Mitchell Center staff join boards of local environmental non-profits
Peter Vaux and Sarah Nelson recently became board members of two local non-profits both working to improve water quality resources in Maine through research and education. Peter Vaux joined the Board of Mount Desert Island (MDI) Water Quality Coalition, a group dedicated to engaging citizens of all ages in preserving and improving the water quality of MDI through meaningful environmental research and community education. Sarah Nelson became a Board Member of the Maine Lakes Conservancy Institute (MLCI), a nonprofit educational organization
dedicated to understanding, protecting and sustaining the health and values of
Maine’s lakes and the communities dependent upon them. (4/08)
January Course Offered to Maine School of Science and Mathematics Students
Acadia Partners for Science and Learning, working in partnership with Acadia National Park and the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research at the University of Maine, is offering a January intersession course for students at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics. The course will introduce students to current environmental research issues at Acadia National Park and engage them in ongoing research activities. The two-week program will be based at Acadia National Park's Schoodic Education and Research Center (SERC) campus from January 8 to January 18. Additional information is available at Acadia Partners Website. (1/08)
Call for Abstracts — Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products: State of the Science Conference
The New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC) is seeking presentations for the 2007 Northeast Water Science Forum - Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products: State of the Science. The primary goal of this two-day conference is to bring together scientists, regulators, water and wastewater professionals, and other technical experts to disseminate and evaluate the latest research findings and technical data on pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the water environment.
Abstract topics include, but are not limited to the following:
- identifying PPCPs of concern
- occurrence of PPCPs (in the Northeast and beyond) in surface water, groundwater and coastal areas
- PPCP impacts on aquatic ecosystems
- PPCP impacts on human health
- fate and removal of PPCPs in drinking water systems
- fate and removal of PPCPs in wastewater systems (e.g., onsite systems, sludges, biosolids)
- PPCP policy, regulatory, and legal issues
- sampling and analytical methods
- public education (e.g., risk communication, product labeling programs)
- product stewardship (e.g., take back programs, collection programs).
Abstracts are due January 31, 2007. To submit an abstract online or to learn more about this conference, visit the NEIWPCC website.
National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation funds MTBE project
John Peckenham recently received an award from the National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation. The foundation made three awards totaling $14,000, the first such grants ever made by the Foundation. Peckenham's proposal titled, MTBE. Will it ever disappear?, will provide needed measurements to determine the lag between changing fuel composition and the disappearance of MTBE from ground water. This project is a continuation of a collaborative effort between the University of Maine, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The uncertainty of the regulatory process and the documented occurrences of MTBE in ground water make this research both timely and very much needed for ground water planning in many parts of the nation.
An introduction to mercury research at Acadia National Park
Acadia Partners for Science and Learning published an article by Sarah Nelson (8/2006), an associate scientist with the Mitchell Center. The article "An introduction to mercury research at Acadia National Park" provides non-scientists with an overview of some of the important work being done at Acadia National Park in the area of mercury pollution.
Sarah has spent the last eight years studying the problem of mercury pollution in Acadia National Park. She has worked as a member of a team of scientists who have been constructing a “mercury budget,” so that we can understand where the mercury comes from, where it is stored, and how it moves into the watershed and into plants and animals in the Park.
MItchell Center researchers lead field-based lecture for Bates College students
Ken Johnson and Sarah Nelson of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research led a field-based lecture at Acadia National Park on May 3, 2006. Johnson and Nelson were invited to present information regarding long-term research watersheds at Acadia as part of a Bates College course taught by Dr. Holly Ewing and Dr. Lynne Lewis. The class, called "Valuation of Human-Altered Ecosystems", included several field trips so students could learn first-hand about the ecological and economic issues surrounding water resources in Maine. The class focused on issues ranging from dams and fisheries to development and management of watersheds. At Acadia, Nelson and Johnson presented information on mercury research, a focus of investigations in the paired watersheds, and the logistics of long-term, intensive field studies. National Park Service staff also presented information about Park monitoring programs and management challenges.
Mitchell Center researcher presents at the Northeast Regional Mercury Science and Policy Conference.
Mitchell Center researcher Sarah Nelson presented a talk titled "Watershed Mercury Geochemical Fluxes Integrate Landscape Factors in Long-Term Research Watersheds at Acadia National Park, Maine" at the Northeast Regional Mercury Science and Policy Conference in Newport, RI on April 26-27, 2006. The goal of the conference was to provide environmental and public health agencies in the Northeast States and Eastern Canadian Provinces with current information on human health, environmental, and ecological research and associated legislative and regulatory activities on mercury.
