David Hart, Future Director, Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research
Topic: The role of research in water resource management: Linking knowledge to action

David Hart is the former Director of the Patrick Center for Environmental Research at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA. He will join the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research as Director in June 2006.

David was captivated by streams and rivers as a small boy growing up in northern California; he presented his first public testimony about watershed management issues at the age of 17. At the Academy of Natural Sciences, he led a large multidisciplinary research team working to understand, protect, and restore watersheds. He is also an adjunct professor of biology at the University of Pennsylvania.

David’s broad interests in environmental science and policy are focused in three interrelated areas. First, together with his students and postdoctoral fellows, he has examined the role played by flowing water as a master variable governing river ecosystems. He has collaborated with experts in biomechanics and hydraulic engineering to investigate the myriad effects of flow on ecosystem structure and function, as well as the complex ways in which human alterations of flow regimes affect river health. This research has ranged from studies of the microflow environments experienced by individual river organisms to analyses of ecosystem responses to multi-million dollar restoration programs in which dam operations have been modified to improve the health of degraded rivers.

More broadly, he is engaged in multidisciplinary research to increase the effectiveness of watershed management practices, including activities such as riparian restoration, dam removal, sustainable water use, and the control of invasive species. For example, he and his colleagues have been developing planning tools to quantify how the ecological benefits of different restoration and protection projects vary with their size and location within the watershed.

David also works to maximize the usefulness of multidisciplinary environmental research by developing robust partnerships with key stakeholders involved in environmental decision-making. For example, he has worked with Fortune 500 companies, local and international environmental organizations, and numerous government agencies to identify and adopt more effective strategies for sustaining the planet’s life support systems. He helped created the Academy of Natural Science’s Town Square program, which provides a neutral community forum for stakeholders to explore controversial environmental issues.

The role of research in water resource management: Linking knowledge to action
Efforts to identify and solve water resource problems can often benefit from integrated research and development (R&D) programs focused on interactions among human activities, social and ecological values, and environmental conditions. This talk examines strategies for enhancing the contribution of integrated R&D programs to water management policies and practices. R&D activities can help assess current environmental conditions, evaluate the consequences and cost-effectiveness of alternative policy options, develop new environmental management technologies and practices, and identify socioeconomic factors that can catalyze environmentally responsible behaviors by individuals and institutions. The interdisciplinary nature of most water resource problems underscores the need for R&D teams that include experts in sociology, economics, and public policy as well as environmental scientists and engineers. The search for better solutions can also benefit from stronger collaboration between R&D teams and end-users (e.g., decision-makers, watershed managers, and other stakeholders). The ultimate success of these R&D activities depends on improved communication with the public and policy makers, including more effective approaches for sharing and interpreting environmental information. These strategies are illustrated in this talk by R&D programs and partnerships focused on problems involving watershed restoration, the fate and effects of contaminants, and water allocation.