmer, Associate Dean at Georgetown University, taught teachers about Baltimore's distribution of environmental advantages (like access to parks) and disadvantages (like proximity to a toxic release inventory site). Nationwide it has been found that environmental disadvantages are typically located in poor and minority areas. However, BES researcher Chris Boone found that in Baltimore this is not the case. In the past it was considered advantageous to live close to where you worked (the industrial areas) so in Baltimore there are more Toxic Release Inventory sites in white neighborhoods than black. Dr. Whitmer also engaged teachers with a game called "Whose Resource Is It Anyway?" The goal of the activity was to help increase participants understanding of environmental justice, what constitutes equitable distribution of environmental resources and services, and the factors involved in the decision making process.

Part of the workshop included a tour led by renowned environmental justice activist Glenn Ross. Ross’ Baltimore Toxics Bus Tour around East Baltimore gave teachers the opportunity to learn about local environmental justice issues.

To achieve sustainable development, problems regarding the fair distribution of resources among today’s population and for future generations must be confronted. Teachers left the workshop with new ideas and heightened motivation for exploring these issues with their students.

By: Tammy Newcomer

SER Mid-Atlantic & New England Chapters Annual Conference: Restoration on the Edge

2012-01-02T16:26:00.001-05:00

Save the Date!

On March 23rd and 24th of 2012,

The 7th Annual SER Mid-Atlantic Conference will be held at Brooklyn College in New York City.

This year, we are joining forces with our friends and colleagues in the SER New England chapter.

CLICK HERE

for announcement

Click HERE - Call for Papers and Posters

Urban Environmental Pollution: Creating Healthy, Liveable Cities--Call for Papers

2012-01-02T16:13:00.001-05:00

Call for Papers deadline approaching - 16 January 2012
Special Issue of 2010 conference freely available

Abstract Submission »

Join Mailing List »

Commercial Opportunities »

Organised by

Supporting Publication

Don't miss out - submit your abstract to be part of the program. The main topics of the conference include, but are not limited to:

New information about urban environments and how they function
Pollution problems and possible solutions
Role of the built environment in alleviating heat islands
Human health problems and solutions
Role of vegetation in mitigating urban pollution and human health problems
Innovative methods for alleviation of urban stress problems

Oral and poster abstracts should be submitted using the online abstract submission system. Abstract submission deadline: 16 January 2012.

2010 Conference Papers freely available

To give you an impression of the papers selected for the Urban Environmental Pollution conference in 2010, this Special Issue is now temporarily freely available (Volume 159, Issues 8-9, pp. 1963-2210).

The other papers of UEP2010 are published in Procedia Environmental Sciences (Volume 4, Pages 1-336). Also freely available via SciVerse ScienceDirect.

Programme Committee

William Manning, University of Massachuttes, USA (Chair)
Elena Paoletti, National Research Council (IPP-CNR),Italy
Yong-Guan Zhu, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Kevin Jones, Lancaster University, UK
Claudia Wiegand, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

For complete meeting details, please visit www.uepconference.com or use one of the links below:

Invited speakers	Register for email updates	Submit abstract	Location/ Venue
Committee	Deadlines	Register	Contact
Supporting Journal	Sponsorship/ Exhibitors	Programme

Important Dates

30 December 2011
Abstract Submission Deadline - Young Research Scientist Award

16 January 2012
Abstract Submission Deadline

20 April 2012
Early Bird Deadline

Invited Speakers

Bert Brunekreef, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Carlo Calfapietra, National Research Council (IBAF-CNR), Italy
Zoe Davies, University of Kent, UK
Sue Grimmond, King's College London, UK
Kevin Jones, Lancaster University, UK
Florian Lederbogen, Central Institute of Mental Health, Germany
Gina Lovasi, School of Public Health Columbia University, USA
Frank Martin, Lancaster University, UK
Yong-Guan Zhu, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

___________________________________________________________________________________________

ANNOUNCING Solutions' Special Issue: Ecosystem Services Come of Age

2012-01-02T16:01:00.003-05:00

ANNOUNCING Solutions'
Special Issue:
Ecosystem Services Come of Age

Ecosystems are humanity's life-support systems. And the services they provide, such as carbon sequestration, flood control, water purification, and storm protection, have tremendous value
(monetary and otherwise) to people. This special issue of Solutions explores how a new
generation of environmentalists, from the Pacific Northwest to South Africa, is using the
ecosystem services concept to protect both nature and people.

Visit us online at
www.thesolutionsjournal.com

Solutions is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Seeking BES Mentors for Research Experience for Teachers (RET) 2012-2013

2011-12-22T16:17:00.005-05:00

Baltimore Partnership for Environmental Science Literacy

Towson University, MD ● Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, NY

In Brief:

Four Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Fellows will join the Baltimore Partnership for Environmental Science Literacy’s unique research and education community to carry out an independent research project, participate in teacher workshops, and develop plans they will implement in the 2012-2013 school year.
The RETs will be an integral part of the Pathways to Environmental Science Literacy Math Science Partnership Project funded by the National Science Foundation and taking place at the Baltimore Ecosystem Study and three other Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites around the nation. RET Fellows are expected to complete a research project in the summer of 2012, and then to develop and pilot test an enhancement to one of the project’s curricula during the 2012-2013 school year.

Each RET mentor will:

· Provide guidance and support to an RET Fellow for six (6) weeks during the summer. The Fellow will design and implement an independent research project in environmental science. Research projects in 2012 will be aligned with one of the three focal areas of the Pathways Project: 1) carbon cycling and climate change, 2) water flows, quality and habitats, and 3) biodiversity.

