News The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources

The Rubenstein School
of Environment and Natural Resources
News
Vol. XXVI, No. 1, October 2004, The University of Vermont, www.uvm.edu/envnr
Welcome to The Rubenstein School!
Welcome to the Class of 2008.
Welcome to new graduate students.
Welcome back to returning undergraduate and graduate
students.
Welcome to the following new faculty and staff members:
The Rubenstein School
News, published monthly
from October through May,
is one of the school’s primary vehicles for keeping
students, faculty, and staff
informed. We publish news
and highlight coming
events, student activities,
and natural resources employment opportunities.
Copies are available in the
Aiken Center lobby and the
Student Resource Area (336
Aiken) in the Dean’s office.
http://www.uvm.edu/envnr
Editor:
Sara Lovitz, NRP ‘05G
218 Aiken Center
[email protected]
Assistant Editor:
Min Zheng, ENVS ‘08
[email protected]
ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS:
- Welcome
- The Rubenstein School
in Action
- Sarah Wilkins’
Summer Internship
- Julie Roberts’ Graduate
Research
- Social Contract
- Green Flash!
- and more
Faculty:
Dr. Jennifer Jenkins in her new role as Research Assistant Professor. Last year
she was a Visiting Assistant Research Professor.
Dr. Lisa Chase, Extension Assistant Professor, has been named Director of the
Vermont Tourism Data Center.
Dr. Breck Bowden, Patrick Professor of Water Resources has been named Director of the Vermont Water Resources and Lake Studies Center.
Staff:
Sean MacFaden, GIS Research Specialist
Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne, GIS Research Specialist
Welcome back to the following faculty:
Professor Larry Forcier is back from a year’s leave to teach NR 1.
Doc Donnelly Day 2004
By Maria Dykema Erb
The 5th annual Doc Donnelly Day (DDD) Picnic was held on the
south lawn of Aiken Center under sunny skies on Monday, September 13th. Many of our Rubenstein School faculty, staff, and
students took time out of their day for some good food and fun
that afternoon. New this year was the DDD Triathlon consisting
of the cup race, the string ball toss, and frisbee golf. The first
DDD outstanding triathlete was Christopher Lang who won the
DDD trophy and a Rubenstein School embroidered baseball cap.
Congratulations to Christopher! Also, thanks go out to the student
volunteers who helped with the picnic—John D’Agostino, Tori
Jones, Eric Howe, Alicia Turner, Brian Voigt, and Sarah
Wheeler—as well as to Doc and Mindy Donnelly for coordinating
the games! Thanks to Steve Midway for photographing the day’s Doc Donnelly and students
enjoying the day’s festivities.
events.
(Photo taken by Steve Midway)
2
The Rubenstein School News
The Rubenstein School in Action
PUBLICATIONS
Beard, K.H., Wang, D., Waite, C.E., Decker, K.L., Hawley, G.J., DeHayes, D.D., Hughes, J.W., and Cumming, J.R.
2004. Quantifying ecosystem controls and their contextual interactions on nutrient export from developing forest
mesocosms. Ecosystems (accepted)
Beekey, M. A., D.J. McCabe, and J.E. Marsden. 2004. Zebra mussels affect benthic predator foraging success and
habitat choice on soft sediments. Oecologia 141:164-170.
Bernard W. Sweeney, Thomas L. Bott, John K. Jackson, Louis A. Kaplan, J. Denis Newbold, Laurel J. Standley, W.
Cully Hession, and Richard J. Horwitz. Riparian Deforestation, Stream Narrowing, and Loss of Stream Ecosystem
Services. Proceedings Natl Acdmy of Sciences. http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/newsroom/pr.cfm?ni=15000000000123
Carlson, B., D. Wang, D. Capen, and E. Thompson. 2004. An evaluation of GIS-derived landscape diversity units to
guide landscape-level mapping of natural communities. J. Nature Conservation 12: 15-23.
Lazarus, B.L., Schaberg, P.G., DeHayes, D.H., and Hawley, G.J. 2004. Severe red spruce winter injury in 2003 creates unusual
ecological event in the northeastern United States. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 34: 1784-1788.
Marsden, J. E., and S. R. Robillard. 2004. Documentation of the yellow perch decline in southwestern Lake Michigan, 19871997, using larval, age-0, and adult data. J. N. Am. Fish. Manage. 24:952-966.
Rapp, J., D. Wang, D. Capen, E. Thompson, and T. Lautzenheiser. 2005. Evaluating error in using the National Vegetation Classification System for ecological community mapping in northern New England. J. Nature Conservation (accepted)
Ruesser, Luke J., Bierman, Paul R., Pavich, Milan J., Zen, E-an, Larsen, Jennifer and Robert Finkel. 2004. Rapid Late Pleistocene Incision of Atlantic Passive-Margin River Gorges. Science 305:499-502.
Strong, A.M., C.C. Rimmer, and K.P. McFarland. 2004. Effect of prey biomass on reproductive success and mating strategy of
Bicknell's Thrush, a polygynandrous songbird. Auk 121:446-451.
