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Waterlines is a publication of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research at the University of Maine Contents:
MITCHELL CENTER BIDS FAREWELL TO FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR STEVE KAHL...
While Steve's departure has come as a surprise to some, he leaves over two decades of accomplishment in his wake and is already opening new avenues of cooperation and collaboration among New England scientists and educators. "This is a bittersweet change for me, because of the many great relationships with people in Maine and at the University. However, my career is water chemistry in New England, and I will still be active in Maine," says Steve. Ask a Mitchell Center graduate student why he or she chose the University of Maine, and chances are you will hear, "I came here because of Steve Kahl." Steve's research has supported countless undergraduates and 59 graduate students. Under his leadership, the United States Geological Survey named the Maine Water Research Institute "one of the premier water institutes in the nation". In part because of the significance of the Institute's research related to federal clean air policy, Senator George J. Mitchell lent his name to the Center, adding even greater visibility and importance to the Center's work. From his founding role in the Tunk Mountain Watershed Study, one of the longest-running lake monitoring programs in the country, to research that contributed to 20-year perspectives on responses of surface water chemistry to the federal Clean Air Act, Steve Kahl established himself as an authority on matters having to do with water and Maine. In addition to supporting students, Steve's work at the University of Maine is notable for the nearly $9 million in grant funding obtained from state and federal agencies through research partnerships.
Nothing endures but change, Heraclitus once said. We at the Mitchell Center look forward to positive changes that will strengthen our commitment to excellence in research and education on water resource issues. We are excited about new directions and opportunities for growth and collaborations working with Interim Director Chris Cronan. Mitchell Center staff and students will miss the presence and leadership of Steve Kahl. We offer congratulations to Plymouth State University, and wish nothing but the best to Steve as he begins a new adventure in our neighboring state of New Hampshire. We thank Steve for sharing his understanding of Maine's lakes, rivers, and streams with us, and for supporting young scientists in the beginning stages of their careers. A WARM WELCOME TO
INTERIM DIRECTOR CHRIS CRONAN
Dr. Cronan has established an international reputation for his
research and scholarship in biogeochemistry, ecosystem ecology, and
watershed analysis. His 60 publications have appeared in such
leading international scientific publications as Science, Nature,
Water Resources Research, Environmental Science and Technology,
Oecologia, Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta, BioScience, and Journal of
Environmental Quality. Funding for his research totaling $4.9
million has been awarded by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
U.S. Dept. of Energy, National Science Foundation, Electric Power
Research Institute, U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service,
and Maine Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. He has
presented his research as an invited speaker at a NATO Advanced
Research Workshop on Chemical Weathering in Rodez, France; a Dahlem
Conference on Organic Acids in Surface Waters held in Berlin,
Germany; and an International Congress on Forest Decline held in
Friedrichshafen, Germany. Recently, with sponsorship from the
Hubbard Brook Research Foundation, he has worked with colleagues on
the ScienceLinks project in an effort to provide members of
Congress with a scientific basis for improving federal clean air and
water policies. Dr. Cronan is the author of a textbook entitled Introduction
to Ecology and Ecosystems Analysis, and has nearly completed a
second textbook entitled Biogeochem-istry of Terrestrial
Ecosystems. His teaching responsibilities include undergraduate
courses in general ecology and biology of organisms, and a graduate
class in biogeochemistry. At the local level, he serves as chair of
the planning board and as a commissioner of the Veazie Conservation
Commission. MAINE WATER
CONFERENCE 2005 — CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
Session topics are as follows. Please contact Co-Chair
Catherine Schmitt
or call 207/581-3196 with questions about oral presentations. For
poster presentations, contact
Laura Wilson at
207/581-2971. Session topics are subject to change based on abstract
submissions. SESSION TOPICS Estuaries: Where rivers meet the sea.
Groundwater-surface water
interactions. Mercury, endocrine disruptors, and
other emerging contaminants.
Connecting the data.
Maine community roundtable.
ABSTRACT INFORMATION Oral Abstracts & Presentations Poster Abstracts & Presentations SUBMISSION AND DEADLINES Submission Deadlines FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR
MONITORS PESTICIDE LEVELS IN DOWNEAST RIVERS… By
Jennifer Boothroyd
Prior to coming to the University of Maine, Lucner obtained his
Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Faculty of
Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine in Port Au Prince, Haiti. He worked
as a professional agronomist in Haiti for several years before
deciding to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship and pursue a graduate
degree. Despite being frustrated by the political turmoil in his
native country, Lucner is passionate about Haiti and wants it to be
known for friendly, sympathetic people, rich, community-based
traditions, and natural tropical beauty. He is also passionate about
soccer, and feels sometimes that he missed his calling as a
professional player.