· Help the Fellow produce a final report or paper based on her/his summer research.

· Support the Fellow in developing an enhancement to one of the project’s curriculum units (carbon, water, biodiversity, citizenship) based on her/his summer research project. This might be a new lesson or a modification of an existing lesson in the unit. The RET Fellow will pilot test this enhancement in their own classroom.

· Spend time (1 or 2 sessions) in the Fellow’s classroom during the 2012-2013 school year while her/his unit is being pilot tested.

· Complete pre- and post-program assessment surveys about the RET Fellow’s growth and contribution to your work.

· Participate in occasional meetings (2-3) with other mentors, RET Fellows and project staff during the summer and following school year.

Eligibility to serve as an RET mentor:

· Be resident in the Baltimore region during the summer of 2012 (July 9 –August 17), or at least a significant portion of this time period.

· Willingness and ability to support a research project related to one of the project’s three focal areas: 1) carbon cycling and climate change, 2) water flows, quality and habitats, and 3) biodiversity.

· Provide a project topic title and brief (1-2 sentence) description for inclusion in program announcements and application forms.

· Have space and other required resources to mentor a teacher during that time.

· Willingness to do the above list of duties.

· Enthusiasm for working with teachers.

RET Program Details:

· Dates:

o Summer Workshop: June 25-29, July 2-3, 2012

o Summer Research Period: July 9 – August 17, 2012

o School Year: 5 Saturdays, to be determined

· Work site: Mentors will provide RETs lab space and other logistical support during the summer intensive research period. Office space is available at the Center for Science and Mathematics Education at Towson University.

· Supplies: each Fellow has a $500 supplies supplement to support their research and/or teaching activities.

Interested mentors should contact:

Alan R. Berkowitz, Ph.D.

Head of Education

Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

PO Box AB

Millbrook, NY 12545

Phone: (845) 677-7600 ext. 311 Fax: (845) 677-5976

Email: berkowitza@caryinstitute.org

BES Schedule 2012

2011-12-15T16:56:00.005-05:00

Annual Meeting: Wednesday and Thursday, 24-25 October

at the Cylburn Arboretum

Community Open House & Greening Celebration:

Wednesday, 24 October at Cylburn

Quarterly Research Meetings:

Wednesday, 18 January – Topic – BES synthesis volume – Steward Pickett, Morgan Grove, Elena Irwin, Chris Swan

Thursday, 19 April – Green Infrastructure - Morgan Grove

Thursday, 21 June – Combined with picnic at noon – Urban Legends 2

Graduate Student Symposium: TBA

Community Awareness & Safety Training: TBA

Project Management Committee (PMC):

Conference call meetings are scheduled for the third Wednesday of every month from 10:00 am to 12 noon (Eastern time). January, May and November are scheduled for alternate days because of Quarterly Research Meeting, Science Council Meeting and holiday.

*25 January 18 July

15 February 15 August

21 March 19 September

18 April **October (See Steering Committee)

*9 May *14 November

20 June 19 December

*other than 3^rd Wednesday

Steering Committee: **Tuesday, 23 October 1:00-5:00 pm

Information Management Committee (IMC):

Quarterly meetings are scheduled as noted below from 1:00 to 2:00 pm (Eastern time). Call in number and code: 517-652-8998 – 7569393 #

23 February 22 August

24 May 15 November

NSF-LTER Science Council Meeting: 16-17 May hosted by HJ Andrews Experimental Forest

NSF-LTER All Scientists Meeting: 9-13 September YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park, CO

9th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference, Orlando, Florida June 3-8, 2012

2011-12-01T10:27:00.001-05:00

We are pleased to announce the Society of Wetland Scientists and the Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration Conference will meet in conjunction with INTECOL 9, and their presentations on planning, policy and science will be integrated into the program. We welcome our colleagues to this premier event - the largest wetlands conference in the world.

Mark your calendar now and make plans to attend this dynamic conference which will attract more than 1500 of the world's leading wetland scientists and policy makers.

Call for Abstracts - DUE December 16th!

Submission Deadline: Friday, December 16, 2011

All individuals working in ecological, physical, biogeochemical and social sciences pertinent to wetland management and policy are invited to submit abstracts describing their efforts, science, projects and results.

INTECOL 9 provides a forum for wetlands scientists from around the world to discuss threats, challenges and integrated solutions for sustainable restoration and management of wetlands in our changing world and we encourage you to participate in this discussion and submit an abstract of your work.

Oral and poster presentations will be selected from abstract submissions, and abstracts from all presentations will be published online in the conference book of abstracts. Poster presentations will be divided into two sessions and formal poster sessions will be held for each grouping to allow maximum time for discussion with individual authors.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are a member of the Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) or if you normally attend the Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (GEER) Science Conference - these conferences will not be held in 2012. Instead, SWS and GEER will meet in conjunction with INTECOL 9, and all GEER and SWS presentations will be integrated along with ALL SUBMISSIONS used to formulate one program agenda for INTECOL 9.

Abstracts will be limited to one page (250-500 words maximum), and will be due December 16th to allow sufficient time for program agenda development and for international submitters to obtain visas.

Don't wait until the last minute! Start working on your abstract now to meet the December 16th deadline.

Additional Note: Dan Childers is organizing an Invited Session on Urban Wetlands.

Those interested can contact Dan Dan.Childers@asu.edu before submitting their abstracts, so that he can help them assure they are directed to the correct session.