PRESENTATIONS
Assistant Professor Allan Strong gave a presentation at the joint meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union and the Society
of Canadian Ornithologists entitled, “Land use patterns as an ecological trap for Bobolinks in the Champlain Valley”.
Associate Professor Jon Erickson, Undergrad Joe Kelly, and Fall 2003 Ecological Economics class, "An Ecological Economics
Capital Stock Approach to Quality of Life Assessment in Burlington, Vermont, USA," Sustainable Communities 2004, Burlington,
VT, July 14-18, 2004.
Assistant Professor Saleem Ali presented a paper on "Prospects for a Peace Park between India and Pakistan" at the International
Environmental Security Conference at the Carnegie Foundation Peace Palace, The Hague, Netherlands.
Eighth Biennial Conference of the International Society for Ecological Economics in Montreal on July 11-14, 2004.
Jon Erickson and Josh Farley (from CDAE), "Problem-Based Learning in Ecological Economics."
Jon Erickson, Caroline Hermans, Jon Bouton, Richard Howarth, Amy Sheldon, and Matthew Wilson, "Private Owners, Public Values:
Citizen Participation in Designing Sustainable Forest Management."
Brendan Fisher and Jon Erickson, "Breaking the Back of Cumulative Causation: Policies in Light of the Failures of Growth Theory."
Caroline Hermans and Jon Erickson, "Multicriteria Decision-Making in Watershed-Level Environmental Management."
Graham Cox and Jon Erickson, "An Application of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis to a Complex Political Decision-Making Process in
the Northern Forest, USA."
Other Rubenstein School faculty and students that participated at the conference include: Professors Bob Costanza, Austin Troy, and Roel
Boumans and PhD students Shuang Liu, Treg Christopher, Kenneth Mulder and Brian Voight.
The Rubenstein School News
3
Adjunct Plant Physiological Ecologist Paul Schaberg and Senior Researcher Gary Hawley gave two oral presentations and
one poster presentation at the Ecological Society of America meeting in Portland, Oregon, August 2-6. They presented recent
findings concerning the joint UVM and USDA Forest Service research on the impacts of anthropogenic stress on tree health
and productivity. Citations for these presentations:
Hawley, G.J., P.G. Schaberg, D.H. DeHayes, C.H. Borer. 2004. Calcium addition to watershed at Hubbard Brook LTER reduces red
spruce winter injury.
Schaberg, P.G., P.E. Hennon, D.V. D’Amore, G.J. Hawley, C.H. Borer. 2004. Is freezing injury a contributor to yellow-cedar decline?
Hawley, G.J., P.G. Schaberg, B.E. Lazarus, D.H. DeHayes. 2004. Red spruce winter injury abundant in Northeastern United States
in 2003.
In early June 2004, Patrick Professor Breck Bowden and ESNC undergraduate student Nat Morse attended the international
meetings of the North American Benthological Society, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Breck presented a poster on a new
model to examine nutrient dynamics in stream ecosystems. Nat presented a poster on an innovative new way to estimate the
reaeration coefficient - a critical component in the calculations required to estimate the metabolism in whole stream ecosystems
- using sound pressure measurements. **This poster was selected for the Academic Press Award for the best poster at the conference, which was attended by just under 1000 scientists, resource managers, consultants, and policy makers with interests in
stream ecosystems.
Park Studies Lab Participates in Two International Meetings
Park Studies Lab personnel participated in two international meetings over the summer. The first meeting was the 10th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, held June 2-6 at Keystone, Colorado. To celebrate this tenth anniversary meeting, conference organizers commissioned an edited book synthesizing knowledge developed on several major conference themes. Professor Bob Manning prepared a chapter titled “Recreation Planning Frameworks.” The book, Society and
Natural Resources: A Summary of Knowledge, was distributed to conference participants. Park Studies Lab personnel presented the following papers at the conference:
Megha Budruk and Robert Manning. Crowding Norms on the Blue Ridge Parkway: A Test of Mediating Variables
Wayne Freimund, Douglas Dalenberg, and Robert Manning. Resource Protection Versus Recreation Access: An Analysis of Tradeoffs at Zion National Park
Walt Kuentzel, Daniel Laven, and Robert Manning. Comparing Norm Strength at Backcountry, Frontcountry, and Urban-proximate
National Parks
Daniel Laven, Robert Manning and Daniel Krymkowski. The Relationship Between Normative Standards of Quality and Existing
Conditions in Parks and Protected Areas: A Cross-validation Analysis
Robert Manning, Jennifer Morrissey, and Steve Lawson. What’s Behind the Numbers? Qualitative Insights into Normative Research
in Outdoor Recreation
Steve Lawson, Robert Manning, and Ann Kiely. Assessing Backcountry Campers’ Support for Alternative Visitor Use Management
Practices at Isle Royale National Park
Steve Lawson and Robert Manning. Describing, Monitoring and Managing Visitor Flows in Parks and Protected Areas Using Computer Simulation Modeling
The second meeting was the Second International Conference on Monitoring and Management of Visitor Flows in Recreational
and Protected Areas. The meeting was held in Rovaniemi, Finland on June 16-20. Bob Manning was on the organizing committee of this meeting as well as the initial conference two years ago in Vienna, Austria. Papers presented were as follows:
Steve Lawson, Bob Itami, Randy Gimblett and Robert Manning. Monitoring and Managing Recreational Use in Backcountry Landscapes Using Computer-Based Simulation Modeling
Steve Lawson, Ann Kiely and Robert Manning. Computer Simulation as a Tool for Developing Alternatives for Managing Crowding
at Wilderness Campsites on Isle Royale
Tom More and Robert Manning. The Public Functions of Parks and Protected Areas
4
The Rubenstein School News
MEDIA
Over the summer Patrick Professor Breck Bowden provided interviews that were included in part in articles in the Boston
Globe (on stormwater) and in salon.com (on climate warming in the Arctic).