The Mitchell Center is looking for a few
“gently-used” cars for field and other research-related work. The photo on the right is of our Nissan
Pathfinder which was generously donated to the Center by Paul
Haertel. As you can see, we put it to very good use! THE
BUZZ AT THE MITCHELL CENTER
Maine Water Conference 2005 - Save the Date! A productive summer in the lab The lab recently upgraded to a new spectrometer
for analyzing color and phosphorus. Methods have already been
developed and implemented for color analysis, and procedures for
phosphorus will be finished by fall. The staff is looking forward to moving the lab
from its current cramped conditions to its permanent home in Norman
Smith Hall, where there will be more space available for equipment
and analysis. New publications available Acadia is a SPARC Park Waterlines moves to the web If you would like to submit an article for
publication in Waterlines, please contact us at 207/581-3196 or
UMGMC@maine.edu. |
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Steve
Kahl, founder and long-time director of the Mitchell Center, has
left the University of Maine to serve as the first director of the
Center for the Environment at Plymouth State University in Plymouth,
NH. Known nationally for his research on acid rain and water quality
in lakes and streams, Steve built Maine's Water Research Institute
into a successful partner in New England water resources research,
outreach, and education. The new Interim Director of the Mitchell
Center is Dr. Christopher Cronan, Professor of Plant Biology and
Ecology, and MAFES Assistant Director for Ecology and Environmental
Sciences at the University of Maine.
"Steve's
commitment to student success, his ability to leverage federal
research dollars while exercising cost-effective fiscal practices,
have been central to the Mitchell Center's success," says Governor
John Baldacci, who has been a member of the Center's advisory board
since its inception. Our colleague Paul Godfrey, former director of
the Massachusetts Water Center, lauds Steve's ability to pull
together diverse research teams to address a complex issue. "His
grant proposals are eloquent and innovative, and the resulting long
term research programs he has established will serve Maine and New
England for years to come, regardless of his location," says
Godfrey. The National Institutes for Water Resources recognized
these abilities when they unanimously selected Steve as their
president in 2002. 
Dr.
Christopher Cronan is Professor of Plant Biology and Ecology at the
University of Maine. He earned an undergraduate B.S. in ecology from
the University of Pennsylvania in 1973 and a Ph.D. in biological
sciences from Dartmouth College in 1978. In 1988, he was awarded a
Charles Bullard Fellowship in Forest Resources for advanced study at
Harvard Forest and Harvard University. He founded the Graduate
Program in Ecology and Environmental Science (EES) at the University
of Maine in 1994, and served as its director until 1999. In 2003, he
was appointed to oversee undergraduate and graduate programs in
Ecology and Environmental Science at the University of Maine as the
MAFES Assistant Director of EES.
The
Drinking
water planning and conflicts. 
Posters
will address one or more aspects of water quality or quantity
issues. These may include chemical, biological, and hydrological
aspects of surface and ground waters, and their policy and economic
implications.
When
you see Lucner Charlestra staring intently at a computer in the
graduate student office, don't assume he's plugging away at an
assignment; he might just be checking the soccer scores from
Brazil's latest match. Lucner, a Fulbright Scholar from Anse
d'Hainault, Haiti, joined the Mitchell Center as a graduate student
in 2003. His early thesis work, under advisor Howard Patterson and
in collaboration with Maine DEP, was a continuation of a project
that employed the use of a semi-permeable membrane device to sample
for dioxin in Maine rivers. In 2004, Lucner switched his thesis
focus and began working with the Maine Board of Pesticide Control (BPC).
He now uses a newer passive sampler, a POCIS (Polar Organic Chemical
Integrative Sampler), to monitor pesticide levels in Downeast rivers
near blueberry fields. This experimental technique differs from the
traditional sampling techniques of the BPC, which include grab
sampling and deploying drift cards. The project will compare the
detection levels and limits of the newer technique with those of the
traditional techniques, and will provide further information about
the environmental impacts of pesticide application.
DID YOU KNOW? 
Research
in Cadillac and Hadlock Brook watersheds in Acadia National Park provides the foundation for
a new Mitchell Center initiative called SPARC (Service-wide Park Access to Research
Catchments). Designed by the Mitchell Center (project leaders Steve
Kahl, Sarah Nelson and Andrea Grygo), SPARC
is a web-based information network for watershed research in National
Parks. Currently under development, the site (