SWSPCP to Offer Education Credits for Professional Certification at INTECOL 9

The Society of Wetland Scientists developed a program for certification of wetland science training and experience as a separate not-for-profit corporation, called the SWS Professional Certification Program, Inc., (SWSPCP).

SWSPCP works to meet the needs of professional ecologists, hydrologists, soil scientists, educators, agency professionals, consultants, and others who practice wetland science. This program is aimed at serving the public's need to identify qualified individuals to assess and manage the Nation's wetland resources.

Certification signifies that the academic and work experience of a Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS) meets the standards expected by his or her peers of a practicing wetland professional and provides acknowledgment to his or her peers of adherence to standards of professional ethics with regard to the conduct and practice of wetland science. Certification will enhance recognition of wetland science within other disciplines, especially in multi-disciplinary work environments.

Sponsor INTECOL 9!

Aligning your organization with INTECOL 9 provides you with the opportunity to strengthen industry relationships, interact with key decision makers, and reinforce your continued commitment to wetlands worldwide. Take advantage of this occasion to promote your organization before attendees from governmental, private, non-profit, and contracting organizations.

For more information please visit the conference website:

www.conference.ifas.ufl.edu/intecol

- Or Contact -

Ms. Beth Miller-Tipton, CMP, CGMP, Director University of Florida, IFAS, Office of Conferences & Institutes

TEL: 352-392-5930; EMAIL: bmt@ufl.edu

Group Rate Information:

The Caribe Royal is offering participants of the 9th INTECOL a very special rate of $129 per night plus applicable taxes (currently 12.5%) for single or double occupancy for standard double queen or standard king suite.

Reservation Deadline:

Reservations must be made by Monday, April 16, 2012 to receive this special group rate. Please be aware the block of rooms may fill before the deadline, so we urge you to make your reservation as soon as possible. After April 16, the discounted rate is not guaranteed on possible remaining rooms.

Make Your Reservation:

To make your reservation at the reduced rate, call 1-800-823-8300 and state that you are a 9th INTECOL International Wetland Conference participant.

Who Should Attend: The 9th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference is designed to bring together an international cadre of scientists, engineers, natural resource managers, policy makers, planners and partners involved with or affected by all aspects of sustainable management and restoration of wetland ecosystems.

This includes those involved in the wetland sciences, engineering, wetland resource management and restoration, regulation, planning and policy, and education.

Conference Chairs:

Dr. K. Ramesh Reddy

University of Florida/IFAS

TEL: 352-392-1804 ext 317

krr@ufl.edu

Dr. G. Ronnie Best

US Geological Survey

TEL: 954-577-6354

TEL (CELL): 954-658-4676

Ronnie_Best@usgs.gov

Dr. Glenn R. Guntenspergen

President, Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) US Geological Survey

TEL: 218-720-4307

glenn_guntenspergen@usgs.gov

Urbanization and Global Environmental Change Project -- UGEC Viewpoints VII - Call for Abstracts

2011-11-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

It’s time to begin work on the next issue of UGEC Viewpoints! The process for this seventh issue will work just as it has for the last few issues. Interested parties should send a 300 word abstract of envisioned contributions. The contribution should discuss your current research or could be forward looking – including a discussion of problems or knowledge gaps, potential solutions for moving forward, etc. In general, Viewpoints articles should be semiformal presentations of research findings in the context of urbanization and global environmental change with more emphasis on the policy implications of the research. For examples of articles, recent issues can be found at this link: http://ugec.org/tiki-index.php?page=ReportsNewsletters

After selections are made – potentially 10-12 contributions total – a full article of around 1500-1800 words would be submitted. Potential contributors should begin by sending your 300 word abstract by Sunday, December 18^th.

After you are notified acceptance, your full article will be due by the end of January. The final product is expected to become available in March.

Abstract submissions should be emailed to: corrie.griffith@asu.edu Questions about the publication or the process can also be directed to Corrie.

BES Annual Meeting Agenda

2011-10-13T18:20:00.005-04:00

Baltimore Ecosystem Study Annual Meeting

Agenda

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

Cylburn Arboretum, Vollmer Center, Baltimore, MD

8:00 – 8:25 am Breakfast

8:25 – 8:30 Meeting Logistics: Morgan Grove

8:30 – 9:00 Welcome and Introduction

Presentation of Director’s Award

S.T.A. Pickett, Project Director

9:00 – 9:30 Keynote Speaker-David Sloan Wilson

Evolution as a general theoretical framework for urban ecosystem studies

9:30 – 10:45 Session 1 (5)

9:30 – 9:45 Land use and climate alter carbon dynamics in watersheds of Chesapeake Bay—S.S. Kaushal, S. Duan, M. Grese, M. Pennino, K.T. Belt, S.E.G. Findlay, P.M. Groffman, P. Mayer, S. Murthy, J. Blomquist

9:45 – 10:00 Time is money: An empirical examination of the dynamic effects of uncertainty on residential subdivision development—D. Wrenn

10:00 – 10:15 Developing learning progressions for student understanding of water systems in Baltimore—B. Caplan, T. Newcomer

10:15 – 10:30 Biodiversity in urban stormwater ponds—K. Brundrett, C. Wahl, C. Swan

10:30 – 10:45 Urban community forestry in Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD: The role of nonprofit organizations—M. Rodier

10:45 – 11: 00 Break

11: 00 – 12:30 Session 2 (6)

11: 00 – 11:15 Identifying the effect of down-zoning in Baltimore County on residential subdivision development in Carroll and Harford Counties—E. Irwin, C. Towe, A. Klaiber, D. Wrenn