HONORS
In July 2004, a proposal prepared by Patrick Professor Breck Bowden and Bill Howland (Director, Lake Champlain Basin Program) and submitted to a new program managed by United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
called 'Hydrology for Environment Life and Policy (HELP)' was accepted by the governing body. The goal of the UNESCO/
HELP program is to seek better integration between water-related sciences and water resource planning and decision
making. The UNESCO/HELP governing body gave the Lake Champlain HELP Basin proposal the highest of four designations, as a Demonstration Project. As such, initiatives throughout the Lake Champlain basin were recogRebecca
nized as collectively achieving the highest ideals of the HELP program and should serve as examples to
Witinokother organizations and regions attempting to engage in integrated management of water resources.
Huber
Garners
Associate Professor Jon Erickson was recently appointed as a Commissioner to the Burlington Electric
Top Female
Commission.
Honors at Esprit
Triathlon
RESEARCH
Catamount swimmer
2004-2007 Evaluation of lake trout spawning habitat for Lake Michigan deep reefs. Janssen, J., C. Bronte, Rebecca WitinokJ. E. Marsden, and D. J. Jude. Great Lakes Fishery Trust pre-proposal. $360,000
Huber (Iowa City,
Iowa) took part in the
From mid-June to late August 2004, Patrick Professor Breck Bowden and MS student Carl Cappelletti
Esprit Triathlon in
conducted research on arctic stream ecology as part of the NSF-Funded Arctic Long-Term Research proMontreal, Quebec on
gram at the Toolik Lake Field Station. This station is located about 130 miles south of Prudhoe Bay and is September 18. She
operated by the University of Alaska.
placed 16th overall but
was the top female
OTHER NEWS
finisher in her ironman
David Raphael, Lecturer, has had an eventful half year that has included most recently a presentation to
debut. The race conthe Second Joint Convention of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and Americans for the Arts sisted of three stages,
in Washington, D. C. in July. He designed and helped to facilitate a workshop for participants and with
swimming (2.4 miles),
other team members presented the Danville Project- a unique award- winning collaboration of the Vermont biking (112 miles) and
Agency of Transportation, the Vermont Arts Council and the Town of Danville. The project is featured in running (26.2 miles)
the Summer 2004 issue of Vermont Life. Mr. Raphael’s firm, LandWorks, was the recipient of two awards for a total of 140.6
including an Honor Award from the Vermont Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects for total miles covered.
its development of Design Guidelines for the historic and commercial districts of Manchester, Vermont and Witinok-Huber coma Merit Award from the Vermont Planner’s Association for an Outstanding Planning Project in developing pleted the triathlon in
the Town of Pownal’s Municipal Plan and Land Use Regulations.
10:59.05 as the youngest competitor in the
Assistant Professor Saleem Ali co-directed a six-week summer institute on conflict resolution for Middle- field.
eastern professionals, held in Toledo Spain with the support of the Spanish government and the University
of Castilla La mancha.
In June 2004, Patrick Professor Breck Bowden attended a scoping workshop in Fairbanks, Alaska sponsored by the National
Park Service - Arctic Parks Division, to devise a monitoring plan for freshwater resources in 26 million acres of park land in five
national parks in northern Alaska. This effort was the first of three workshops designed to developed a comprehensive freshwater, wetland, and coastal monitoring plan for the five Arctic national parks.
Gund Professor Bob Costanza, Assistant Professor Austin Troy, Morgan Grove, Matt Wilson (Sch of Business Admin), and
Associate Professor Jon Erickson all participated in a week long workshop in June at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in Santa Barbara, California on the topic "Understanding, Valuing, and Managing Dynamic Ecosystem Services Under Stress: Synthesizing Across the LTER Network". The workshop was organized by Bob and Steve Farber of the
University of Pittsburgh.
On September 18, 2004, the team members on the EPA-funded 'Redesigning the American Neighborhood' project sponsored a
Neighborhood Field Day with partners from the City of South Burlington, the Winooski Conservation District, and residents of
the Butler Farm and Oak Creek neighborhoods in South Burlington. The field day focused on low-impact design options to
manage stormwater runoff from existing neighborhoods.
The Rubenstein School News
5
UPCOMING CONFERENCES:
The National Wilderness Conference, celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the
Wilderness Act, is being held in Lake George, NY on October 10-13, 2004.