Students to give public presentation on well water research results
Students of Lamoine's Consolidated School and Ellsworth High School will report on their experience with the Get Wet! project on Wednesday, May 17th at 7pm at the Lamoine Consolidated School on Route 184 in Lamoine. The project taught them to test water samples brought from home for nitrates, chloride, pH, iron, hardness, and conductivity. The data, entered onto Excel spreadsheets, represents the start of a database to monitor drinking water in the area.
The Get Wet! project, partially funded by Healthy Acadia, was designed by John Peckenham and graduate student Teresa Thornton of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Researcho. The Mitchell Center began working with the Lamoine Conservation Commission last year on the Freshwater Initiative to monitor the health of the sand and gravel aquifer shared by Lamoine, Hancock, and Ellsworth. Many volunteers from these communities helped to conduct a survey of wells over or near the aquifer. At the conclusion of the year's activities, Ellsworth's City Planning Office, Hancock's Planning Board, and Lamoine's Conservation Commission agreed to continue to work together on the Freshwater Initiative. The school project is one of three activities undertaken so far.
Journal Article Focuses on WRRI Funded Project
An article published in the March 2006 issue of the journal 'International Water Power and Dam Construction' focuses on dam removal research funded by the Maine WRRI grant program. The article discusses Adria Elskus' research on the potential for increase in river water toxicity following dam removal. The research was funded by a 2005 Maine WRRI grant.
Elskus, A.A. 2006 'Studying Toxicity : evaluating the potential for increase river water toxicity following dam removal' International Water Power and Dam Construction, March 2006, pp. 30-32.
L.L. Bean Fellowship Provides Funds for Citizen Monitoring at Acadia
Congratulations, to Sarah Nelson whose proposal "How much is enough? Developing a citizen-based monitoring plan for mercury in gauged watershed streams at Acadia National Park" was funded by a L.L. Bean Acadia Research Fellowship. Sarah has been involved in the “paired watershed” research at Acadia that compares the ecology of the Cadillac Brook watershed, which was burned in the 1947 fire, with the Hadlock Brook watershed, which has been unburned for several centuries. Researchers at Acadia have been engaged in quantitative monitoring of these watersheds since 1998, and have been conducting comparative research for more than a decade. This kind of long-term monitoring is important to our understanding of the Park’s ecosystems, but is also difficult to support. Sarah’s project will explore the use of high school students as “citizen researchers,” along with use of different sampling frequencies, in an effort to make long-term monitoring more affordable.
New Job for Recent Graduate
Congratulations to Mitchell Center graduate Kit Sheehan, who recently started her new job with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Kit will be working at the Bangor office and will be maintaining air quality monitoring instrumentation as well as providing field support tot he department.
Water Research Efforts the Focus of Talk to Local Watershed Coalition
Ken Johnson spoke at the Union River Watershed Coalition annual meeting on January 31, 2006 at the Ellsworth Public Library. The title of the talk was "The Union and The University: Water Research Efforts Over the Past 20 Years". The talk focuses on the water chemistry of the Union River in the context of the multiple projects managed by the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research. Projects include large-scale chemical surveys, long-term monitoring of acid rain for the US EPA, and land-use effects on water chemistry, to name a few. The meeting was well attended by residents, scientists from the College of the Atlantic and the University of Maine. Travis Hussey, watershed coordinator, also presented data collected by the volunteers and gave a state of the project talk about the sampling plans for the next year. The pot luck dinner was excellent with many local delights and some excellent Brie.
Congrats Times Three
Three Mitchell Center students recently graduated with their Masters’ degrees from the University of Maine. Congratulations to Lucner Charlestra (The Use of Passive Samplers for Monitoring Dioxin and Pesticide Levels in Maine Surface Waters), Catherine Rosfjord (An Evaluation of 20 Year Changes in Chemistry in the EPA Eastern Lake Survey, A Statistical Population of Lakes in the Northeastern U.S.), and Kit Sheehan (Vegetative and Landscape Influences on Forest Litter Mercury at Acadia National Park).
Kirsten and Catherine Celebrate New Jobs
Congratulations to Mitchell Center graduate student Kirsten Ness! Kirsten has been hired as a teaching assistant in Colby College’s Biology department (her undergraduate alma mater), and has been appointed to the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program’s Board of Directors. Graduate Catherine Rosfjord also has a new job; she is working for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection as an Environmental Resource Specialist. Catherine will be in the field for eight months of the year performing water quality assessment of streams throughout West Virginia.
