Software Tools for Sensor Networks

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

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

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.

Check details posted here and REGISTER NOW!  Fees Increase after March 9.

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

Conference Registration Submit Abstract Programme Deadlines Contact Us Call for Papers deadline approaching - 16 January 2012 Special Issue of 2010 conference freely available Register Now » Abstract Submission » Join Mailing List » Commercial Opportunities » Organised by Supporting Publication Follow us on: 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

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

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

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

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 – Topic: Inaugural Meeting of the Baltimore Regional Academy of Sustainability Science.  PLEASE NOTE THIS MEETING HAS BEEN POSTPONED.  THE NEW DATE WILL BE POSTED SOON.

Graduate Student Symposium: TBA

Community Awareness & Safety Training: 5 June

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