Check out the conference website, www.Wilderness40th.org, for the latest updates, including: Opportunities to become conference supporters; Program details,
including speakers and sessions; Field trip descriptions and photos; Additional
lodging opportunities; Registration for displays and exhibitors. This historic conference will focus on the history, present-day realities, and future of our National
Wilderness Preservation System.
Land Trust Alliance Rally 2004, October 28-31, 2004,
Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, Rhode Island. www.lta.org/training/rally.htm Join us for
the National Land Conservation Conference in historic Providence, RI. This premier four-day conference is the largest gathering of land conservation leaders in the country. During four action-packed days,
you will be challenged and inspired by workshops, plenary speeches, field trips, and networking with
the top conservation practitioners in the country. Graduate students receive a special rate to attend Rally!
We are also in need of student volunteers. Volunteers work one day at Rally and receive a second day to
attend free of charge. For more information, email [email protected].
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Greening Committee Meeting—Wednesday, September 29, 2004, 9:00-11:00 am.
Margie Eugene-Richard, recipient of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, will visit the University of Vermont
campus, Tuesday September 28 and Wednesday September 29. She will deliver a talk open to the campus and
wider Burlington and Vermont communities: ENVIRONMENT AND HUMANITY: Action for Justice in Cancer Alley,
Tuesday, September 28, 4:00 pm, John Dewey Lounge, 3rd Floor, Old Mill (94 University Place).
Dr. David Anderson will be visiting UVM in late November as part of the UVM President's Distinguished Lecture Series. Dr. Anderson's lecture will be given on Friday, November 19, 2004. He will also present a two day short course on
Model Selection and Multimodel Inference on Nov 20 and 21, 2004.
GREEN FLASH:
UVM Eco-Fair
The UVM Environmental Council will host the 4th Annual UVM Eco-Fair on Wednesday, October 13th from 11 am - 2 pm in the Billings Student Center. This great event is the only forum
that celebrates everything environmental within the University and features current environmental projects and organizations on campus. In previous years, more than 500 students, faculty, and staff visited the fair to celebrate, discuss, and learn with each other.
Traditionally, the Eco-Fair has been held in the spring around Earth Day. This year we have moved the EcoFair to the fall to create momentum and excitement about environmental issues on campus all year long. We
invite you to attend and celebrate UVM as the Environmental University with us! There will
be free food, music, prizes, and engaging displays. The event will feature alternate fuel vehicles and ecological technologies here on campus.
We look forward to your participation this year!
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The Rubenstein School News
Focus on Internship
Sarah Wilkins, Environmental Science ‘07
This past summer I spent two and a half months
working in Olympic National Forest
on Washington state's peninsula
(about an hour and a half west of
Seattle). This peninsula has everything: a fog-shrouded coast with
booming surf and huge sea stacks,
spectacular alpine country with secluded lakes, lush meadows, glaciers, and temperate rain forest. I
worked as a volunteer (in association with SCA- Student ConservaAlpine lake - Home lake
tion Association) on the more than
20 different trails within the Quilcene and Hoodsport districts of the National Forest. I worked on a crew of 5
(sometimes 7) helping to clear logs, debris, excessive vegetation, and trash from trails. In some cases we had to reroute the trail so hikers and horsemen could gain accessibility. We
also worked with youth trail crews in
building a new trail, did some nonnative plant removal to control
Scotch thistle populations, and enforced campfire/leave no trace policies to backpackers on remote trails.
Work involved a lot of hiking. On
some days, we would hike up to 12
Red columbine- a beautiful
miles!
wildflower found throughout the
As an environmental science student, I observed
many interesting as well as shocking things. I was amazed
at the lush greenery of the forest and ever looming presence
of the Olympic mountains, as well as the glacial mountain
rivers and biotic diversity. From the huge banana slugs that
crawl on blankets of thick moss to big black bears grazing in
an array of wildflowers, I was lucky to see a wide variety of
flora and fauna. The ecosystems that inhabit this peninsula
are extremely vulnerable to human interference. I was
shocked to see the sheer
amount of barren hillsides
where clear-cuts had taken
place all throughout the peninsula. I was surprised to see
how little was being done in
terms of preservation besides
the proposal to knock down
the dam on the Elwha river
to help salmon populations
return to normal. Hopefully Sarah and two other volunteers
this will change soon. This removing a section of a hemlock tree
place is too rich in diversity to make the trail accessible
and beauty to be destroyed.
I feel so privileged to have worked in such an amazing place
all summer with a great group of people! I hope all my
summers can be as rewarding and enjoyable as this one!