11: 15 – 11:30 Uncultivated: A physical and virtual tour of Baltimore's wild plant life—L. Cazabon, C. Partain

11: 30 – 11:45 Effects of stormwater management and stream engineering on nitrogen uptake and denitrification in streams—T. Newcomer, S.S. Kaushal, P.M. Mayer, P.M. Groffman, M.M. Grese

11: 45 – 12:00 Collective strategies for increasing Baltimore City’s tree canopy—E. Tyler

12:00 – 12:15 Recalculating the WUI to strengthen ecological vulnerability planning in the urban-rural transition zone—H. Howard

12:15 – 12:30 What's missing from Baltimore's urban fish communities and why?: A preliminary comparative analysis of fish assemblage data—S. Kemp

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch

1:30 – 3:00 Poster Session

3:00 – 4:00 Session 4 (6)

3:00 – 3:15 Watershed flow dynamics of the Baltimore Region—A. Bhaskar, C. Welty, A. Seck, R. Maxwell, C. Jantz, S. Drzyzga, R. Sanderson, A. Miller, G. Lindner, J. Cole

3:15 – 3:30 Climate change in Maryland: A strategy for resilience—M. Griswold, Z. Johnson

3:30 – 3:45 Ecological complexity and disease vectors: Phenology and composition of urban mosquito communities in Baltimore—S. LaDeau

3:45 – 4:00 Baltimore Sustainability Program utilizing Baltimore Ecosystem Study as a tool and resource—B. Strommen

4:00 – 6:00 Time to set up for COH

6:00 Community Open House and Greening Celebration

Thursday, 20 October 2011

8:00 – 8:30 Breakfast

8:30 – 10:15 Session 5 (7)

8:30 – 8:45 From professional development to effective teaching of environmental science—A. R. Berkowitz, B. Caplan, A. Alvarado, S. Haines

8:45 – 9:15 The Role of Parks & People Foundation’s Informal Environmental Education in MSDE’s Environmental Literacy Implementation Plan—D. Shelley, M. Hardcastle

9:15 – 9:30 A tale of two systems: comparative results for vegetation functional diversity for "Clean & Green" and unmanaged vacant lots—Y. Williams

9:30 – 10:00 Denitrification enzyme activity in stormwater control structures—N. Bettez, P. Groffman

10:00 – 10:15 Pilot testing of distributed temperature sensing in Dead Run—C. Welty, J. Miller, J. Duncan

10:15 – 10:30 Pharmaceutical compounds in BES streams: concentrations and ecological effects—E. J. Rosi-Marshall, D. Kincaid, H. Bechtold, T. V. Royer

10:30 – 10:45 Effects of urbanization on dissolved organic matter composition in Maine, USA—T. Parr, C. Cronan, T. Ohno, K. Simon

10:45 – 11:00 Break

11:00 – 12:45 Session 6 (7)

11:00 – 11:15 Estimation of soil CO₂ effluxes from suburban forest and lawn using continuous measurements of CO₂ profiles in soils—J. Chun, K. Szlavecz, D. Ferrer, M. Bernard, S. Pitz, J. Hom, B. Zaitchik

11:15 – 11:30 Spatial and temporal controls of nitrogen cycling and export—J. Duncan, P. Groffman, L. Band

11:30 – 11:45 Spectral analysis of long-term and high-frequency chloride and nitrate stream chemistry data in the Baltimore Ecosystem Study LTER watersheds—J. Verhoef, C. Welty, S. Kaushal, A. Miller

11:45 – 12:00 Ultra-urban baseflow and stormflow concentrations and fluxes in a watershed undergoing watershed restoration (WS263)—K.T. Belt, W.P. Stack, R. Pouyat, K. Burgess, P. Groffman, S. Kaushal

12:00 – 12:15 Integrated hydrologic modeling: discretization, initialization and hydrogeologic data input—A. Seck, C. Welty, J. Cole, R. Maxwell

12:15 – 12:30 Sources and transformations of carbon and nitrogen in the Potomac River Estuary—M. Pennino, S. Kaushal, S. Murthy

12:30 – 12:45 Land-use effect on stream organic matter composition in two metropolitan areas in USA—S. Duan, S. Kaushal, R. Amon, R. Brinkmeyer

Baltimore Ecosystem Study Steering Committee Meeting 18 October

2011-10-13T13:19:00.003-04:00

Agenda
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
1:00 - 5:00 pm
Location:
US Geological Survey Maryland, Delaware, DC Center Office

(BW Tech on UMBC campus)

5522 Research Park Drive
Baltimore, MD 21228

Directions

Acceptance of the Agenda
Five minute overviews: Director, Graduate, Education, Community Engagement, Information
Management, Site report, Grant proposals and awards.
Synthesis volume
Research Coordination Network on Urban Sustainability
Quarterly meetings: topics and dates
Break
Status of plans for sustainability technical committee
Physical sample inventory and location
Art and science group LTER Network
Facebook page – who to check? How often? How to joining and participate.
Table tent and banner – description, use, storage, check out, and return.

Adjourn 5:00 pm.

BES Annual Meeting and Greening Celebration & Community Open House

2011-10-12T13:44:00.001-04:00

Reminder to register for the BES Annual Meeting. It's only one week away!

