the altamaha initiative
spring 2001
Class Projects
Brochure:
Georgia's Valuable Wetlands: A Guide for Coastal Landowners
Watershed
Connections: A Guide to Watershed Activities for Georgia Teachers
Class Schedule - Fridays, 8:30 to 11:30 am (unless noted otherwise)
| Date |
Topic/Speakers
|
Location
|
| Jan. 12 |
Topics: Oconee overview, Ocmulgee Overview
Guest Speakers: Beth Fraser, UOWN; Dr. Brian Rood, Mercer
University
|
Ecology |
| Feb. 9 |
Topics: The Robust Redhorse, Seeing Change Before it Occurs
(video)
Guest Speaker: Dr. Bud Freeman, UGA
|
Ecology |
| Feb. 16 |
Note: Macon and Coastal groups meet at 8:30 for
discussion of conservation easements; full class meets at 10 am
for guest speaker
Topic: Consensus building, eliciting full public input
Guest Speakers: Alex Scherr, UGA School of Law
|
Law School |
| Feb. 23 |
Topics: Summit to the Sea, Ghana Urban Charette
Guest Speaker: Alice Chalmers, Marine Sciences
|
Founders' House |
March 2
10 am |
Topics: Politics of local and regional planning
and eliciting public involvement
Guest Speakers: Susan Kidd, GA Conservancy; Steve Dempsey,
Carl Vinson Institute of Government
|
Ecology |
March 16
8:30 |
Speaker: Dr. Eugene Odum, Father of Ecology
At 8:50 we move to the Law School classroom to:
- discuss Dr. Odum's remarks
- present updated project workplan with entire class and turn
in written updated plan to professors (as per rubric)
- discuss date to share project presentation with class (as
per rubric)
- update log of activities, reflection journals, and connections
pages (be prepared to share with professors if asked)
- discuss further preparations for Altamaha float trip
|
Dean Rusk Hall (next to undergraduate Law library); move to Law
School classroom
|
March 30
6 pm |
Paddling Trip postponed! Class will meet for pizza and
to schedule a make-up paddling date and the remaining class meetings.
|
Ecology |
| April 6 |
Topic: Incorporating federally-mandated mitigation in
land use planning
|
Founders' House |
| April 20 |
Class Presentations |
Ecology |
| May 4 - 6 |
Paddling Trip rescheduled! More
details |
depart from Ecology |
Note: Class schedule is tentative and subject to change
Beth Fraser of the Upper Oconee Watershed Network presents an overview
of the Oconee and its tributaries at the first Altamaha Practicum meeting.
Brian Rood of Mercer University in Macon shows an overlay of Georgia
watersheds during his presentation on the Ocmulgee river system.
Alex Scherr of the UGA School of Law leads a discussion on the differences
and similarities between the ways scientists and lawyers solve problems.
Class Projects
Scientific Illustration for the Altamaha Practicum
Four Scientific Illustration students from the Lamar Dodd School of Art
are doing a directed studies project under Prof. Gene Wright that brings
their talents to the service of the Altamaha Practicum. To enhance the
presentations and publications developed by Practicum participants, the
Scientific Illustration students, working with Practicum students and
faculty, have identified species to illustrate. As the impact of land
use on water quality is an important theme of the Practicum, species whose
life cycles and habitat depend on clean water have been selected for this
project.
Species List:
Justin Shirah:
Robust Red Horse, Moxostoma robustum
Wood Stork, Mycteria americana
Gini Knight:
Wetlands ecosystem
Altamaha Shiner, Cyprinella
xaenura
Eastern Spadefoot Toad, Scaphiopus holbrooki
Lesser Siren, Siren intermedia
Wood Duck, Aix sponsa
Joel Ball:
Prothonotary Warbler, Protonotaria citrea
American Eel, Anguilla rostrata
Rainbow Snake, Farancia erytrogramma
Ryan O'Mara:
Snapping Turtle, Chelydra serpentina
Diamondback Terrapin, Malaclemys terrapin
Nine-banded Armadillo, Dasypus
novemcinctus
|
 |
Macon-Bibb Downtown Development
Municipal Downtown Development Authorities are an underused tool for revitalizing
downtown business districts throughout the state. Unfortunately, no substantive
"green" guidance exists even for the few DDAs successfully operating
today. With the new Greenspace Initiative, the time is right to breathe
new life into the DDA mandate by including smart growth and conservation
strategies as an integral part of DDA structure. This project involves
creating an environmental training module featuring innovative aproaches
to sustainable downtown development, using Macon-Bibb's DDA as a model.
Coastal Area Small Wetlands Protection
Small wetlands are particularly vulnerable to the growing development
pressures of Georgia's coastal areas, especially in light of the recent
US Supreme Court decision that small, individual wetlands are not covered
by the Clean Water Act. This project focuses on researching the economic
and environmental costs/benefits of protecting small wetlands, and developing
legislative and other measures, such as mitigation banking, for their
protection.
Watershed-based Curriculum Development
The goals of science education in Georgia include providing students
"with the concepts and skills necesary to be responsible, active
caretakers of their micro and macro environment..." But science curricula
don't currently fulfill this goal. Acting at the request of the Macon-Bibb
school system and the Upper Oconee Watershed Network, this project focuses
on creating a watershed-based curriculum for middle school students.
|