Olympics
Congratulations to the following Dean’s List Recipients for Spring 2004
Dafna Alsheh
Christopher Anderberg
Richard Balouskus
Joseph Bartlett
Matthew Beam
Maria Berglund
Patrick Bird
Noah Boetsma
Sarah Boucher
Amy Boynton
Scott Braaten
William Brennan
Heather Caulfield
Rachel Charow
Rachel Christensen
Kelsey Cornelius
Eammon Coughlin
Caroline Crofton
Brian Dykhuizen
Jean Epiphan
Daniel Evans
Natalia Fajardo
Christopher Franske
Jennifer Fullerton
Kristin Geldert
Andrew Giunta
Tomas Glaspy
Nicholas Goulette
Laura Hadley
Adam Hammerschmidt
Charles Hancock
Lindsay Harrington
Joanna Hatt
Kelly Hayes
Sarah Heimbach
Nathaniel Hoag
Jehanna Howe
Zachary Hunter
Sara Jablonski
Benjamin Janes
Daniel Jenkins
Keith Jennings
Anna Johnson
Nathan Johnson
Kevin Jordan
Ethan Joseph
April Kane
Allyson Keefe
Ryan Kilborn
Nathaniel Koeppel
Ryan Kuja
Emily Lord
Tulley Mackey
Marianne Maloy
Roger Masse
Anna Mazloff
Brian McAllister
Elizabeth McDonald
Michael McDonald
Jessica McKay
Caleb Merrill
Daniel Mills
Anne Morrison
Nathaniel Morse
Shane Murphy
Amy Niemczura
Jared Nunery
Meghan O'Connor
Megan O'Melia
Jaclyn O'Riley
Brent Oblinger
Michele Palmer
Jennifer Plourde
Alison Ray
Emily Schelley
Lindsey Scholl
Michael Sclafani
Thomas Scott
Sarah Silverberg
Kristen Simard
Matthew Smith
Sarah Stein
Katherine Stinchcomb
Katherine Tebbetts
Stacey Thompson
Alicia Turner
Liron Weiss
The Rubenstein School News
Focus on Graduate Research:
Julie Roberts
Gathering in Vermont: Connecting to Our Roots
My research focuses around the gathering of nontimber forest products in the vicinity of the Green Mountain
National Forest in the earlier part of the 20th
century. Non-timber Forest Products (or
NTFPs) can be defined as any products coming from the forest not including paper or timber. Examples of some NTFPs are edible and
medicinal plants, like catnip, mushrooms and
fungi, fiddleheads, nuts, berries, milkweed,
pigweed, dandelions, etc., and cultural and
decorative items like switches, dyes, and pinecones.
I have been giving presentations
around the state (so far in Burlington and
Randolph) at Senior centers in hopes of finding folks who either gathered themselves or had parents or
grandparents who gathered products. To date, I have conducted six of the twenty four interviews that the Forest Service has requested. We hope to determine what and where
people were gathering and how land use change has impacted gathering and collection practices. My interviews are
somewhat informal and generally involve sitting and listening to stories of peoples lives from a much different world
than what we now live in now. Many of these people had
very large gardens and would can and jar almost everything
they could from what they grew and from items they picked
in the woods. Also many of these folks live within 10-20
miles of where they were born.
Luke Reusser, a new doctoral student, traveled with Associate Professor Paul Bierman this spring, to the North Island
of New Zealand where he began his doctoral research on the
source of sediment to one of the world's most sediment
choked rivers - the Waipoa. Luke will be using 10-Be to
measure rates of sediment generation and landscape denudation within the rapidly eroding Waipaoa Riversystem. In
July, Reusser and Bierman had a paper come out in Science,
7
Among some of the
more bizarre or interesting tidbits that I have learned include
possible usages of many common plants that we see every
day. For example, almost all
people that I have talked to who
were born in the early 1930s
remember going out to pick
milkweed during World War II. The fibers in the pod were
collected and processed into the nylon for soldiers' parachutes. Also, before there were refrigerators, there were
solutions that people mixed up and kept their chicken eggs
in (uncooked) and they would last though thewinter. Also,
people used to keep a pot with onions boiling on their wood
stoves throughout the winter. The onions would turn into a
syrup that could be taken as cough/cold syrup as either a
preventative or a remedy.
If you know of anyone who would be interested in
speaking with me, please contact me at [email protected].
My criteria are that people must be either a native Vermonter or someone who has lived here for many years,
picked products from
the woods for their
own consumption or
to sell, and was born
in the earlier part of
the 20th century.
Thanks!
“Rapid Late Pleistocene Incision of Atlantic Passive-Margin
River Gorges,” on the rivers of the east coast of the US and
their history. The work is exciting to many because of the
data that helps interpret a major cultural and scenic resource,
the Great Falls of the Potomac. A website should be online
soon displaying some of the articles written about this paper.
Find out more about Luke Reusser’s graduate research in an
upcoming issue of the newsletter.
The Rubenstein School
of Environment and Natural Resources
Announces
The Twenty First Annual
Graduate Research Symposium
Presentations by Graduate Students
on the Following Topics:
Conservation, Natural Resource Planning and Policy, Ecological Design,
Sustainable Forestry, Wildlife & Fisheries Biology
Please Join Us on Friday, October 8, 2004, 12:15 – 5:00 PM
104 & 116 Aiken Center – UVM Campus
8
The Rubenstein School News
were conducted in July and August by Jeff Hallo. Pat Stokowski is
also participating in this study. The second year of a three-year
study at Muir Woods National Monument was also conducted.
