news and events
2nd friday symposium series 2007-2008
Each 2nd Friday Symposium, in the tradition of ancient Greece, is "a convivial meeting for eating and drinking...and intellectual discussion" on a different topic each month. Please join us! 2nd Friday Symposia take place at 4 pm on the 2nd Friday of each month during the regular semester at the River Basin Center.
April 11:
Water Quality Issues in China: Balancing Economic Development with Environmental Protection
Discussion Leaders: Todd Rasmussen, Mark Risse, Xianben Zhu, and
Zhou Yi
Previous 2nd Friday Symposia:
Jan. 12, 2007: Climate Change in the Southeastern US: Consequences, Mitigation, and Drivers.
Discussion Leader: Ron Carroll
The rate and amplitude of climate change appears to be increasing as positive feedback loops become stronger. The most likely consequences of climate change include: increased temperatures especially at night, more variable rainfall, increased summer water deficits, possibility of so-called mega-droughts, and rising sea levels. Rapid population growth in the southeast, especially in the piedmont and along the coast, will exacerbate the negative effects of climate change. In the southeast, initiatives to mitigate (=slow down) the consequences of climate change have emphasized energy conservation and conversion of land to the production of biofuels, usually forest products or maize. The production systems proposed for biofuels in the southeast are likely to cause erosion and contribute in several ways to lower surface water quality.
Can we do better and is there a good role for the River Basin Center?
Powerpoint: Climate Change in the Southeastern US (large file 36.62 MB)
Feb. 9, 2007:
Infectious Disease Mediated by Environmental Change: An Issue for Environmental Justice?
Discussion Leader: John Drake
Emergence of vector-borne infectious diseases is an active area of research in ecology. Two main drivers of environmental change in the Southeast US-land use and global climate change-have potential to amplify transmission and emergence of vector-borne parasites. This is a relevant issue for the River Basin Center because the dynamics of many arthropod vectors are dominated by life stages in the aquatic environment (larvae) and these are the most sensitive to environmental change. However, a related issue lurks in the background-if the persons causing environmental change are different than those who suffer its (health) consequences, and if these are not compensated in appropriate ways, then there is an inequity that is obscured by virtue of being indirectly mediated by the environment. This is a problem of social justice. One speculates that the dominant actors in land use change (e.g., developers, governments, landowners for resource extraction) and climate change (e.g., energy consumers) are different than the populations affected. Three questions at the intersection of science and policy remain to be addressed. First, are there differences among populations in exposure to infectious disease? Second, are these differences driven by environmental change? Third, are these differences inequitable?
March 9, 2007: A few thoughts about applying "natural" to ecological assessment and restoration.
Discussion Leader: Mary Freeman
Concepts of the "natural condition" are widely used as bases for assessing ecological condition and prescribing restoration actions for ecological systems. Examples in stream and river management include uses of "reference communities" to assess compliance with Clean Water Act standards, and application of the "natural flow regime" to prescribe flows intended to protect ecological function. A compelling argument for using the "natural condition" as a management benchmark is that this is the environmental context in which native biota evolved, including the biota that drive ecosystem processes. However, defining the natural condition and quantifying departure from it poses some tough questions. An immediately apparent example is the use of "natural" to establish flow requirements as part of water planning. Simply establishing "minimum flow" requirements, as under current GA regulations, will be deemed inadequate to protect the ecological integrity of GA's streams if the "natural flow" regime becomes our conceptual basis for management. Those responsible for basin planning might then reasonably ask, "How much departure from the natural condition is acceptable?" and scientists around the US and around the globe are indeed asking this very question.
Using about 15 minutes (maybe 20), I'd like to describe what I see as especially problematic in the application of "natural", using the "natural flow regime" as a particular example, and invite discussion of ways to address these challenges.
April 13, 2007: Mountaintop Removal / Valley Fill Mining: Unresolved Conflicts and Questions among Public, Conservation, Industry, and Government ("Political"?) Interests.
Discussion Leader: Bruce Wallace
May 11, 2007: Riverbank Filtration - Technical, Legal, and Economic Issues
Discussion Leader: Chittaranjan Ray
Dr. Ray is a new faculty member of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
July 6, 2007: Why Every Ecologist Should Go To The Galapagos
Slide presentation by Gene Helfman
Sept. 14: Habitat and Population Regulation in Southern Stream Fishes
Discussion Leader: Gary Grossman, Distinguished Research Professor, Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources
This talk will describe the links between habitat and population processes in southern stream fishes. Dr. Grossman will describe the mechanisms behind habitat selection in these fishes and discuss its relevance to conservation and management.
Nov. 9: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Processes
Discussion Leader: Alan Covich, Professor, Odum School of Ecology
Uncertainty regarding the importance of individual species in sustaining ecosystem processes exists in part because relatively few studies have yet been completed. The strength of species interactions, complexities of life histories, and species responses to drought all influence rates of stream ecosystem processes. Examples of detrital processing by benthic invertebrates demonstrate the importance of key species that strongly affect breakdown and cycling of organic matter in tropical headwater streams. Similar strong species interactions likely occur among shredder and filter-feeding species in temperate-zone streams.
Dec. 14: The Bioeconomics of the Zebra Mussel Invasion
Note: December's 2nd Friday will take place at 3 pm at the School of Ecology Auditorium, and will be followed by the Odum School's annual Holiday Party.
In keeping with tradition, we will be collecting nonperishable food items for the Northeast Georgia Food Bank. Please drop those off in the main office or at the reception.
Discussion Leader: Jon Bossenbroek, Assistant Professor of Ecology, Department of Environmental Sciences, The University of Toledo
Dr. Bossenbroek works with John Drake of the Odum School of Ecology.
Feb. 8: Uncertainty in Runoff Estimates using the Curve Number Method
Discussion Leader: Steven McCutcheon, Faculty of Engineering, on assignment from USEPA NERL ERD
This discussion will review the overlooked limitations and uncertainness of the widely used simplified rainfall-runoff relationship that the Soil Conservation Service Curve Number method represents, concentrating especially on the greater uncertainties in estimating runoff from forests. This method is widely used in justifying urban development and is estimated to cost approximately $2 billion per year in some over design, while peak flows may be underestimated by allied methods, producing inadequate control to prevent some flooding. Forest runoff before development may be misestimated by orders of magnitude, further compounding problems with imprecise estimates due to urban runoff. Failure to maintain adequate volume and timing of flows destroys fisheries and invertebrate habitats and contributes to impairment of biological resources during urban development.
March 28 : The impact of frog extinctions on ecosystem processes in neotropical upland streams in Panama
Note: The March 2nd Friday Symposium will take place on the 4th Friday to avoid conflicting with Spring Break.
Discussion Leader: Susan Kilham, Professor, Dept. of Bioscience & Biotechnology, Drexel University
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