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November 13 , 2006 News from the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research Headlines:
Environmental Solutions Initiative — David Cash to present November 16th ESI Seminar On Thursday, November 16 from 1-3pm, David Cash, Director of Air, Energy & Waste Policy in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs will present "At The Nexus: Environmental Policy, Science & Politics". David will discuss work that he completed while at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. This research focused on links between scientific assessments of environmental risks and local decision making. David will give a formal presentation for approximately one hour, followed by an extended discussion period for 30-60 minutes. Refreshments will be served. All seminars take place in Room 107, Norman Smith Hall, University of Maine, Orono, Maine and are open to all. For parking permits and directions contact Ruth Hallsworth at hallsworth@maine.edu. The Environmental Solutions Initiative is an inter-disciplinary collaboration of UMaine faculty, students, and others interested in improving links between knowledge and action regarding environmental management and sustainable development. Seminars are sponsored by the
Mitchell Center, the Graduate Program in Ecology & Environmental Science, and the School of Marine Sciences. Click here for a complete list of upcoming seminars. UMaine Faculty participate in Appalachian Trail Environmental Monitoring Program Several University of Maine faculty and staff are participating in working groups that will develop the Appalachian Trail Environmental Monitoring Program. The goal of the program is to “use the Appalachian Trail as a scientific mega-transect for monitoring the environmental
health of the eastern United States”. The trail, a 270,000 acre corridor stretching from Georgia to Maine, traverses national and state forests and parks, and has four million annual users. The project’s goals are to determine status and trends in natural resources along the trail, and act as an early warning network for potential issues. The project will promote public understanding of the trail’s natural systems and native species, in part by engaging citizen scientists. UMaine researchers are members of the Vegetation working group (Ivan Fernandez, Plant, Soil, and Environmental Sciences; Dave Field, Forest Management) and Water Quality working group (Sarah Nelson, Mitchell Center). The Mitchell Center’s High Elevation Lake Monitoring program is a likely data source for future evaluation of trail resources, and these lakes’ past use as indicators of changes in acidic deposition is an example of how the trail may act as a “living barometer” for environmental change.
Water Resources Research National Program FY07 RFP
The Request for Proposals for the FY 2007 National Competitive Grants Program authorized by section 104G of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 has been released. The Request for Proposals is available for download as a pdf document.
Abstract
The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Institutes for Water Resources requests proposals for matching grants to support research on the topics of water
supply and water availability, which are issues of importance nationwide. Proposals are requested on the topics of water supply and availability, including investigations of possible new sources of supply, improvement of impaired waters to usable quality, conservation of existing sources, and limiting growth in demand. Proposals are sought in not only the physical dimensions of supply and demand, but also quality trends in raw water supplies; the role of economics and institutions in water supply and demand; institutional arrangements for tracking and reporting water supply and availability; and institutional arrangements for coping with extreme hydrologic conditions. The amount available for research under this program is estimated to be $920,000 in federal funds. Any investigator at an institution of higher learning in the United States is eligible to apply for a grant through a Water Research Institute or Center established under the provisions of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984, as amended (http://water.usgs.gov/wrri/institutes.html). Proposals involving substantial collaboration between the USGS and university scientists are encouraged. Proposals may be for projects of 1 to 3 years in duration and may request up to $250,000 in federal funds. Proposals must be filed on the Internet at https://niwr.net/ by 5:00 PM, EST, February 16, 2007 and must be approved for submission to the National Competitive Grants Program not later than 5:00 PM, EST, March 2, 2007 by the Institute or Center through which they were submitted.
For additional information, please contact John Peckenham.
2007 Maine Water Conference: Call for Abstracts The Call for Abstracts for the 2007 Maine Water Conference has been issued. The conference will take place on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 at the Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, Maine. Oral Abstracts Oral abstracts must fit within one of the session topics listed below. The submission deadline for oral abstracts is Friday, December 1, 2006. Session Topics:
- Legislative issues
- Municipal Issues: compliance, stromwater, comprehensive plans, regionalization
- Wetlands, vernal pools, salt marshes, riparian restoration
- Contaminants - arsenic, uranium, mercury, pharmaceuticals, hormones
- Environmental education: informal and experimental
- Water resources and climate change
- Landscape change: fish assembleages, invasives, urban vs rural, forests
- Volunteer Monitoring - developing a VRMP
- Sustainable water use
- Enforcement of environmental laws - Regulation versus actual protection
Poster Abstracts Posters invited for display will address one or more aspects of water quality or quantity issues. These may include chemical, biological, hydrological, and geochemical aspects of surface and ground waters, and their policy and economic implications. Poster abstracts will be accepted for juried high school, undergraduate and graduate competitions. Non-student poster presentations based on appropriate research findings are
also accepted for display. However, space is limited and student submissions will take precedence. Deadline for poster abstract submission is Friday, February 23, 2007. |
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