Here is the link to register: here.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Delegation of Chinese Scientists Visits BES

2011-10-12T13:39:00.000-04:00

On September 20th, 2011, the Baltimore Ecosystem Study hosted a delegation of Chinese scientists from the Guizhou Academy of Sciences (GAS). The Guizhou Academy of Sciences is a unique provincial comprehensive natural science research organization with a history of over 70 years. GAS is comprised of seven institutions: Guizhou Botanical Garden, Guizhou Biological Research Institute, Guizhou Karst Resources Environment and Development Research Center, Guizhou Physical Test and Chemical Analysis Center, Guizhou Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering Institute, Guizhou New Material Base, and Guizhou New Technology Research Institute.

The delegation was sponsored by the San Francisco United States-China Exchange Council who brought the delegation to the United States for three weeks to learn how the U.S. maintains its biodiversity in hopes of informing their own efforts to set up biodiversity studies in their home province. The Academy is currently designing biodiversity vegetation studies in two forested areas in Guizhou Province. One area is fully protected while the second is situated near an urban center.

The delegation consisted of 10 scientists mainly from environmental and ecologically based disciplines. The day began at University of Maryland, Baltimore County where BES Ecology Education Program Leader, Bess Caplan, and Delegate Mary Washington, from the Parks & People Foundation, gave an overview of the structure and management practices of BES. Following their presentation, Chris Swan, from UMBC, gave an overview of biodiversity studies within BES. The day continued with lunch followed by a visit to two BES research sites: a permanent plot site in Leakin Park and a riparian restoration site along Stony Run.

The delegation was enthusiastic about the day and is looking forward to continuing conversations and collaborations with BES. A formal invitation has been presented to several BES collaborators to visit their research sites in the Guizhou Province of China.

Watershed Science Bulletin

2011-09-14T17:18:00.004-04:00

The Bulletin Spring 2012 Issue: The Application of Monitoring and Modeling in Watershed Management

Fall 2011 Cover

Watershed Science Bulletin (The Bulletin) is the journal of the recently launched Association of Watershed and Stormwater Professionals (www.awsps.org), a program of the Center for Watershed Protection. This peer-reviewed journal is published semiannually and features practical, science-based solutions to important watershed and stormwater management issues. The Bulletin is the first publication to directly serve the watershed management professional community. These busy professionals typically do not have access to academic research databases for the numerous disciplines that inform watershed management. The journal’s mission is to synthesize both research and experience from these disciplines and transmit this valuable information to those who need it to protect and restore their watersheds. Therefore, the information provided in The Bulletin is vital to the continuing education of watershed management professionals.

AWSPs is currently soliciting short articles (5,000 words or less) for the Spring 2012 issue of The Bulletin. In this issue, we hope to elicit articles on the practical applications of monitoring and modeling to assess watersheds and how these tools are used to inform the decision making process to protect or improve watershed health. Monitoring and modeling are the primary tools used to assess watersheds and may be used for problem identification, evaluation of alternatives or measuring progress towards a desired goal or end-point. Each tool has its merits that must be weighed by the local watershed or stormwater manager to determine what approach is most appropriate for a current project or program, such as data availability and quality, costs associated with monitoring or modeling, timeframe, and technical expertise. It may also be desirable to use both monitoring and modeling as part of an integrated approach. Modeling may be used to help understand or scope the type of issues present or severity of a given problem to help focus monitoring efforts, whereas data generated from a monitoring program may be used for model calibration and validation models.

As watersheds encompass land, people and water, research on the economic, social, hydrologic, chemical and biological aspects of watershed monitoring and modeling will be considered. Topics related to the evaluation of specific models, technologies or equipment will not be considered. Preference will be given to articles that address one of the topics provided below:

The use of monitoring and/or modeling to support local watershed or stormwater programs, as separate tools or as an integrated approach
Case study applications of monitoring and/or modeling for problem identification, evaluation of solutions, or measuring progress towards a targeted endpoint
Overview and/or review of models to support local watershed or stormwater programs
The type of model most appropriate for the application (e.g. empirical, physical, spatially explicit vs. lumped)
The type of monitoring most appropriate for the application (e.g. automated sampling vs. in-situ sampling vs. grab sampling, qualitative vs. quantitative surveys)
The application of data generated from volunteer-based monitoring programs
Use monitoring and/or modeling to support regulatory mandates
Effective implementation of local monitoring programs (e.g., purpose and how are they administered, managed, funded)
Use and/or adequacy of existing databases or clearinghouses to support monitoring needs or modeling efforts to inform watershed or stormwater programs (e.g. STORET, International BMP Clearinghouse, National Stormwater Quality Database, USGS water data)

Neely L. Law, PhD, is the Editor-in-Chief, Watershed Science Bulletin at the

Center for Watershed Protection, 8390 Main St., 2nd Floor, Ellicott City, MD 21043

www.cwp.org

www.stormwatercenter.net

Connect With the New Stewardship Map

2011-09-14T16:44:00.001-04:00

In association with the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, Baltimore Office of Sustainability, TreeBaltimore, Blue Water Baltimore, CPHA and Baltimore Green Space, Parks & People is encouraging individuals and organizations involved in environmental stewardship in Baltimore City to fill out a brief survey that will be sent out in mid-September. The information that is collected will be compiled to form a new website that will include a list of organizations and project locations on an interactive map.

If you currently provide educational opportunities, hands-on projects, community programming or information about environmental stewardship, please take some time to complete the survey! To be sure that you receive the survey, send your email address to baltimore.stewardship@gmail.com.

Parks & People is a founding member and partner in the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) since 1997. The goal of their participation in the Study is to link scientists with decision-makers so that the research reflects the needs of our community.