The Park Studies Lab had another full slate of studies in several
Observations of visitor use were conducted in August to help valinational parks over the summer. Lab personnel began a new, three- date a computer simulation model of visitor use that was developed
year study at Acadia National Park to help analyze and manage
in the first year of the study. Fieldwork was coordinated by Megha
carrying capacity. First year work was designed to develop baseBudruk (who completed her doctoral degree at the end of the sumline data on recreation use and users, and help formulate indicators mer and is now Assistant Professor of Recreation and Tourism at
of quality for the visitor experience and resource conditions. Visi- Arizona State University). Finally, Bob Manning participated in a
tor use measurements and surveys were conducted at 12 sites in the three-day workshop at Yosemite National Park to help design a
park during the months of July and August. New graduate student new program of research at that park. A cooperative agreement
Rebecca Stanfield was the primary fieldwork coordinator and was facilitating this work has just been signed under the auspices of
assisted by Jeff Hallo, Bill Valliere, Daniel Laven, and Dan Abbe. UVM’s partnership in the new Great Lakes/Northern Forest CoopA new two-year study of off-road vehicle use at Cape Cod National erative Ecosystem Studies Unit.
Seashore was also begun. Qualitative interviews with ORV users
Park Studies Lab Spends Another Summer
Studying in National Parks
Watzin, an associate professor and director of the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory, oversees these tests, with help from her
By Cheryl Dorschner
staff, graduate students, the Lake Champlain Committee and volunOn the morning of August 17, as probes measured a thick
teers.
mat of blue-green algae, scientists aboard a university research
vessel on Missisquoi Bay checked their watches at exactly 11:30
Toxic invader
a.m. and looked heavenward — a nod to an unseen presence.
Blue-green algae is nothing new. “(It’s) been around for
The unseen presence was a U.S. satellite that passed over
more than three billion years,” Levine says. “But the problem of
the lake at precisely that moment and snapped an image of northern
toxic blue-green algae became more common since the 1950s, perLake Champlain. Meanwhile, the probes took samples every 10
haps tied to inadequate sewage treatment, increased fertilizer use
seconds across long swaths of the lake to measure levels of chloroand/or overall population increase.”
phyll, a potential marker of the presence of algae, if not its toxicity.
“Blue-greens are in all lakes and ponds and can even
The group's goal is to explore better ways to locate and track areas
occur in slow-moving rivers. There have been toxic outbreaks all
of dangerous blue-green algae in order to understand the causes and
over the globe, including Europe, Japan, New Zealand, Australia,
movement of the blooms. The next day's newspaper put their efBrazil, and other places,” adds Watzin. “We don't know if all speforts into context: “Algae blooms explode,” shouted a headline, the
cies that produce toxins can do it anywhere, because we know so
story below reminding that the blooms can “contain toxins powerlittle about what triggers toxin production.”
ful enough to kill dogs and sicken humans.”
It is concern for public health and curiosity about these
Suzanne Levine and Leslie Morrissey, both associate
unknowns that fuel the combined efforts of the UVM scientists.
professors of natural resources, along with graduate student Sarah
Watzin, whose work is funded by grants from the National Oceanic
Wheeler, correlate on-water test results with information from satand Atmospheric Administration and the Lake Champlain Basin
ellite images to develop models with enough predictive power to
Program, says she wants to figure out “why we’re having the
reliably monitor algal blooms over large areas. After the sampling
blooms. I think they're different than we ever had before, and I
trip on the research vessel, they return to the computer lab, where
think they are more intense.” She counts off and disputes one theMorrissey and Wheeler use the chlorophyll numbers to create an
ory for every finger on her hand, then postulates her own. “I’m an
algorithm that is applied to the satellite images to produce maps of
ecologist, so my focus is what in the ecosystem may be driving this
chlorophyll density and distribution. The satellite image provides
— changes in the food web that may cause the increase.”
details of the algal blooms never before seen. “Just to see those
Watzin’s former graduate student-turned-employee
plumes was fabulous,” says Morrissey. What Morrissey wants to
Emily Brines is pursuing the ecological angles. Graduate student
know now is whether satellite imagery can capture the nature of the
Meghan Kreider working on the potential connection between zebloom, and the distribution of blooms over time.
bra mussels and microcystan, the liver toxin. Graduate student
The trio, whose work is funded by the Vermont Water
Todd Clason will begin a study this fall to determine whether the
Resources and Lake Studies Center, is attempting to take advantage
algae is wintering over in the mud of Mississquoi Bay instead of
of various Earth-observing satellites to acquire highly detailed imdying off each year. And new grad student Sam Couture, who will
ages over the summer. New satellites like DigitalGlobe’s Quickwork on the algae project, has a special interest — his family dog
Bird and the European Space Agency’s MERIS satellite images can
was the first killed by the algal toxin on Lake Champlain.
record information that is better suited to monitor water quality
“The focus of our respective studies is different, says
than their predecessors. “Remote sensing offers potential solutions
Morrissey, “they’re looking at toxicity, we’re monitoring algal
to current challenges of algal-bloom monitoring,” Morrissey says.
biomass from space. Working together we share samples, and when
“If the new techniques prove successful, the combined efforts of
our turnaround (from image to information) is faster, we’ll be able
the satellite and on-the-ground teams should further understanding
to see the bigger picture.” The team anticipates the day when the
of algal blooms and ensure that emerging blooms are detected and
satellite maps can reveal the location of blooms to improve the
their toxicity assessed before tragedies occur.”