Recent Publications & Reports
Look for these recent reports and publications from Mitchell Center Researchers: Estimation of Critical Loads of Acidity for Lakes in Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada, published in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, Linking Water Quality to the Watershed, published in the Journal of the American Waterworks Association, and the technical report on the ASCpH survey.
2006 Maine WRRI Awards
The 2006 awards for funding through the Maine Water Resources Research Institute’s 104b grant program have been announced. Congratulations to this year’s funded projects: Enhancing lakefront buffer adoption through social marketing (Laura Wilson, John Jemison), A sequential time-weighted average approach for monitoring pesticide levels in Maine surface waters (Howard Patterson, Lucner Charlestra), Does food-web structure mediate landscape-scale responses of Maine lakes to nutrient enrichment? (Katherine Webster, Linda Bacon), and Identification of Disinfection Byproducts by High Resolution Gas Chromatography Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (Touradj Solouki, John Peckenham).
BDN Publishes Penobscot Articles
In case you missed it, the Bangor Daily News featured a two-part series on the Penobscot River written by the Mitchell Center's very own Catherine Schmitt. Part I: River of Islands ran in the December 26 edition. Part II: River of Dams, River of Defiance ran in the December 27 edition. Copies of the articles are available from the Mitchell Center 207/581-3344 Graduate Student Featured in Friends of Acadia Journal
Sarah Nelson, a doctoral student at the Mitchell Center, is featured in the winter 2004/2005 issue of the Friends of Acadia Journal. Sarah's interest is in tracking mercury in the environment, and she will be sampling snow at Acadia National Park this winter to help put another piece in the Acadia mercury puzzle. The international Canon National Park Science Scholars Program is funding Sarah's research. Her 2003 award was the only one based on work in a U.S. national park. The full article is available at http://www.friendsofacadia.org
UCOWR Call for Papers Issued
The Universities Council on Water Resources has issued a Call for Papers for its 2005 Annual Conference. The topic or the 2005 conference is "River and Lake Restoration: Changing Landscapes". Envisioned presentation topics include: Biological Effects of Stream Engineering, Dam Removal, Economic Impacts of Restoration Projects, Endangered Species, Invasive Species, Restoration of Sea-Run Fisheries, Riparian Assessment / Restoration and River Flow Augmentation. The Conference will take place July 12-14, 2005 in Portland, Maine at the Holiday Inn By the Bay. Deadline for the Call for Papers is December 1, 2004. Abstract submission forms are available at http://www.ucowr.siu.edu/.
A productive summer in the lab
The Watershed Research Lab is wrapping up a successful summer, and preparing for fall sampling. Several research projects, including the Eastern Lake Survey and a summer stream survey with the Atlantic Salmon Commission, provided a constant influx of samples for analysis. The high sample volume ensured lots of quality lab experience and training for graduate students, many of whom were involved in full-time lab and field work over the summer. We also had the opportunity to provide hands-on experience for an Upward Bound student, Bung Luong. Bung learned lab techniques, conducted experiments, and created a poster that presented her results. She is well on her way to becoming a successful scientist.
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
Want to know how to protect your drinking water well? Worried about groundwater contamination where you live? Two information digests produced in collaboration with the Maine Drinking Water Program, Safe Drinking Water and Protecting Groundwater Supplies, are designed to answer common questions about water supplies and provide links to resources, guidance for water testing, and recommendations for source water protection. They are available on our website as both html and pdf documents or for print copies call 207/581-3244.
Acadia is a SPARC Park
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 (http://www.umaine.edu/sparc) will provide a bibliographic data search, and eventually will serve and map data. For more information, contact graduate student Andrea Grygo.
Salmon Conservation Fund Awards Grants to Mitchell Center's Steve Kahl
The Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Fund has awarded funds to the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research to support two research projects. The first award of $36,100 provides additional support for a survey of water chemistry in Maine salmon rivers that has been underway since 2003. The survey, lead by Mitchell Center Director Steve Kahl, and initially funded by NOAA Fisheries and the Atlantic Salmon Commission, provides simultaneous sampling for 70 stations on 8 rivers. The additional funds will be used to expand the survey analyses from its initial focus on pH and alkalinity to full ion chemistry. The project includes sampling on the Penobscot River and will provide important baseline data collection prior to the anticipated dam removal. The second award for $57,900 will be used to evaluate the chemistry of four salmon rivers upstream and downstream of Route 9, for impacts from road salting. Lead by Kahl, the research team will determine if there is a threshold river size or flow above which salting is not quantitatively important. Other issues to be evaluated are whether sodium chloride is a negative factor for salmon; and if there are conditions under which calcium chloride is quantitatively advantageous because of the increase in calcium.