Elena Irwin Receives NSF Grant Award

2011-09-14T15:21:00.004-04:00

Elena Irwin, BES Co-PI and Associate Professor at Ohio State University, received a new competitive grant award from the National Science Foundation’s Geography and Spatial Sciences program to develop spatial agent-based models of urbanization.

The two-year research project is joint with Yong Chen, assistant professor at Oregon State University, and Ciriyam Jayaprakash, Professor of Physics, Ohio State University.

The BES researchers are developing spatial economic models of land development and will apply them to the Baltimore region to study past and future policy alternatives and ecosystem impacts. The models will be calibrated using extensive historical data on residential subdivision and urban land development that Irwin and other BES researchers have developed over the past several years.

This is a plat map of a residential subdivision in Carroll County. Using data from Maryland Archives, we are using these plat maps to create spatial datasets of residential subdivision development for Carroll, Harford, Baltimore and Howard Counties. The new grant will make use of these data to develop agent-based spatial models of household location and land development that will be used to run past and future policy scenarios.

Baltimore Ecosystem Study Annual Meeting October 19-20, 2011

2011-09-14T15:00:00.005-04:00

Members, Collaborators and Friends of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study:

You are invited and encouraged to attend the 2011 Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) Long-Term Ecological Research Program Annual Meeting on 19-20 October and the Community Open House and Greening Celebration on 19 October.

The Annual Meeting is designed to share the technical scientific results of the project with BES researchers, educators, local, state and federal agency representatives while also being open to the media, and interested community members. The Community Open House is an informal venue to share non-technical project information and results with teachers, students at all grade levels, community members, media, and regional decision makers.

Annual Meeting:

The thirteenth BES Annual Meeting will be held at the Cylburn Arboretum Vollmer Visitor Center at 4915 Greenspring Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21209. Here is a link to Directions.

The Annual Meeting will start at 8:30 am on Wednesday, beginning with talks by researchers. After lunch there will be a poster session followed by afternoon talks. The Community Open House will begin at 6:00 pm. The Thursday session will begin at 8:30 am with talks, ending at noon.

Those who have scientific results gathered as a part of, or particularly relevant to, the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, are invited to present a 15 minute talk or a poster summarizing the results. If you would like to present your research at the meeting, please submit your 250-word abstract by Friday 7 October. The abstracts will be published on the BES website. You can include one graphic or table with your abstract. Please submit your abstracts electronically using the online form here. This is a strict deadline, so be sure your abstract reaches us by 7 October.

The final program of talks and posters will be posted via the web at beslter.org shortly before the meeting.

Annual Meeting Parking:

There is free parking available at the Arboretum.

Annual Meeting Meals:

Coffee will be available for all attendees. Pre-paid breakfast and lunch will be available onsite on the first day and breakfast on the second day. Time allotted for lunch will be one hour. We encourage you to register and pay for your meals in advance. There will be very few extra meals available if you sign up at the door. You can also bring a bag lunch. Options for local dining close by are limited. The costs below are to cover your food and drink. There is no fee to attend the meeting.

The options are:

Breakfast Day 1: $ 8.50

Lunch Day 1: $12.50

Breakfast and Lunch Day 1: $21.00

Breakfast Day 2: $ 8.50

Breakfast both days and Lunch Day 1: $29.50

Descriptions of the meals are included on the registration form. Updated information can be reached on the main BES website page, http://beslter.org. The direct link is http://beslter.org/bes_am_asp_2011/bes_am_reg_intro.html .

You can either pay by credit card through the registration form or by check payable to "Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies." Checks should be mailed to Holly Beyar, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, PO Box AB, Millbrook, NY 12545. You will be given tickets for your pre-paid meals along with your name tag when you arrive at the meeting.

Meeting Registration:

All Annual Meeting attendees and participants will need to register by Wednesday 12 October. The online registration form is available here. If you have any questions, please contact Holly Beyar at (845) 677-7600 x210 or beyarh@caryinstitute.org

Community Open House and Greening Celebration:

The tenth Community Open House and Greening Celebration will follow the Annual Meeting on Wednesday evening 19 October from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at the Cylburn Arboretum Vollmer Visitor Center.

The Community Open House and Annual Greening Celebration is a joint gathering by BES and the Parks and People Foundation. This event highlights community involvement in various greening activities such as community gardens. It is also an opportunity for community members to meet and talk with BES researchers in a less formal setting to learn more about BES. The event will feature non-technical displays and handouts. Please contact Mary L. Washington at Parks & People, 410-448-5663 x107 or mary.washington@parksandpeople.org, with any questions about the Open House, or if you would like to submit a non-technical poster or other display.

I encourage all participants and collaborators in the Baltimore Ecosystem Study to present a talk or poster at the Annual Meeting, as well as to attend the Open House in order to promote communication and mutual understanding in this spatially, topically, and institutionally very diverse study.

Sincerely,

Steward T.A. Pickett,

Project Director

Baltimore Ecosystem Study Eco-'Zine Contest

2011-08-31T10:14:00.005-04:00

What is a ‘Zine?

Short for “magazine,” a ‘Zine is a short illustrative booklet or pamphlet that sends a message to its readers. It can be devoted to any topic and can come in many shapes and sizes.

Instructions on making a Zine: http://smallsciencezines.blogspot.com

Contest theme: TreeBaltimore

What is your vision for TreeBaltimore?

Prizes!

Four 1st prizes of $75.00,

Four Honorable Mentions of $50.00.