efficiency of UVM and state water-sampling efforts which reIn a parallel study, other researchers sample and test lake
sources currently limit to a handful of locations across the lake.
water weekly to determine if any algae present is merely a late“This could save time and money as well as contribute to public
summer annoyance or a blue-green menace laden with cyanobactehealth efforts,” she says.
ria, which can produce toxins that attack the liver or brain. Mary
Research in Bloom
The Rubenstein School News
9
A Social Contract for the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources
By Natalia Fajardo
The following article written by junior Natalia Fajardo was selected out of 50+ students from an assignment given in
NR 104, Social Processes and the Environment, taught by Associate Professor Jon Erickson. The assignment was to
read Jane Lubchenco’s Science article, “Entering the Century of the Environment: a New Social Contract for Science.”
Drawing on her ideas and your own, prepare a one page “social contract” for the Rubenstein School of Environment
and Natural Resources. Be creative!
From the desk of: The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources
Tuesday, September 7, 2004
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the face of unprecedented changes to our planet, including global warming, loss of habitat and species, and other
catastrophes most of you are probably aware of, we at The Rubenstein School have realized that it is time to reexamine our agenda. So far we have focused our attention into appearing to be the “green leaders” of contemporary
academia, without understanding that our curriculum is not creating leaders ready to deal with the challenges that lie
ahead.
This is why today we compromise with society to change our path into one that will lead us toward a more sustainable
world- one ecologically healthy, economically achievable, and socially fair.
These are the components of our path to accomplish sustainability:
1. Focus own efforts to maximize the outcome: Dilly-dally days are over.
2. Prioritize on our most urgent needs: We are now officially divorcing from external politics that compromise our
resources. We are analyzing our current situation from the bottom up and deciding what our most critical issues are, so
that we use our resources to address those issues first.
3. COMMUNICATE effectively to the rest of community: Every person has a right to know what we are up to, not
only those who pay $30,000 a year to be here. We will from now on communicate with people in Burlington about
current scientific findings in a language anyone can understand. We will work cooperatively with surrounding communities, learning from the citizens and discussing with them the most pressing issues of today. We will put special focus
in educating the little ones.
4. Exercise humility: Sharing our knowledge is the best way to learn about others and ourselves. We will help in any
way possible within our capabilities those in our community who need help.
5. Train trans-disciplinarian researchers: We are too involved in the traditional system of preparing students to be especially good at something, but not very good at anything else. We want to be the pioneers in educating students to be
trans-disciplinarian leaders, people who have the tools to address the complex issues they will have to deal with.
6. Emphasis on innovative, yet natural technologies, such as ecological design and permaculture. We count on excellent faculty in our school to educate our students in these fields, but we should put greater stress in their potential. We
are compromising to do just this.
We hope everybody in our community abides to these principles, so that we can look at ourselves in the mirror and
say, “we are true green leaders”.
10
The Rubenstein School News
Help Wanted
The following is a sampling of positions listed at The Rubenstein School. Job postings are updated daily on the Job Board outside the
Dean’s office in the Aiken Center and weekly on the web at http://www.uvm.edu/envnr/?Page=employment/help_wanted.html. For
further information contact: Jan Spencer, Career Services Coordinator, 336 Aiken Center, 656-3003, email: [email protected]
INTERNSHIPS
FOREST MANAGEMN PLANNING AIDE,
CHITTENDEN COUNTY, VT The intern will
assist the Chittenden County forester with forestbased (GPS) and office-based (arcview GIS)
forest management planning tasks for one or more
Town Forests in Chittenden County. To apply email cover letter and resume to [email protected] When: Fall 2004
and/or 2005 (I012)
grazing practices on seed production in dropseed
grasslands within and outside of grazing enclosures. Apply: send a letter of interest, resume,
copy of all transcripts, GRE scores, and 3 letters
of recommendation Contact: Martha Desmond,
Dept of Fishery and Wildlife Sciences, PO Box
30003, MSC 4901, New Mexico State University,
Las Cruces, NM 88003 Deadline: October 15
STAFF FORESTER – VT OR NY You will be
responsible for Timber Sale Administration and
ADOLESCENT INSTRUCTOR PRACTICUM – Operations planning and supervision, inventory
OUTWARD BOUND You will have an opportu- planning and implementation, client communication, and generation of project work. Apply: send
nity to work with adolescent, learn counseling
skills, and outdoor skills. Interns will get a hands- letter of application and resume Contact: Richard
G. Carbonetti ACF CF, Vice President Timberon experience working in all areas of programlands, LandVest Timberlands, 5072 US Route 5,
ming, incluing being a third instructor on an exSte 2, Newport, VT 05855, rcarbontended wilderness expedition and at one of the
residential programs. Apply: cover letter, current [email protected] Deadline: asap (B036)
job/wilderness resume, HIOBS Employment
Application (336 Aiken has a copy), Three comMASTER’S DEGREE REQUIRED
pleted HIOBS Reference forms Contact: Alyse