A third grant to Project SHARE (Salmon Habitat and Restoration) will involve using limestone in streamside erosion and BMP projects. The Mitchell Center team will be doing the water analyses for the SHARE project, as part of its overall involvement in the research on water chemistry as it relates to the recovery of Atlantic Salmon under the Endangered Species Act.
Channel 2 Crew Covers Watershed Research at Acadia
A crew from WLBZ-TV, Channel 2 in Bangor, filmed Mitchell Center scientists at Acadia National Park on July 30, 2004 for a story covering watershed research being conducted at the park. The story focused on what scientists are learning about how watershed processes affect mercury concentrations in fish and other organisms. Participating in the research demonstration were Sarah Nelson, Catherine Schmitt, Tanya Hyssong and Paul Dumond. The story highlighted on the 6 pm newscast and was repeated at 11pm and on the early morning news the following day.
Looking for Metals
The ability to detect metals such as lead and arsenic at very low levels is critical for environmental research. With a $24,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Mitchell Center will install a Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer in its laboratory. The device can detect chemicals at the parts per billion level. Researchers will use it in ongoing studies of lake recovery from acidification in the Northeast. In addition, work on groundwater, forestry and urban best management practices; small watersheds; and climate change involves collecting data on arsenic, lead, zinc, aluminum, iron, and copper. The advantage of multi-element scanning will open new opportunities for the research group.
Looking at Lakes
Lakes are a barometer for acid rain, climate change and other environmental factors. A $155,000 University of Maine research project jointly funded by the U.S Dept. of Agriculture and the U.S. Geological Survey will focus on a set of lakes from Maine to Pennsylvania first sampled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1984. The goal is to evaluate 20-year changes in lake chemistry, for the purposes of understanding changes due to acid rain, and potential recovery in biological populations.
UMaine scientists conducting the study include Steve Kahl and Catherine Rosfjord of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research, Katherine Webster of the Dept. of Biological Sciences, and Ivan Fernandez of the Dept. of Plant Soil and Environmental Sciences. They will collaborate with scientists in the U.S. EPA.
Senator Mitchell and Governor Baldacci to speak at 2004 Maine Water Conference
Both Senator George J. Mitchell and Governor John E. Baldacci will speak at this year's Maine Water Conference, to be held Wednesday, April 21 at the Augusta Civic Center. On this the tenth anniversary of the Conference, the theme will be "Environmental legacies as a context for emerging issues" — an appropriate forum for Senator Mitchell and Governor Baldacci to address past and future environmental and water resource issues and policies affecting Maine.
 Front page profile in Bangor Daily News for Mitchell Center Director Steve Kahl
The December 24th edition of the Bangor Daily News included a front-page profile of Steve Kahl, Director of the Mitchell Center. The story is based on the recent announcement of Kahl's election as president-elect of the National Institute for Water Resources. Kahl, a graduate of the University of Maine, will be the first NIWR president from a New England state. An Associated Press version of the story appeared in the December 24th edition of the Portland Press Herald. The Bangor Daily News article is available as an Adobe Acrobat document.
Mitchell Center student receives NALMS conference “Best Student Poster” award
In early November, Graduate student Kirsten Ness of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research attended the North American Lake Management (NALMS) Conference in Mashantucket, CT. While at the conference, Kirsten presented a poster based on her thesis study design and conceptual model, as well as preliminary results from the project's summer 2003 sampling. Entitled "Defining reference conditions for measuring the effects of shoreline development on lakes in Maine", the poster received the “Best Student Poster” award at the conference. Kirsten's advisor is Dr. Katherine Webster who is the principal investigator on the study along with Roy Bouchard of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. - 11/03
Technical Assistance for Arsenic Rule Compliance
The Mitchell Center, in collaboration with the State of Maine Drinking Water Program (MDWP), Maine Rural Water Association (MRWA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has received funding to provide technical assistance to small water systems in Maine to assist them in complying with the new arsenic rule established by the EPA.
In September and October 2003, training workshops were developed as part of this program. Presentations were made on the Arsenic Rule, Arsenic Occurrence in Maine and Arsenic Toxicology, Arsenic Removal Technologies, and Arsenic Removal Costs. These presentations are available below. They have been 'zipped' with WinZip. If you don't have WinZip, click here and download the evaluation copy.