Show us by creating an original ‘Zine and submitting it to the Baltimore Ecosystem Study Eco-‘Zine Contest! TreeBaltimore is a Baltimore City sponsored program which strives to increase the urban tree canopy by planting and preserving trees in our city. For more information, visit www.baltimorecity.gov and search for ‘TreeBaltimore.’

To Submit a ‘Zine:

Artist must be a K-12 student in a Baltimore City or County public or private school
‘Zines must be submitted by September 30, 2011
Winners announced on October 19, 2011 at the Parks & People Foundation’s Community Greening Celebration
All ‘Zines must be submitted with: name, phone number, address, school name, and grade.
Submit to Bess Caplan at: 800 Wyman Park Dr., Ste. 010, Baltimore, MD, 21211 or caplanb@caryinstitute.org

Here is the link to download the flyer:

http://www.beslter.org/zine/bes-e-zine-contest-flyer-2011-06-06.pdf

1000 Publications for BES

2011-08-22T16:16:00.000-04:00

The 1000th publication was just entered into the End Note library of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study. It was an In-press entry of Steve Raciti's journal article, "Nitrate production and availability in residential soils," soon to be published in Ecological Applications. Congratulations Steve and co-authors Peter Groffman, Jennifer Jenkins, Rich Pouyat, Tim Fahey, Mary Cadenasso and Steward Pickett, for being our 1000th entry.

S.I.M. City Baltimore - Urban Design Studio

2011-08-22T12:03:00.002-04:00

Take a look at the exciting S.I.M. City Baltimore design studio website created by senior undergraduate students from Parsons The New School of Design. S.I.M. stands for sustainable infrastructure models and references the urban design simulation game SIM City. Within this studio the students are creating sustainable design scenarios at the urban block level. They worked in the West Baltimore neighborhood of Harlem Park along with BES researchers, the Baltimore City Sustainability Department planners, Parks & People and community members.

This is a great interactive website which includes many photos and video. Be sure to check it out at this link:http://sce.parsons.edu/studiocourses/BaltimoreStudio2010

Wrapping up a Summer of Professional Development Programs

2011-08-18T17:40:00.002-04:00

This summer, fourteen science teachers from Baltimore County and Baltimore City schools participated in the Baltimore Partnership for Environmental Science Literacy Summer Institute. The teachers spent eight days with Baltimore Ecosystem Study, Towson University staff and graduate students. They learned about the science behind carbon, water and biodiversity and engaged in thinking about student understanding of these topics. The teachers visited three BES research sites: Gwynns Falls at Carroll Park, Gwynns Falls at Glyndon and Baisman’s Run. They met with Dan Dillon (BES) at the Gwynns Falls sites and Ed Doheny (USGS) at Baisman’s Run where they learned about the data collected at each site. Ed and Dan engaged our guests in a question and answer session. By the end of the eight days, teachers developed plans for implementing lessons they learned during the workshop into their school curriculum. Plans are in place to assist teachers throughout the school year with implementation of these lessons and to collect data on student understanding of these topics through a series of pre and post assessments and student interviews.

In addition to the Summer Institute, five teachers participated in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) fellowship program. This 6-week program engaged teachers in conducting research with a mentor scientist while taking a 2-credit graduate course designed by BES and Towson University staff. They were taught by an array of scientists and professors dedicated to our teacher education efforts. The five RET 2011 projects are described below:

· Ms. Dana Riskalla, a science teacher at North Harford High School, conducted research with mentor scientist, Vanessa Beauchamp (Towson University). Her research took place at locations in Patapsco Valley State Park and throughout the Baltimore metropolitan region. Her research focused on the identification of wavy leaf basket grass, a common streamside invasive species.

Mr. Mark Kather, a science teacher at Western School of Technology, conducted research with mentor scientist, Andrew Miller, (BES & University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)). His summer research was related to an NSF-funded urban hydrology project that involves analysis of data from a series of stream gages distributed throughout the Gwynns Falls watershed using Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

· Mr. Shanshivani Rajendran began his Research Experiences for Teachers work in June 2011 and is scheduled to complete his project by spring 2012. Mr. Rajendran, a science teacher at Dunbar High School, is conducting research with mentor scientist, Alan Berkowitz, (BES & the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies). His research focuses on a qualitative study examining whether summer professional development workshops conducted by the four sites participating in the MSP Pathways project support teachers in building their confidence levels in environmental science content and pedagogy.

Ms. Lauren Catts, an elementary school teacher at Sandy Plains Elementary School, conducted research with mentor scientist, Dan Boward, (Maryland Department of Natural Resources). Her research took place at the Department of Natural Resources in Annapolis, Maryland and focused on using stream macroinvertebrate communities as a bioindicator of stream health.

· Ms. Tia Bossiwa began her RET work in June 2011 and is scheduled to complete her project by winter 2011. Ms. Bossiwa, a science teacher at Coppin Academy, is conducting research with mentor scientist Ken Belt, (USDA Forest Service). Her research focuses on feeding habitats of aquatic organisms in streams.

BES Graduate Students Engage Incoming Freshman at Dunbar High in Environmental Science

2011-08-18T17:35:00.003-04:00

On Tuesday, August 9^th, BES-MSP G6-12 Fellows went to Dunbar High School to help teacher Shan Rajendran get entering freshman at summer orientation pumped about environmental science. The 190 students who rotated through Mr. Rajendran’s classroom that day were greeted with several engagement questions: 1) Does air have mass? 2) How do substances and water move through the environment? and, 3) Do plants respire like people?