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE – BATON ROUGE
Ostreicher, [email protected], phone: You will be working on a project investigating the
850-414-8816,, www.hurricaneisland.org Posted: effectiveness of Forest Best Management Practices in water quality protection. The research
September 15 (I015)
will be conducted in northern Louisiana, where
operational timber harvest will be implemented an
BACHELOR’S DEGREE REQUIRED
EIGHT VOLUNTEER FIELD ASSISTANTS in changes of in-stream water quality will be monitored over a period of 2 years. Apply: send a CV
monitoring the Blue Fronted Parrot Breeding
and a brief letter of your interests Contact:
Ecology, GRAN CHACO, ARGENTINA. Four
th
www.rnr.lsu.edu, Y. Jun Xu, School of Renewassistants are needed for September 20 through
November 30th and four for November 20th
able Natural Resources, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, phone: 225-578through February 15th. Duties include daily nest
0897, email: [email protected] (M008)
checking assistance (tree climbing), spot mapping, blood and diet sampling, parrot point
counts, conducting behavioral observations, con- PUBLIC EDUCATION COORDINATOR
ducting fruit censuses, and data entry. Lodging
(BILINGUAL) – SONORA, MEXICO You will
and equipment provided however assistants must be expected to take a leadership role to coordinate
arrange transportation to Castelli Chaco Province and further develop education programs. You
(buses from Buenos Aires every day). Send cover will also have to help develop and carry out a
letter, resume and three references to: volunbilingual public education program on marine and
[email protected] Indicate availability – two desert ecosystems and conservation that includes:
turns to apply – September 20 through Novem- lectures, demonstrations, hands-on activities, ecober 30 and November 20 through February 15. adventures and participation in research programs.
Apply: send a resume, cover letter, and 3 references Contact: Peggy,
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR, GEORGIA
[email protected] RE: Public Educa4-H, WAHSEGA, GA Teach interdisciplinary
environmental education classes, conduct evening tion Coordinator Applicant Posted: 9/9 (M012)
programs, provide leadership to school groups
participating in the program, and maintain teachGIS LECTURER – IDAHO STATE UNIVERing labs. Send a resume, including references,
SITY You will have to teach principles of GIS,
advanced GIS, an lea GeoTechnology Seminar
and a letter of interest. When: Fall Season/Spring Season Contact: Donna Stewart, 350 Workshops. You will also deliver a variety of
Rock Eagle Rd, Eatonton, GA 31024, email:
GIS -related workshops as well as work with the
[email protected], phone: 706-484-2862 (B027)
GIS director and the Department of Geosciences
Chair to coordinate public outreach activities an
RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP – NEW MEXtechnology transfer. Apply: send a vita, personal
ICO STATE UNIVERSITY This assistantship
statement of background and experience relevant
has two main components (1) to examine resource to the position Contact: Dept of Geosciences, GIS
abundance and diversity on winter grassland bird Lecturer Search, Idaho State University, Campus
community dynamics through resource manipula- box 8072, Pocatello, ID 83209, [email protected]
tion experiments (2) to examine the effects of
Posted: September 15 (M013)
REGIONAL WILDLIFE PROGRAM MANAGER – WASHINGTON STATE A primary
responsibility is to direct activities of the Regional
Upland Restoration Section and Wildlife Areas
and to coordinate regional wildlife population
surveys and management activities of the biological staff for both game and diversity species. You
will be responsible for supervising and managing
regional personnel, managing multi-fund source
budgets, developing positive relationship with
constituents, responding to public questions/concerns an participating in the development
and implementations of policies and procedures to
achieve goals. Apply: letter of interest detailing
how your education and employment history
relates to the duties/ responsibilities of position
Contact: Washington Dept of Fish and Wildlife,
Personnel Office, Attn: Cheryl Gardner, 600
Capital Way North, Olympia, WA 98501, phone:
360-902-2282 Deadline: October 4 (M016)
PhD REQUIRED
URBAN FORESTRY – ASSISTANT PROFESSOR – VIRGINIA TECH Deadline: October 1
Contact: Dr. Harold Burkhart, [email protected]
ECOLOGY – ASSISTANT PROFESSOR –
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA Deadline: October
4 Contact: [email protected] (P011)
ECOLOGY – ASSISTANT PROFESSOR –
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA Deadline: October
8 Contact: [email protected] (P012)
FOREST ECOLOGY – UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, MADISON Study the effects of insect
herbivory on long-term forest carbon cycling and
succession using satellite remote sensing data and
forest landscape modeling. You will be responsible for integrating data acquired form MOIS into
the forest landscape simulation moel, LANDIS-II.
Apply: submit a CV and statement of research
interests,
http://landscape.forest.wisc.edu/applicants/ Contact: Dr. Robert Scheller, [email protected]
Deadline: October 8 (P031)
RESEARCH SCIENTIST – AMERICAN SAMOA ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY Primary duties of the position include
implementation of Territorial monitoring programs, including tropical stream, beach, an nearcoastal habitat monitoring. Research activities
include, but are not necessarily limited to: development and validation of diagnostic methods to
determine ecological effects of stressors at the
population, community, ecosystem an watershed
scales. Apply: send a cover letter and current CV
and 2 letters of reference Contact:
[email protected],
Deadline: October 15 (P032)