Presentations:
Vaux to join Mitchell Center
The Mitchell Center welcomes Peter Vaux to its staff this fall as Associate Research Professor. Peter currently heads the multi-agency Maine Aquatic Biodiversity Project, a compilation of the knowledge base for freshwater biodiversity in Maine funded by The Nature Conservancy and Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. His extensive experience and knowledge in ecology and water resources will be a valuable asset to the Mitchell Center.
 Nelson receives Canon award
Ph.D. student Sarah Nelson was the recipient of one of this year's prestigious Canon National Parks Science Scholarships - one of only 4 awarded to students in the US. The scholarship, worth $78,000 over 3 years, provides funds for doctoral research within America's National Parks. Sarah's objective is to identify hydrologic and mercury mass balances. Her work will improve our understanding of the hydrology and chemistry of park ecosystems.
Kahl elected President of NIWR
Mitchell Center Director Steve Kahl has been elected President of NIWR (National Institutes for Water Research). NIWR is the national association of USGS Water Institutes located at the 54 land grant Universities and territories. Steve's role as President will include working with Congress and federal agencies on behalf of NIWR and the associated universities. This position underscores the national reputation in water resources research and education built by the Mitchell Center.
Home Depot donates generator
Home Depot's donation of a portable generator to the Mitchell Center will provide valuable on-site field testing for research projects. Our thanks to Home Depot's management and staff for their generous contribution.
 Faster, more efficient PEARL
The Mitchell Center would like to thank Maine Space Grant Consortium for their generous contribution toward the purchase of a new server for PEARL (see article on front page). The server has provided a much more stable environment for the site and has considerably improved access time for users.
Board welcomes new members
The Mitchell Center welcomes two new members to its National Endowment Advisory Board.
Jan Smith, anchor with ABC 7 News in Bangor and UMaine alumnus, is the daughter of Dr. Norman Smith, former Dean of the College of Engineering. The Mitchell Center's current home is named for Dr. Smith. Dr. John Alexander is our other new Board member. John is the former UMaine VP for Academic Affairs and Provost. We look forward to working with Jan and John in the future.
 Temporary lab space completed in Holmes Hall
Recently renovated space in Holmes Hall has provided much needed temporary laboratory space for the Mitchell Center. New equipment has been purchased for the space and recently-hired Research Assistant Tanya Hyssong is responsible for equipment set-up and the day-to-day running of the lab. The lab is responsible for sample analysis on on-going Mitchell Center research projects as well as many graduate student projects. Most importantly it provides facilities to train graduate students in laboratory techniques. In late 2004, the lab will move to renovated facilities within Norman Smith Hall – the permanent home of the Mitchell Center.
New students already immersed in research!
Nine graduate students began their studies at the Mitchell Center this summer. Many of the students arrived early, gaining valuable summer experience in the field and lab while working alongside staff and faculty on current research projects. New Mitchell Center students include: Melinda Diehl, Lisa Fretwell, Chandra McGee, Jennifer Wilson, Andrea Grygo, Catherine Rosfjord, Sara Colburn, Jennifer Boothroyd and Lucner Charlestra.
Drinking water publications under revision
The Maine Drinking Water Program has provided funds to the Mitchell Center to update two digests, one containing information on private drinking water wells, the other on wellhead protection. With over 70% of Maine's population receiving its drinking water from public and private wells, these digests will provide invaluable information to the general public. The digests will be available in January 2004.
Cooperative Agreement Provides Funds for Study of Water Chemistry in Downeast Salmon Rivers
A cooperative agreement between the Atlantic Salmon Commission and the Mitchell Center will use historical and current data to study the effects of water chemistry on Maine's wild salmon populations. Atlantic Salmon are thought to be susceptible to changes in water quality caused by both natural fluctuations in chemical concentrations and climate as well as anthropogenic introduction of pollutants and land-use patterns. Unexplored factors are the trends in water chemistry variables such as acidity, aluminum, dissolved organic carbon, and base cations.
Evaluation of the trends in chemistry from 6 salmon river tributaries, will use data collected by the Mitchell Center during 1985-87. These are the only known historical data for this period against which to compare current chemical measurements. Sampling on 3 of these salmon river tributaries was reestablished in 2000 and will continue for this project. Sampling on the remaining three will be added. These data will be evaluated within the context of the water quality trend assessment research program of Kahl and co-workers that has been underway for the past 20 years.
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