Students wrote the questions and their hypotheses in their laboratory notebooks and then discussed their predictions as a class. Then students recorded the mass of an Alka-Seltzer tablet and a cup of water. After they dropped the Alka-Seltzer in the water they observed fizzing bubbles rising out of the mixture and many students noticed that the mass went down. Some of the students thought that a mistake had been made but others helped them realize that the mass had gone down because of the gas in the bubbles leaving. They had just demonstrated that air has mass!

Then the students broke into groups of fifteen and rotated among stations. Grad Fellow Julie Baynard taught the students how to use Vernier Labquest probes and chambers with oxygen and carbon dioxide probes. Grad Fellow Natalie Mollett had students work with a watershed model and predict how water would move across the model surface and why. Grad Fellow Tammy Newcomer gave students jars of substances such as motor oil, fertilizer, and leaves and had students discuss how substances move with water through their schoolyard environment It looks like these Freshmen are in for many enlightening scientific discoveries in the upcoming year!

Third Maryland Streams Symposium & Mid-Atlantic Volunteer Monitoring Conference

2011-07-25T14:26:00.005-04:00

There’s still time to register early (by July 29) for the Third Maryland Streams Symposium and Mid-Atlantic Volunteer Monitoring Conference to be held at Carroll Community College near Westminster, Maryland (see http://www.dnr.state.md.us/streams/streamSymposium.asp ).

The event is sponsored by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, The Maryland Water Monitoring Council, The U.S. EPA and The Maryland Local Watershed Implementation Service.

The Symposium will run from August 10th – 13th, 2011 and the Volunteer Conference will be held on August 11th and 12th.

Congressman John Sarbanes will help us kick off the event during our morning plenary session on the 10th.

Join your friends, colleagues, and fellow water monitors for this exciting event chock full of interesting presentations and exhibits, hands-on field trips and workshops, and an outdoor social/cookout on Thursday the 11th. Thanks and we look forward to seeing you in August.

Dan Boward, Executive Secretary; Maryland Water Monitoring Council
Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources, 580 Taylor Ave.; C-2, Annapolis, Maryland 21401 (410) 260-8605
dboward@dnr.state.md.us

www.marylandwatermonitoring.org

Check out BES Items on Cafe Press

2011-07-21T14:13:00.013-04:00

Check out this link: www.cafepress.com/baltimoreecosystemstudy

If you have not seen Café Press before, we upload the logos and arrange them on the items for sale. Individuals can order their preferences directly from Café Press.

There are currently three logo options:
The BES Logo,
The BES logo with Long Term Ecological Research and www.beslter.org
Photo of Baltimore City with Baltimore Ecosystem Study and www.beslter.org

You can order BES caps, mugs, clocks, t-shirts and other items.

BES Graduate Student Representative

2011-07-21T14:09:00.000-04:00

Welcome Anna Johnson

Congratulations to Anna Johnson who was recently elected the BES Grad Student Rep. Anna is a student at UMBC. She is currently at the end of her second year. Her mentor is Chris Swan. Her area of study is meta communities – specifically, English Ivy. Anna is also an IGERT student. We look forward to working with Anna and the talents she brings to this leadership position.

Thanks Tammy Newcomer

We would also like to thank Tammy Newcomer who has been our BES grad student rep since December of 2009. Tammy’s leadership has been appreciated by both grad students and BES Co-PIs. Tammy started the BES Facebook page (check it out if you haven’t seen it). She also created our Café Press page with items carrying the BES logo (check that out too!). Tammy will continues as a grad student with BES working with the Education Team on the BPESL Project for her second year.

BES Annual Meeting 2011

2011-07-21T13:59:00.003-04:00

S A V E T H E D A T E !

For: Baltimore Ecosystem Study Annual Meeting

Dates: Wednesday and Thursday, 19-20 October –

All Day Wednesday; Half Day Thursday

And: Community Open House and
Annual Greening Celebration

(in partnership with Parks & People Foundation)

Date: Wednesday, 19 October – Evening Event

Place: Cylburn Arboretum, Baltimore, MD

As usual BES researchers who have scientific results to share are invited to present a 15-minute talk or a poster summarizing the results. Due date for abstracts is Friday, 7 October.

Our invitation to participate and/or attend will be sent out at the end of August.

Welcome to the BES News on Blogger

2011-07-21T13:49:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the BES News on blogger. We hope that this format will make it easier for you to see what's happening with the Baltimore Ecosystem Study. If you have an article or other information to post please email it to the Project Facilitator: BES-facilitator@caryinstitute.org

BES Meeting Dates 2011

2011-07-21T13:36:00.002-04:00

Quarterly Research Meetings:

Thursday, 20 January – Topic – Sustainability Science – Steward Pickett, Chris Boone, Elena Irwin, Alan Berkowitz

Tuesday, 5 April – Topic – Scientific Writing and Training Workshop – Steward Pickett, Chris Swan

Thursday, 23 June – Topic – Watershed 263 – Peter Groffman, Morgan Grove, Guy Hager

Community Awareness & Safety Training: 6 June

Graduate Student Symposium: 22 June

BES Steering Committee Meeting: Tuesday, October 18 1:00-5:00 pm at USGS

BES Annual Meeting: Wednesday and Thursday, 19-20 October at the Cylburn Arboretum – Theme: Sustainability and Adaptive Processes

Due date for Abstracts: Friday, 7 October
Registration Open: 1 September through 12 October

Community Open House & Greening Celebration: Wednesday, 19 October follows Annual Meeting at the Cylburn Arboretum